Monday, July 7, 2014

Cookies at Cannon Beach

We had a nice night on day 2 camping on the Hood Canal at Potlatch State Beach after 70+ miles of cycling. 
Day 3 was a long tough stretch of cycling through mountains, forests and the towns of McCleary, Elma and (very congested) Aberdeen. At the end of the day, we had pedaled 80 miles of back roads, hilly passes and freeway. We arrived at our camping spot at Twin Harbors State Beach after 6:00 pm tired and sore. We showered and slept well and set out on the 4th with a shorter ride to Bush Pioneer County Park.
It was a very nice ride without too much traffic and some nice views of the coast. We had lunch in Raymond with fresh Rainier cherries from a road side stand. 
We celebrated the 4th of July in the small-town feel of Bay Center, which appears to revolve around oyster farming. Splurged on picnic food - roasted hot dogs & veggie burgers over the fire and then enjoyed several informal fireworks displays all around us. It's interesting to spend the 4th in an area of reservations where firework stands were abundant. We lit some sparklers and teeny tiny fireworks at the beach. We somehow fell asleep amongst the thunderous booms late into the night.

Yesterday, we rode across the harrowing 4-mile Astoria Bridge over the Columbia River and into Oregon! 
Celebrated the state crossing with a delicious spread and beers at Fort George Brewery in the seaside town of Astoria.
After lunch, a short ride took us to our camp spot at Fort Stevens State Park, a sprawling and very crowded site for holiday campers. We squeezed our 3 tiny tents between RVs and full set-ups (our neighbors had a mini fridge & TV)! A brief walk along the bike paths helped to stretch the legs and we ended at a beautiful sandy beach - site of a 1906 shipwreck.
 Besides swarms of thirsty mosquitoes, it was a nice last evening with Bill & Ann before we parted ways this morning. We're on our own...
Our ride so far today took us through the beachy resort town of Seaside where we stopped for coffee and a scone.
We are now having a leisurely lunch in Cannon Beach on a perfect summer day on the Oregon Coast.
Only 20 or so miles to go this afternoon to our camping spot at Nehalem State Beach. We've decided that biking down the coast is a pretty good life.

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