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East Oregonian
Saturday, April 29, 2017
Echo native crosses the country on a bicycle
By JAYATI
RAMAKRISHNAN
East Oregonian
James Primmer has
always had an adventurous
streak.
“After I got out of
the Navy, I wanted to do
something crazy,” he said.
Mission accomplished.
The 28 year-old is currently
18 days into a five-month
trip across the United States
on his bicycle. Starting in
Chesapeake, Virginia, he
has now made his way into
Florida, where he will touch
down in Key West before
heading northwest through
Mississippi, Arkansas,
Missouri, Kansas, Colorado,
Wyoming, and Montana.
From there he’ll head to
Seattle, where he’ll complete
the final leg of his trip: down
the Pacific coast, ending
up in San Diego. His entire
route should total about
6,700 miles.
Primmer, born and raised
in Echo, had been looking
for an epic journey of some
sort. A few years ago, his
grandmother had given
him a book, “Walk Across
America” by Peter Jenkins.
Primmer eagerly read it and
found an idea beginning to
take shape.
“One passage really
resonated with me,” he
said. “(Jenkins) said that the
first day he started, he got a
profound sense of freedom
and possibility. I wanted to
experience that.”
While he had no plans to
walk the entire U.S., he had
always enjoyed biking, and
soon began planning his own
cross-country trip, reading
blogs from others who had
made similar treks, and
buying equipment he’d need
for the journey. After six
years in the Navy, Primmer
got out on February 1 — his
birthday — and was soon off
on another adventure.
Though he’d done a lot of
reading and bought the right
gear, he couldn’t prepare
himself for the physical
challenges the trip would
bring.
“I think the longest I’d
ever ridden before was
60 miles,” he said. With
the cold, snowy winter in
Hermiston, he didn’t get a
Photo contributed by James Primmer
James Primmer takes in a gorgeous scene in Georgia on the first leg of his bike trip.
Photo contributed by James Primmer
Photo contributed by James Primmer
James Primmer, left, poses with a friend before start-
ing his bike trip across the United States.
James Primmer hits the open road in Virginia for the first leg of his 6,700 mile bike
journey across the U.S.
chance to do much training.
The first days of the trip, he
admits, were really tough.
He’s adjusted, now
averaging about 65 miles
each day, and logging every
mile in an online journal, at
jamesandhis.bike. Family
and friends can follow
along on the journey, as he
posts photos, anecdotes and
updates for his trip.
Primmer transports
everything with him in four
panniers and a handlebar
bag, which weigh about 55
pounds. His bike weighs
another 25.
He spends most nights
in his tent at public
campgrounds, cooking his
own food on a camp stove.
Occasionally he uses an
app, Warmshowers, which
connects long-distance
cyclists with each other, and
allows them to open up their
homes to those on long bike
trips.
So far, Primmer has been
lucky with the weather.
He’ll continue to pedal if it
rains, and says the only real
obstacle is a strong wind.
“It pushes you back, and
it’s soul-crushing,” he said.
He’s had some interesting
experiences along the way:
a couple of nights ago, he
got robbed by raccoons in
Florida while at a campsite.
At many of the places he
stays, people will be eager to
hear about his trip and will
offer to share food.
“I’m not sure if this
one’s appropriate for the
newspaper,” Primmer
laughed. “Once I camped at
a nudist resort. That was a
new experience.”
After cycling through
Virginia, the Carolinas and
Georgia, Primmer is now
in Florida. Even though
he’s been to several of the
states he will cycle through,
Primmer feels it’s a totally
new experience to see them
from his bike.
“I’m always traveling
backcountry roads,” he said.
“I feel like country areas
showcase a place better than
the city.”
He recalls the endless
tobacco fields he passed in
North Carolina, walnut and
peach groves in Georgia, and
now the Florida coastline.
“Just the scenery, being
out in the middle of nature
with nobody around — it’s
hard to describe,” he said.
On his blog, he recounts
stories of people he’s
met and things he’s seen.
On the second day of his
trip, somewhere in North
Carolina, he remembers
stopping to talk to a grizzled
old tobacco farmer who
had been working the same
tobacco fields that his
great-grandfather had.
He acknowledges some
of the tougher days, when
his body just runs out of
energy, and he gleefully
recounts the triumphs and
exciting moments, such as
meeting nice people at a
campsite or saving a turtle
from being run over.
He remembers one scene
that stunned him.
“In Charleston, South
Carolina, I had to cross a
bridge. It was kind of foggy,
and I was wondering when
the bridge was going to
end. I finally got to the top,
and it was like being on an
airplane, but outside. I was
on top of the clouds. It was
breathtaking.”
Though Primmer has had
friends accompany him for
short portions of the ride, the
majority of the trip will be
alone.
“I wouldn’t have minded
having someone come along
with me, but not many
people could just take five
months off work,” he said. “I
had always planned on doing
it myself.”
Though he spends most
of his time on the road in
solitude, encounters with
other people have made for
some highlights.
“That’s one thing that
BLOOMIN’ BLUES
Spring favorites bloom together
By BRUCE BARNES
For the East Oregonian
Spring got a late start
this year, so I figured the
wildflowers would stretch
out late as well. Not so.
Last week I went out for the
first time to see what was
happening. In normal years
the different plants seem to
come up in succession. This
year the earliest flowers and
many of those that come two
or three weeks later are up
and blooming at the same
time.
