Nehalem Bay to Cape Lookout SP, OR - 51 miles

I was awake early this morning, but when it's cold it takes a long time to convince myself to crawl out of the warm sleeping bag and start the packing up process. There was a light mist as I loaded up Camille and we set off to see the dunes in the park. It was too dark the night before to try to find them, but the roar of the ocean was nearby. It was incredible. I've been thinking a lot lately that there just aren't enough words to convey the vistas and scenes I've been privileged to see. Incredible, awe-inspiring, beautiful, amazing, great, glorious, phenomenal, and...to quote the princess bride... "inconceivable!" :) It was also at this point that I realized that I'd just used up all of my 1-GB memory card in my camera. So, photos are coming. Not all of them, mind you, but just the most interesting ones.

I decided not to follow my ACA map today and instead rode along Hwy. 101. I was very glad that I did that because I would have missed some great views of the sea stacks otherwise. It was also a pretty flat road and I zoomed along at a good clip. If it is truly flat, I can keep a steady 15mph going, but when the road goes up, I slow down real fast! I ate up the miles to Tillamook and stopped off to see the Cheese Factory. That was really interesting. I enjoyed watching the factory in action. It reminded me very much of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory and the Oompaloompas. The workers dressed in white worked steadily to keep the cheese in line and at the proper weight while glancing up at the watchers above and giggling and pointing. Tasting the samples was most enjoyable...cheese curd, mild cheddar, medium cheddar, sharp cheddar, extra sharp white and jalapeno. The cheese curd was definitely my favorite, with its squeaky bland density. I studied the cow chart and think I should be able to properly identify the rest of the cows that I encounter on my journey! I visited the ice-cream shop and tried out a hot-fudge pistachio-pecan sundae. Delicious!

I rode into Tillamook and while I was parking Camille in front of the Safeway, had an interesting conversation with a man who lives with his girlfriend in a tent on his waterfront property. He's unable to work due to a broken neck and had a trailer home which he gave up to another family with young children who didn't have a place to live.

Onto the "Three Capes Scenic Route". The name alone warned me that my beloved flatland was soon to be a thing of the past...and it was so. It started off as rolling farmland with a stiff headwind, which wasn't such a bad thing as I passed field after field of cows! I rounded the first peninsula and the headwind was gone, but a huge climb awaited me. Cape Meares was one of the toughest I've seen so far. Not only was it a stiff climb on a narrow road with no shoulder, but the road was cracked with giant potholes and sloppy repair jobs turning into loose-packed large gravel where the road had washed down the cliffside. Whew! I began to despair ever making it to the top, but kept pedaling and watched the insects zoom past me. Finally at the top, I nearly cried as I rode downhill on the sideroad to visit the lighthouse and the octopus tree, knowing that I would have to climb right back up to the top again! The view was worth it, though and it was very interesting to see the short little lighthouse with its Fresnel lenses. I was also intensely curious about the "octopus tree" which turned out to be a Sitka spruce that the rough cape weather had formed into a many trunked tree. The climb back up wasn't as tough as the first one and I really booked it to Cape Lookout State Park as it was pretty late. I arrived in camp about 9pm and found a huge repavement project in process right by the hiker/biker sites. The flashing lights and beeping finally stopped about 10 and I was surprised to find another biker set up already in the site. It's still pretty early in the season, so not many are out yet. Today was a three bungee day.

-from Otter Rock, OR