The first few days....

​March 9, 2019

It's take off day! No rest for the weary here with Team Ronyx. We have been busy for the last two weeks, on a daily basis, getting ready to hit the road. This morning, Ron was up at 4 am packing the camper box and securing his home for it to sit unoccupied for the six months. Cooler is packed with food, bike gear loaded. Meghan shows up around 7:30 am to assist with last minute prep before she heads back into Lincoln City to pick up a few last minute items that they need for the trip. 

Ron arrives at Mo's around 9 and for the big send off. Meghan shows up around 9:30. Our friends are there, Sally, Virgil, Brenda, Debbie, Don, Juanita, Nicole, Brooke, Jaelyn, Aria, Van, Lori, Greg, Carolyn, Kem, Paul, Denise and some people we didn't know too. Justin Werner was there to do News coverage for the Lincoln City Homepage. (Sorry if I missed anybody as it was high energy and lots of commotion). 

At approximately 10:45 am, Ron heads out of Taft Beach on his bicycle; towing Onyx up highway 101 with Juanita for the inaugural ride. They ride through Lincoln City, Juanita sends Ron on his own with Onyx once they hit D River. Ron rides up through the Oceanlake district of Lincoln City and meets up with Meghan who is fueling up the truck at the Chevron station. They do a quick check in and Ron continues up Highway 101 towards Otis, Oregon. Meghan swings into the Community Center in Lincoln City to say some final goodbyes and to drop off something to a wonderful supporter.

Meghan then drives out to Rose Lodge in Otis, Oregon, she stops at the Fire Station across from the Rose Lodge Market. When Ron arrives, they grab a drink, some water, trade Onyx for Fonyx (Fake Onyx) and head up the highway. Ron takes several hours to peddle up through the valley and hills of Highway 18 towards Grand Ronde. Ron and Fonyx arrive at the Spirit Mountain Casino at approximately 5:30 pm. They set up camp at Spirit Mountain. Meghan grabbed dinner at the casino for them and they settled in for the night.

March 10, 2019
Ron is sick! The cold air and heavy sweating climbing those hills yesterday have made him ill. Little did we know that we both contracted a virus during our send off as some of our friends and well wishers also fell ill. We decided to stay at Grand Ronde another night since we only have 60 miles to travel before we have our first big event in Mill City on Friday, March 15. Ron decides to take the dogs on a 5 mile hike. Then when he returned from hiking, he set up the bike and cart and took Fonyx out for a 5 mile ride.  Upon his return to the parking lot, Ron and Meghan took another hike that was 3 miles and then took the dogs out to a neighboring field to play fetch. Even though Ron wasn't feeling well, he wanted to start to store up extra miles while we waited to move to our next destination. That evening, Ron fired up their tiny home wood stove. Meghan set up their shower and they boiled water. Their tiny house shower consists of a battery powered shower handle, a collapsible dog pool, shower curtain and S hooks connected to a grate suspended from the ceiling. When the showering is done, the water is dumped and shower curtain left hanging to dry. 
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​March 11, 2019
Meghan is now sick. She uses her time to organize and re-organize their tiny home. Ron and Meghan decide to hike up to Fort Yamhill State Heritage area as it is just a 20 minute hike away. The hike up to Fort Yamhill is a little dangerous as the highway doesn't have much shoulder. As they neared the park, a familiar van pulls up beside them. It is Rex from Rex Images. He and his wife run an apparel and promotional product business out of Mill City and they printed Team Ronyx's T-shirts and hoodies. After a brief chat, Team Ronyx continued their hike to the Fort Yamhill, State Heritage area. There they let the dogs run free until they found the signs that said no Dogs Allowed near all the grassy entryways. They decided they better not stay there and they headed back down to the casino. Team Ronyx planned their journey for the next day. Their next destination would be the Polk County Fairgrounds in Rickreall Oregon. 

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