Over the years of writing
these articles, I have tried
each week to stick to
plants that I haven’t written
about before. However,
spring poses a special
problem — there are only so
many plants that bloom in
early spring. For example,
even though I saw about
10 species blooming last
week, they have all been the
subject of at least one article
and in a few cases two or
three articles.
I took lots of photos, last
week, so the first two articles
this year will be about spring
favorites. Actually, after
last winter any flower at all
would be a spring favorite
— even the dandelions
finally gave up during the
winter.
To start the flowering
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Erythronium grandiflorum, Yellow Fawn Lily
season off, here are some of
the spring favorites, all of
which can be found around
the Deadman’s Pass exit and
rest stop off Interstate 84.
The first two usually
compete to be the first out,
Sage Buttercup and Blue-
eyed Grass, also known as
Grass Widows; both are
still putting on a show. The
little yellow buttercup,
Ranunculus glaberrimus, is
usually low to the ground
with the single one-half-inch
flower easy to spot. The pink
flower of Blue-eyed Grass,
Olsynium douglasii, which
has no blue on it anywhere,
faces out from just below the
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Photo by Bruce Barnes
Olsynium douglasii, Blue-
eyed Grass
Fritillaria pudica, Yellow
Bell
tip of a rigid grass-like single
stem about ten inches tall,
and is closely related to Iris.
Two more of the early
flowers are both lilies, and
both have nodding yellow
flowers with six petals.
The Yellow Fawn Lily,
Erythronium grandiflorum,
is about six inches high with
one or two broad leaves
from the base, has a flower
about three inches wide and
petals curved backward. The
other lily is the Yellow Bell,
Fritillaria Pudica, also about
six inches high, but with a
much smaller flower that is
bell-shaped and harder to
spot.
Ranunculus glaberrimus,
Sage Buttercup
afternoon on a first date with
a Portland man. After renting
paddleboarding gear, she
and the man drove to Collins
Beach, a popular spot on
Sauvie Island.
According to a Columbia
County investigation report,
Vo Dang and her friend
sunbathed and shared a
six-pack of beer. The man
continued to doze, while Vo
Dang went paddleboarding.
She was not wearing a
lifejacket, deputies said.
Around 4 p.m., a woman
approached Vo Dang’s
friend. She told him Vo
Dang had fallen off of her
paddleboard and appeared to
be struggling in the water.
“The wind was strong.
It was blowing the board
away. She tired herself
out swimming after it,
obviously,” a witness said.
Photo by Bruce Barnes
BRIEFLY
Body found
in Chinook
was Portland
paddleboarder
EO Media Group
LONG BEACH,
Wash. — A body that
washed ashore in Chinook
in early March belonged
to Ha Khuong Vo Dang,
a 28-year-old Portland
woman.
Vo Dang, who went
by “Kay,” disappeared
on May 1, 2016, while
paddleboarding at a beach
in Columbia County.
Search and rescue workers
presumed Vo Dang
drowned, but were never
able to recover her body. A
peninsula man discovered
her body in March while
walking on a small beach
near Third Street in Chinook.
The Pacific County
Sheriff’s Office confirmed
her identity and notified her
family earlier this month,
Chief Criminal Deputy Pat
Matlock said.
With a high of 81
degrees, May 1 was one of
the first truly warm days
of the year in the Portland
area. Vo Dang spent the
really keeps me going,” he
said. “I’ve met so many
amazing people. And in
weird places, like gas
stations or McDonald’s.
Hearing people’s stories,
they’ve lived their whole life
there, and have a different
take from that part of the
country. That’s one of my
favorite parts of the trip.”
Once his trip is over,
Primmer plans to “do the
adult thing” and find a job.
But he’s got many more
adventures planned.
“I have three things on
my bucket list,” he said.
“Cycle across America,
kayak the Mississippi from
top to bottom, and hike the
Appalachian Trail.”
He said the trip has made
him even more confident in
his own abilities.
“I’ve always had the
attitude that I can figure out
any problem I’m going to
have. Being on this trip has
kind of reinforced that for
me.”
Vineyards owners
working to ban
nearby marijuana
operation
MCMINNVILLE
(AP) — Oregon vineyard
owners are asking a
judge to ban neighboring
property owners from
growing marijuana.
The lawsuit filed in
Yamhill County Circuit
Court this week claims
Momtazi Vineyard has
already lost one customer
due to the planned
marijuana operation next
door, The Oregonian/
OregonLive reported.
Momtazi Vineyards
has won awards for the
grapes it has grown in
McMinnville for 18 years.
Oregon resident
Richard Wagner plans to
grow about 22,000 square
feet to 44,000 square feet
of marijuana outdoors
on the estimated 305,000
square feet of land his
parents helped him buy
last year.
The lawsuit claims
Wagner’s operation
could cost the Momtazi’s
Demeter Biodynamic
certification, which
recognizes its organic
farming method. The
Momtazi and Mahesh
families’ lawyer did not
respond to calls asking
him to elaborate on how
that would occur.
The lawsuit also claims
Wagner’s operation could
produce “foul-smelling
particles” that would
impact the grapes.
“The odor is similar to
that of skunk and is not
acceptable in wine,” Moe
Momtazi told the Yamhill
County Board of Commis-
sioners last week. “The
impact on Momtazi Vine-
yard ... would certainly put
the vines and wine at great
risk.”
“They’re afraid, they’re
very afraid,” Wagner said.
“It’s all based on ignorance
and fear ... at the same
time, I get it.”