Uncertain times

Last we left you guys with much optimism and excitement for our expedition. As we left off on the mighty Black Ball ferry to Washington the sun was out and the road south was just in sight.  We had just past through a uneventful boarder crossing which took some weight off our shoulders. Upon our arrival in Port Angeles, Washington we made a quick stop and then set off down highway 101. The day started off a bit ruff. Strong headwinds slowed us down and with the late start due to the ferry we were quickly running out of sunlight. As we approached the days camp spot mother nature gave us a break from the wind and we soon found ourselves at camp, of course not before pciking up some cervezas at the  corner store. The next day we set off mid morning after having a nice sleep-in  with overcast sky above we were just waiting for the rain to hit. We were moving fast and had some good drafting going on between the two of us. In the afternoon we hit the coast... it was great, with plenty of amazing sights to see in Olympic National Park. We had arrived at or camp at around 3:30 and had traveled 90km so we looked at the map and decided to push on to the next camp which was about 40km away. As we pushed on the daytime heat quickly vanished, rain began to fall and the hunger kicked in closed to the destination. I, (Alex), began to feel a slight pain in my right knee, not thinking too much about it we continued, set up camp and got some rest.  The next morning we went down the road to see the worlds largest Sitka Spruce. Boy it was big. After loading the bike and taking a few peddles I soon realized that the knee pain had not vanished overnight. Hoping it would just work itself out, we hit road and traveled another 90km. We found this great spot in Artic, WA - just a small dot on the map, but filled with some great people. That night we went to the local pub, had beer and peanuts and  iced my knee. We woke up the next morning with much excitement knowing that we would be in Oregon that night as we were just 110km away.  As i got on my bike the first couple of ams went real smooth. Still dealing with the knee, I had taken a few ibuprofen that morning. As we hit our first big hill I knew something was wrong and had to stop. The pain had increased and I realized that I would need to get this checked out before I could continue on this trip. Feeling gutted about what was going on we slowly made it back to our camp and hitched into town. We got pick up by a pastor who gave me a prayer and then dropped us off at the hospital. After a couple of hours, a X-ray, and some other tests,  doctor bellati came back with some bad news... it seems I've developed Patella Femoral Syndrome. I won't get into it too much, you can google it but it was recommended that I end the trip. So that leaves us here. We have taken the last 2 days off. No biking, no real walking, and I have spent my days reading and icing my knee. Tonight we will watch Vancouver win the Stanley Cup and tomorrow I will known if this knee will really end my trip. We are heading to Oregon and plan to spend the afternoon on the beach. Stay tuned we will update soon.