Wednesday 5/18/16 South to Coos Bay

Wednesday began with an early morning breakfast in the small fishing village across the street from my  motel in a very local breakfast spot as you can see.

I joined in with the locals for a very entertaining listen. There were some fishing stories and the latest gossip on the state of affairs in Coos Bay Oregon.

Some photos that hung in the diner attested to the hardiness of the captains, crew and the fishing fleet that sailed from the harbor.

I headed off into a pretty nice day with a favorable tailwind. 

The traffic was non existent and I followed the coast dodging into the lush green forested and then back out to the coast with small harbors and sheltered coastal villages.

The day remained sunny and clear but chilly in the mid 50's

By late afternoon I continued to pressed on to make the mileage I needed to make Eurica CA by Saturday. 

The coast was dotted with several light houses and some nice vacation resorts 

The scenery was spectacular and I followed the Oregon bike trail that was nicely marked and was often off of the main highway, Route 101

By late afternoon however I could feel a change in the weather and the cool steady tailwind behind me from the north began to look ominously threatening.

....and by evening, 6 to 7 PM as I approached Coos Bay, I saw a familiar site.......a large bridge shrouded in the fog looming in the distance. This time crossing the Rogue River.

I manage to reach the bridge in time entered Coos Bay Oregon and found some very friendly ladies at a welcome center who directed me to  a nice affordable motel just outside of town. I spent the night again in the comfort of a bed with sheets and a pasta dinner in the only place to eat in town. 

Tuesday 5/17/16 another Sunny day to Newport Oregon

I am back to write some commentary for the photos I posted the other day. But since the pictures speak for themselves I want write so that I don't forget about some of the people I meet while on the road. Being an old gray beard on a bicycle I definitely attract attention and empathy. 

I need to stop often foe food and water and I have developed a knack for finding the coffee shops and eating joints where the locals hang out. 

I chatted up at breakfast these guys who definitely put my meager beard to shame. The guy on the right had not shaved since he left the army. He served in Vietnam. Once it got so long that it was down to his waist and he would let it fly out the truck window. They told some harrowing stories about serving during Vietnam.

This was a bypass off the main highway route.

The lush green deep woods were incredible 

Then all of a sudden the road would pop out with a view of the Pacafic.

The old coastal route had many small old bridges from when the coastal highway was first built back in the 1930's.

These guys were actually down on those rocks fishing. When a big wave crashed in it would smash into the fissures in the rock cliff and shoot up like a guiser.

Much of the time I was off the new highway on the old route and there was no traffic.

In southern Oregon there was a long section of coast where there were huge sand dunes. This photo does not capture the scope and size but they rivaled anything on Cape Cod.

Most of the beautiful old bridges were built during the depression in the 30's. Maybe there is a lesson there for today about investing in infrastructure when people need work and something productive to do.

Around every corner more great scenery.

Some of the huge guisers when the waves crashed in.

I looked for light houses whenever I could find them.

Hannah my serfing daughter would love these waves.......and this was when it wasn't even stormy.

At the end of the day I was on the lookout for dinner because I planned to camp out at a State park on the beach. I frond this China Dinner place and got a delicious Kung pow chicken to go with extra rice. I ate it on the beach after I set up my tent.

......and watched the sun set before going to bed early.

Monday 5/16/ 16 A scenic day to Pacafic City

After first posting these pictures I am trying now to go back and write for my own fading memory some thoughts of what the pictures were. This rock is called Haystack rock. 

These photos I put up yesterday were in backwards sequence for the day. That is sunset first and the morning last. I'm still not entirely proficient with publishing this blog. Besides after riding all day and sometimes sleeping in my tent I am not at my sharpest. 

View from where I had a delicious salmon dinner. 

This need no comment. 

I usually had the road pretty much to myself. 

On incredible view after another. Usually after a modest climb. 

There were a lot of these huge rock outcroppings. It is hard to see but that small dot in front of the rock was a guy hang gliding. And I thought I was crazy riding a bicycle down the coast. 

Still in amongst all of the beauty there were the occasional spots where corporate America and the lumber Barron's had decimated the landscape for profit. 

This is the rig that the guy in the previous picture used to hang glide far out over the ocean. I came across a group of these courageous daredevils running and jumping off a 500+ foot cliff. They said they would fly around if the wind was right for 2 hours before landing on the beach below. 

It was a beautiful clear day. 

One great view after another. 

Proof that I was actually there. You can see that although sunny it was chilly.......about 50F. 

Saturday 5/14/16 A rainy day to Astoria and Sunday 5/15/16 to Cannon beach

Saturday - The ride from camping in Twin Harbors to Astoria was a long day that I posted from my Hotel in Astoria. But some how got deleted from the blog. Not sure how but it was a long day and ended with a harrowing ride when exhausted I had to cross he mouth of the Puget Sound on this 3 1/2 mile bridge. 

No picture of the road because it was narrow with about a 12 wide shoulder foe a bicycle between traffic and the railing to ride.

I checked into the same Holiday Inn I had stayed in in 2012 when I began with America By Bicycle my Pacific to Atlantic cross country ride. Astoria is an old sort of down and out old lumber town but I had a nice dinner and slept well in a bed with sheets for the first night in 4 days.

This is something I wrote for the morning, when I leftTwin Harbors but the posting has gotten screwed up because of my incompetence in using this IPad ..........

Sure enough I woke in the morning to a steady rain. I was dry and cozy in my little tent and slept awhile longer and talked on the phone to my sweetheart at home. After about an hour the rain slowed to a misty drizzle and I packed up and headed out.

It was a gray cloudy day but the rain let up. 

The road hugged the shoreline and was fortunately flat, with a nice tailwind. 

Often I could get off of he main Roure 101 my mainstay but sometimes the old highway disappeared .....ominous signs of Climate change!!!

Very confusing cronologically ......This is now Sunday.....I am not very good on the blog with this iPad

The views were stunning. And at the end of the day I was exhausted after about 80 miles when in the quaint village of Cannon Beach I saw just the place for me.....

A Inn that fashioned itself after a New England country inn. Just like home.

I stopped in and the owners were thrilled to have someone from New England and when they saw I was from Stockbridge asked if I knew the Red Lion Inn which they said was the model for their place.

I lied a little and told them how just like the Red Lion in Stockbridge it was. 

But my little room had a gas fired Vermont Castings stove and it was perfect for drying out my things from a wet day.

I saw this historic plac on the beach about the Oregon beaches being free to everyone with no private ownership allowed by State enactment in 1912. Bernie who did the same thing in Burlington VT would be proud. The eastern state of CT could learn something where 90% of their shore line is privately owned.

After a beautiful sunset and a great dinner....

......it was jammie time and I hit the hay.