Day 60: 91.2 miles, 6:16 hours, Cape Disappointment State Park, WASHINGTON
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Have ridden 3000 miles. I'm sick of corn grits for breakfast. I'm sick of bananas. I'm sick of rice cakes and peanut butter. I'm sick of Snickers. And today, for the first time, I'm bored of riding. Even the prospect of entering a new state, Washington (the Evergreen State) didn't cheer me up or quell my boredom. The only consolation was finding a jar of Nutella in a small store near the Washington border, my first Nutella since leaving California.

I got a rear tyre puncture today on the way across the bridge into Astoria, the first since day 2. I used the opportunity to hang out in the emergency lane of highway 101 during morning peak hour traffic and change my tyre as well. It's done 3500 miles and was worn down to the threads.

After setting up camp at the state park, I took a ride along the peninsula but from the road there is barely any sign of the coast unless you do some hiking. I did get to see my first family of racoons slowly crossing the road in front of me, a mother followed closely by her four young cubs, all the time keeping a very close eye on me.

Day 61: 81.67 miles, 5:52 hours, Twin Harbours State Park
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Another mediocre day. I'm bored again of riding and bored again of eating the same old gluten free food. I called my boss today to quit my job. It's been two months since I took leave, so I figured I should give them a month's notice. I've thought seriously about the job situation for the last two weeks. I think my mind was kind of made up when I decided not to ride back to San Francisco. I told my boss where I was and how much I was enjoying myself and then "ah...umm...I think I want to resign". He declined my resignation. He said take off more time if you need it and just come back when someone calls you. Before he ended the conversation he told me that he wished he was in my shoes. I don't think he really would have liked to have been in my shoes because my feet have been very sore for the past few days.

Day 62: 66.3 miles, 4:35 hours, Quinault Lake (Gatton Creek Campground)
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The last few days have been low points of my trip. I now realise why. I need a bit of a challenge. My plan lately has been to make it to Vancouver and then head across to the east coast of America as fast as I can in order to see the Autumn colours.

Today I had my map of the USA out and for some reason I turned it over to read the travel warnings on the back of the map. And there on the back, hidden away in a corner, was a little map of Alaska (and a little map of Hawaii). I'd forgotten all about Alaska. I've always wanted to go to Alaska and see the Northern Lights ever since a friend of mine, Herman, told me his stories of being an ambulance paramedic in Fairbanks. For some reason I'd totally forgot about that dream while thinking of places to visit. I feel challenged!