December 5 - Creswell and Albany

It doesn’t get any better than great food and great riding! Today’s destination was one of my two favorite bakeries in the country. Creswell Bakery is two hours south of me but so worth the drive I go there at least once a month when I am not on the road. Eating the ciabatta bacon breakfast on my bike in the sun felt like a true slice of heaven. The bacon on the sandwich is made from pork belly that is cured for a week and then smoked on premises. The over easy egg oozes all over the bacon and bread and the cheese just kind of ties everything together. The bread is a meal in itself- baked from scratch that day - flavorful, crusty on the outside and soft on the inside. Since it is still hard for me to chew bread (after my throat cancer battle) I slather the bread with butter to make it easier to swallow, not to mention even more delicious. The air was cool and crisp but thanks to my electric gear I was relatively comfortable. I even kept plugged in most of the time I was eating outside on my bike, just to be really comfortable in the sun. On the way down to the bakery in the morning, the ground was so cold that there was a mist hanging in the air right above it. I stopped to get a couple nice photos. After lunch I took back roads to Albany to visit Don at Mr. Ed’s Moto. I wanted to thank him for the encouragement he gave me to take my solo cross country trip last summer and to hand deliver a copy of the front page article about my journey. He was so gracious with his time - we talked about the trip, ideas for next summer, and ways to make my gear work even better. From there I took back roads home through Stayton. I still continue to be amazed at how much joy there can be in life.