September 4 - Thursday - Aberdeen to South Bend. We had a very pleasant breakfast with Anne, one of the cyclists from Santa Barbara. She told us about Ireland and we told her about the San Juans and Victoria. The 2 guys were biking to Astoria on Hwy. 101 today while she drove the scenic route with all the luggage. The good news was that they paved the road last night so it was pretty easy getting to the bridge so we could head west on Hwy. 105.
So what could be so interesting at this spot?
Guess it must be low tide.
It was pretty overcast until we got here. The winds were calm, the road was mostly flat and the traffic was light, a nice start to the day.
There are people way out there working the oyster beds.
It is quite a difference between high tide and low tide.
Taking a break near Westport and checking out the guidebook for what's next.
What's next!
Lots of sand...........
........the big blue Pacific, sunshine and no wind.........you can't ask for much more!
Coast Guard helicopter just cruisin' by. 
One of the more creative gift shops along here. The shop dog wasn't too happy with us though. There is something about 2 wheels that really sets off some canines.
We ran into 2 other couples bicycling the coast route when we stopped for a break. One couple was from Missouri and the other from Montana. They were all headed for San Diego. This young fellow is carrying his mandolin on his back.
The best sound of the day...........waves gently sliding up the beach.
Welcome to the Shoalwater Bay Indian Reservation. This reservation is tiny but they have a pretty big casino.
We decided to stop for lunch.
That is a traditional handcarved cedar canoe above the door. We had a buffet lunch in a rather dark dining area accompanied by the sound of slot machines, quite the contrast with our first sound of the day, the sunshine and the nice landscaping outside.
Now we are headed away from the open ocean to the east end of Willapa Bay.
Headed towards Raymond making good time with all this flat road. Is this really the coast?
Raymond.....known for its whimsical metal sculptures......there are lots. We had 50 miles in by now so a DQ Blizzard sounded sooooo good.
There is a really nice paved path through town with many of the sculptures along the way.
Hard to draft off this guy as he doesn't cast much of a wind shadow but Donna thought she would give it a try!
That is one long mural on the side of the hardware store.
Catch of the day.
The first of many old cars and hotrods that are on their way to Long Beach for the Rod Run Weekend. Makes us wonder a little about finding a place to stay/camp the next couple of days.
We pulled into South Bend just after 4:00 with almost 60 miles in for the day and decided that was good enough...........almost. Doug insisted that we tootle around town for a mile or so to make it an even 60 after we checked into the motel. We stopped for dinner at Riverview Oyster and BBQ Restaurant and ordered pizza. Imagine our surprise when the chef/owner passed our table with said pizza in hand and went outside with it. There he inserted it into a 55 gallon barrel BBQ and cooked it. It was delicious!
Taking a break to use their nice restroom and learn something about the area at the same time.
This was across the road from the wildlife refuge visitor area.
We have reached the Long Beach peninsula now. Donna is getting up close and personal with the cranberry bog.
Not very ripe yet but Thanksgiving is still a couple of months away.
We stopped for lunch in Ilwaco then headed the 4 miles out to Cape Disappointment State Park, hoping there would still be a site open after all the traffic that had passed us earlier. Not to worry.......we were the only bikers using the hiker/biker site. And it was a very nice spot.This area was one of Lewis and Clark's campsites when they first reached the Pacific Ocean.
Waikiki Beach...sure doesn't feel like we are on Oahu?!?
That is the mouth of the Columbia River beyond the point with the lighthouse. They have done a really nice job of interpretation in this part of the park.
After exploring for awhile we headed back into town for dinner and the special event.
What are all these cars waiting for?
It is the Ilwaco Slow Drags! Whoever crosses that line (a fire hose) across the road last wins the round. There is another line up the road. They cannot accelerate or brake after they cross that first line and the rear wheels have to go over the 2nd line. Several cars got the front wheels over but didn't have enough momentum for the rear. Loud groans from the crowd!
We saw just about every type of classic car and hotrod imaginable. Thus our sound of the day was the rumble of glasspack mufflers. We went into the Pelicano Restaurant fairly early so we got a very nice window table.
The window looked out over the road where all the cars were waiting their turn to slow drag. It made for an entertaining dinner.
The meal itself was quite the show too.This was a quite delicious meal of sea scallops.
