September 10 - Thursday - A drippy fog greeted the sun. We could hear the ocean from our room but we couldn't see it.
It didn't take long for it to burn off though. By 8:30 we needed our sunglasses.
The entrance to Newport Bay is looking particularly calm this morning.
We rode over this bridge in 2007 and decided that walking over would be a much more enjoyable alternative. It only took us 25 minutes including several photo stops.
South end of the bridge and some intriguing geometry.....at least Donna thought so.
We stopped at Seal Rock for breakfast #2 at a coffee stand next door to a wood carver's studio.
While there we met a young woman from Monterey who is doing this trip solo.
We had a very pleasant morning with lots of scenic spots.
The bay at Waldport
A much more modern bridge so it has a good bike lane, no walking required.
These guys were enjoying the sunshine too.
Our friends Jack and Nancy were spending a few days camping at Tillicum Beach Campground so we stopped by to visit. They had been worrying us down the coast for the last few days. We keep telling them that the shoulder looks a lot wider when you are on a bike and only going 12 mph.
They took us to lunch at this very nice (and historic) spot in Yachats. We had a much easier time parking than they did.
The scenery never stops in this section as the road is never far from the ocean.
Somewhere along this section Doug busted a spoke but didn't realize it.
We really truly had a tailwind this afternoon!
And is was getting pretty warm as well......over 70 anyway.
Ten Mile Creek bridge, built in 1931. It is quite the gorge underneath there.
Just to show you how nice most of the trucks are about giving us as much room as possible. That is Heceta Head in the distance, our last big hill of the day.
Doug was so happy to find out that it was a broken spoke making his wheel rub and he wasn't as wimpy as he was feeling. He released the front brakes and just zoomed up the hill.
Tunnel #2 - Cape Creek, another uphill tunnel but not nearly so long, dark or scary. It is just below the top of the hill.
It was about 3:00 when we made the top. It was a spectacular view, looking north at Heceta Head lighthouse.
Sea Lion Caves is a very interesting place but we have been there already so just passed by. We could hear them just fine though.
Our first view of the Oregon Dunes. We zipped on down the hill (Donna hit 34 mph) but we had to stop once to let Doug's back brakes cool down. The broken spoke was a little worrisome on the downhill so he was keeping his speed in check. Not quite fair after all that work to get to the top.
Bicycles 101 in Florence had Doug's spoke replaced and the wheel trued in a half hour. What service! We picked up some food at Safeway and headed on down the road to Honeyman State Park, arriving tired and pretty sweaty at 5:30. The shower felt ohhhhh sooooo gooooood.
We took a walk up the Dune Trail after dinner right around sunset. It got dark around 8:15 so Donna is writing in the journal by headlamp, the disadvantage of camping this time of year. Of course the advantage is we get to bed earlier than in a motel. We are finally feeling like we have our touring rhythm back and hope to be caught up to our lost day by tomorrow.
55.5 miles today for a total of 254 miles.
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