From Anchorage to Ushuaia by Bike

We left Oregon after spending one more night in Harris Beach State Park, Oregon, where we had been invited to share a camp the site with Dixie and Patrick, two cyclo-tourists that we had met along the way.

After passing kilometres of road work, we had to pass through customs into the state of California, which including the “Agricultural Inspection Station”. California tries to protect its own agricultural industries by strictly limiting the entry of any fruits or vegetables from other states.

Patrick had warned us in the morning, and so we had eaten the two peaches that we had been carrying. We certainly didn’t want the government of California to take them!
When we came up to this official road block, we could see that the customs officials looked busy, but we couldn’t tell what they were doing. There were three lines, although the one on the right was closed. We took the middle lane – the officials still seemed to be shuffling places. And then the following exchange took place:

“Where are you going?”

“To Argentina.”

“Oh, I see, let me guess: you left from Alaska, right?”

“Well yes, actually, how did you know?”

“All the bicyclists that go through here on their way to Argentina have come from Alaska. We give them all little lamps: here’s two for you. Have a good trip.”

And now we are in California, with two little lamps and a few carrots still in our bags!

We met up with our friends Nathan and Ben at a camping site/ranch that belongs to a couple of their friends. They only have sites for tents, and you can bring your horse! Unfortunately, they had put all their horses out in their winter field, and we couldn’t go for a ride. Too bad!

Sara