day fifteen

June 24th

South Beach State Park to J. M. Honeyman State Park

52 miles

Raccoon attempted to break into my stuff in the middle of the night.  My panniers where right under the rain fly in the front of then tent.  He actually managed to unbuckle the straps somehow before I woke up and kicked him away.  Put panniers inside tent, hopefully they can't undo zippers.  Didn't have any problems after that.

Slept in to around 8:00AM. This campground features a "hospitality tent" with free coffee, so I walked over to check it out.  Free hot coffee, newspaper and more maps than I had time to look at.  Nice to not have to make coffee in the morning, plus theirs tasted much better than mine.  Definitely the best campground so far.

Had a few cups and made breakfast.  Nothing but blue sky, going to be another nice day.  Rode into town to Bike Newport, got there right when they opened the doors at 10:00AM.  Started my laundry, had them check out my bike, and hung out in the biker's lounge for a while.  Coolest bike shop I have ever seen, one of the best in America, I'm sure.  Met a few other bikers later on, 2 older guys from Boston and one guy from Montreal.  Nice guys, all headed for the border as well.  They were planning on staying at Washbourne State Park too, so it looked like I'd have some company.

Bike mechanic showed me my chain and recommended I replace it before I go any further.  He threw on another cassette that he had laying around as well that had slightly lower gears - better for climbing.  More money than I originally wanted to spend, but at least he caught it before it broke.

Got out of the shop around 1:00PM.  Rode back to camp, bike is much quieter now and feels better.  Excited to see if the lower gears make a difference.

Broke down camp.  Had an interesting conversation with some guys who were walking down 101 to the Mexican border.  They were looking to buy some used bikes since they were tired of walking, I would be too, surprised they made it this far.  Pointed them towards Bike Newport, hopefully they can help them out.

Hit the road around 2:00PM, way too late.  Traffic actually not that bad.  Experienced first strong tailwind that everyone talks about, really makes a difference.  Makes riding on flats almost effortless, I feel like fucking Superman!

Planned to stop in Searose Beach, a small town right before Washbourne S.P. to get groceries.  According to my map there was a grocery store there.  I don't know what happened but I never saw it.  The store must have been demolished or I blew right by it.  Either way, I arrived at Washbourne S.P. with no food.  ig mistake on my part.  Getting late for riding, around 5:30.  No stores until Florence, almost 20 miles away.  Didn't have much of a choice, so I headed for Florence.

Finally got in around 6:30.  Found a Fred Meyer and stocked up on food.  Went to Moe's for dinner, fish tacos.  Pulled into Honeyman S.P. around 7:30, a few bikers there.  Showered, cleaned up, then was offered a beer from one of the guys so I talked with them around the fire for a bit.  One guy from Sweden, doing 60-100 miles a day.  Crazy.

Hit the sack around 11:00, dead tired.  Tomorrow will be a short day.

looking back towards bridge into Walport

the bay in Waldport, forget the name

south of Yachats

if you zoom in far enough, you can see a kite surfer.  blowing pretty good

looking south

Heceta Head Lighthouse

near the Seal Caves, looking south toward Florence

in camp at Honeyman