Monday, June 22, 2009

this land of the free

Made it to Coos bay today! the sun is shining and the outlook is optimistic. Oregon has the most amazing coast ive ever seen, rocky cliffs and sandy beaches everywhere. Also lots of capes, which translate to hills in the biking world. but totally worth it!
weve been through interesting towns that make me wonder why they ever came to be in the first place? small broken down, villages. then sprawling strips with walmarts and car dealers. a lot of contrast.
ive been reading "bury my heart at wounded knee," by Dee Brown on this trip. its about how the west was won (stolen really,) with first hand accounts from native peoples. a sad read, but eye opening. and being in the land that was once respected and cherished by natives is heart breaking when you come upon strip malls, and clear cuts. knowing that there were once buffalo and antelope in this country baffles me! its seems they were wiped out for only a couple reasons: greed and power. mostly during the gold rush times, no one really talks about what was on the land before we tore it up for gold and moved natives from the homes they had for hundereds of years.
and then i realize we are biking down the coast and not buring fossil fuels and dumping sewage from rvs. and i feel a bit better about all the work we are putting into the trip! totally worth it to have an exhaust free road trip.
so thats my reflection for the week! and one for my native homies.
hope everyone had a happy solstice!
california in two days!
t

2 comments:

  1. yea you go eco boy/girl burn the walmarts and strip malls and bring back the buff!! ha, you're makin me feel guilty now for drivin around but you know its tough living on top of a very big huge steep hill!...x

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  2. yeah! we can only do our best to learn from the past and try and change the future!

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