Headed towards Raymond making good time with all this flat road. Is this really the coast?
Raymond.....known for its whimsical metal sculptures......there are lots. We had 50 miles in by now so a DQ Blizzard sounded sooooo good.
There is a really nice paved path through town with many of the sculptures along the way.
Hard to draft off this guy as he doesn't cast much of a wind shadow but Donna thought she would give it a try!
Outdoor exhibit next to the museum.
That is one long mural on the side of the hardware store.
Catch of the day. The first of many old cars and hotrods that are on their way to Long Beach for the Rod Run Weekend. Makes us wonder a little about finding a place to stay/camp the next couple of days. We pulled into South Bend just after 4:00 with almost 60 miles in for the day and decided that was good enough...........almost. Doug insisted that we tootle around town for a mile or so to make it an even 60 after we checked into the motel. We stopped for dinner at Riverview Oyster and BBQ Restaurant and ordered pizza. Imagine our surprise when the chef/owner passed our table with said pizza in hand and went outside with it. There he inserted it into a 55 gallon barrel BBQ and cooked it. It was delicious!One more night of Dirty Harry - #4 - Sudden Impact - Clint/Harry is really grouchy now, especially when they assign him a female rookie for a partner. We hadn't seen any of these when they originally came out and it has been interesting to see how the sequels evolved and reflected some of the current issues of the times. Since we plan to stay at a campground tomorrow night we will miss the last night of Dirty Harry week and his trademark "Make my day.......punk."
September 5 - Friday - South Bend to Cape Disappointment State Park. We got our smell of the day right off the bat as we passed the oyster processing plant on the west edge of South Bend. It was pretty pungent in the calm, foggy air of early morning.
The road made up for the flat yesterday with 6 miles of mostly uphill starting right outside of town. We passed the 500 mile mark about here, a Weyerhouser plantation. The sign says we are leaving America's first tree farm. It isn't so obvious right here but we saw lots of evidence of the damage caused by last winter's Big Wind in the forest along the road most of the morning.
September 5 - Friday - South Bend to Cape Disappointment State Park. We got our smell of the day right off the bat as we passed the oyster processing plant on the west edge of South Bend. It was pretty pungent in the calm, foggy air of early morning. The road made up for the flat yesterday with 6 miles of mostly uphill starting right outside of town. We passed the 500 mile mark about here, a Weyerhouser plantation. The sign says we are leaving America's first tree farm. It isn't so obvious right here but we saw lots of evidence of the damage caused by last winter's Big Wind in the forest along the road most of the morning.
This was across the road from the wildlife refuge visitor area.
We have reached the Long Beach peninsula now. Donna is getting up close and personal with the cranberry bog.
Not very ripe yet but Thanksgiving is still a couple of months away.
We stopped for lunch in Ilwaco then headed the 4 miles out to Cape Disappointment State Park, hoping there would still be a site open after all the traffic that had passed us earlier. Not to worry.......we were the only bikers using the hiker/biker site. And it was a very nice spot.This area was one of Lewis and Clark's campsites when they first reached the Pacific Ocean.
Waikiki Beach...sure doesn't feel like we are on Oahu?!?
That is the mouth of the Columbia River beyond the point with the lighthouse. They have done a really nice job of interpretation in this part of the park.
After exploring for awhile we headed back into town for dinner and the special event.
What are all these cars waiting for?
It is the Ilwaco Slow Drags! Whoever crosses that line (a fire hose) across the road last wins the round. There is another line up the road. They cannot accelerate or brake after they cross that first line and the rear wheels have to go over the 2nd line. Several cars got the front wheels over but didn't have enough momentum for the rear. Loud groans from the crowd!We saw just about every type of classic car and hotrod imaginable. Thus our sound of the day was the rumble of glasspack mufflers. We went into the Pelicano Restaurant fairly early so we got a very nice window table.
The window looked out over the road where all the cars were waiting their turn to slow drag. It made for an entertaining dinner.
The meal itself was quite the show too.This was a quite delicious meal of sea scallops.Well-nourished, with bare bikes, the ride back out to the campground was easier than we had anticipated. We never did see the sun all day despite the forecast. We only knew the sun went down because it got dark! So much for a sunset on the beach but it was a very nice day so no real complaints.
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