day thirteen

June 22nd

Wright Campground - Cannon Beach to Cape Lookout State Park

62 miles

Woke up at 6:00AM, very slow to get moving.  Hit the road around 7:15AM.

Encountered first tunnel of the trip.  Few big climbs but rewarded with great views.  Passed through lots of small touristy towns.  Mist/drizzle on and off.

Arrived in Tillamook around 11:00AM.  Had lunch/breakfast at The Pancake House, awesome food.  Met 3 other bikers there from Portland, who were doing a short tour to Newport.  Chatted for awhile about state parks and bike routes, two of the guys had done all of the California coast.

Left Tillamook and rode the Three Capes Scenic Route.  Hilly and poor road conditions made for a bitch of an afternoon.  Arrived at Cape Lookout State Park around 2:30PM.  So much nicer than Washington state parks.  $6 as opposed to $12, and free hot showers with no time limit.  Brand new facilities.  Cool rangers too.  BS'd with one about bike touring for a while.

Set up camp, took a nice long shower, then took a nap.  Cooked dinner - beef stew, could barely eat it.  Biker couple came over and said hi and invited me to the beach for a fire.  Said sure, even though I wasn't in the mood to be social.  I felt unusually tired and depressed for some reason.

Walked down to the beach a while later and sat down around the fire.  Turned out to have a fun time talking, nice couple.  They are headed north, ending their tour in Astoria.  They told me they encountered 30 MPH headwinds in southern Oregon and actually had to take a bus to the next campground.  Crazy. 

Hung out for a while then crawled into bed around 9:00PM.  Not sure exactly where I'll make it tomorrow.  Biggest climb in Oregon right down the road.

outside Cannon Beach

Arch Cape tunnel

looking South

entering Tillamook Bay

stack in Garibaldi

500 miles!

view from state park

beach at Cape Lookout, looking north

day twelve

June 21st

Norblad Hosel - Astoria to Wright Campground -Cannon Beach

32 miles

Out of bed at 6:00AM, started packing stuff.  Left Carlon at the hostel and hit the road around 7:15AM.  Foggy.  Going to be another nice day.

Rode quiet country roads to Seaside.  Cruised the waterfront boulevard in town, fog starting to clear.  Hopped on 101 for the first time out right out of Seaside.  Faced first big Oregon coast climb.

Arrived in Cannon Beach around 10:00AM.  Checked into camp and unloaded stuff while I waited for Carlon to get into town.  Weather is perfect.  Went by the waterfront - Haystack Rock is freaking amazing.  Never been here before.

Carlon pulled in around 12:00PM and we had lunch at Bill's Tavern Brewery.  Another good cheeseburger.  Walked to the beach with Flower and hung out around town.  Farmer's Market today.  Crowded in town.

Carlon had to leave around 6:00PM so we said our goodbyes.  Much harder this time around.  Had an absolute blast the past couple of days with her.  Wish she could follow me the whole way.

Organized camp after she left, showered, ate dinner - chicken noodle soup.  Feeling pretty down.  Going to aim for Tillamook tomorrow, up bright and early.

back roads to Seaside

hills outside of Astoria

Seaside boardwalk

looking toward Cannon Beach

Cannon Beach waterfront

looking north

picture really doesn't do it justice

Flower in heaven

a very rare glimpse of her tired

day eleven

June 20th

Norblad Hostel - Astoria, OR

0 miles

Slept until 8:30AM, really sore.  Walked Flower to get a coffee.  Came back, got changed and took her for another long walk.  Nice weather today.  Really excited to go to the Maritime Museum.

Walked down to the waterfront, then to the museum.  Ended up spending hours in there.  There was a special exhibit on the history of sailor tattoos, which was awesome.  Learning about the Columbia River Bar Pilots was really interesting, too.

Walked around downtown.  Had lunch at Fort George Public House, good food.  Drove to see the Goonies house.

Rode down to bike shop to finally get crank arm issue resolved.  Mechanic was really cool and happened to have a replacement crank arm as well as bolts.  Talked for awhile and $20 later I was out the door.  Bike pedals sooo much better now.  No more clunk.

Drove to Fort Stevens State Park and walked to the ocean beach.  Awesome seeing the Pacific Ocean for the first time on this trip.  Weather still perfect.  Fun seeing Flower play in the sand for the first time, she loved it.

Had Safeway chinese and snacked for dinner.  Spectacular day, SO much fun and exactly why I wanted to take a trip like this.  Looking forward to more cool places.

Hoping to make it to Cannon Beach tomorrow.  Pretty short ride, but since Carlon is leaving tomorrow I wanted to be able to spend as much time with her as possible.  Plan on getting up around 6:00AM, should be a fun ride.


*lots of pictures.  for you old timers - click on the picture to make it bigger, then again to zoom in*

Maritime Museum entrance

the Norblad

view from our room

took this of the 44 footer for you Dad, they don't allow cameras but I was able to sneak a picture

from the outside - best I could do

the Goonies house

I don't think I've ever actually seen the movie...

fisherman's wharf

beach at Fort Stevens State Park - Flower was afraid of the waves

day ten

June 19th

Toutle RV Park to Norblad Hostel - Astoria, OR

70 miles

Woke up at 6:15 to no rain!  Packed up camp with Carlon.  Set off with a goal to reach Cathlamet, WA - 41 miles.  Long climb that I was dreading sucked, but I made it.  Had a nice, long descent.

Made it to Hwy 4.  Couldn't quite see the Columbia, but did see Oregon for the first time!  Spirits really high.  20 miles left to Cathlamet on Hwy 4.  Lots of traffic at 55MPH, and hardly any shoulder.  A lot of people fishing off the road.  Rain off and on.

Arrived in Cathlamet around 12:00 with Carlon waiting for me.  Nowhere suitable to camp, and nothing really in Cathlamet to keep us entertained.  Not really wanting to stay here.  Stopped and had lunch at a pizza joint and discussed options.

Decided to tough out the last 30 miles and get to Astoria a day early, rather than do a small day tomorrow.  We both really wanted to hang out in Astoria as much as possible, so I decided if I made it there, I'd take a rest day and we could spend all day tomorrow hanging out.

Finished pizza and headed out.  Really not wanting to do the extra miles, especially since the maps say there are "some long climbs over headlands".  Made it to Puget Island where I took a small ferry to Westport, Oregon.  It was faster for Carlon to drive this way too, so she also took the ferry.

Finally in Oregon.  No time to celebrate as I wasn't really in the mood.  Starting to rain.  Rode out the long, shitty trek to Astoria.  I hate riding this late in the day because of the extra traffic.

In Astoria!  I love this town so far and have always wanted to visit.  Very excited to explore.  Booked a private room at Norblad Hostel - not bad.

Walked around with Flower downtown and all along the waterfront.  Had an IPA at the Wet Dog Saloon/Astoria Brewing Co.  Excellent.  Walked to Fort George Public House, had another IPA, appetizers and enjoyed some funky live music. 

So... tired....  Can't wait to sleep in, and looking forward to a fun day tomorrow.

intersection at Hwy 4 looking South, Oregon in the distance

first view of the Columbia

at the ferry dock, Washington side

waiting to get on

headed to Westport

navigating a narrow channel

was hoping the Welcome to Oregon sign would be a little more... exciting

entering Astoria

towards Washington

bike safely locked in the room, nice not to worry for once