7/7/2013

Made it to Reedsport, OR.  Made good time at a little over 12 mph.  I had a nice Spanish omelette at s small cafe in Reedsport .
      Most of the journey today was along the coast with vistas of river bays and sloughs plus more coves and  rugged rock shelves much like those at Montana De Oro.  I didn't take any pictures, you can go to Montana De Oro and see for your self.
    I am staying at the Best Budget Motel.  My kind of motel for bike touring, cheap, only $48.60.  That's only $12.00 more than my stay at the KOA last night.  The room is clean and shower works fine.
    Tonight and tomorrow are all planned.  Tonight its pizza and salad.  Tomorrow I go 3.5 miles up the road Winchester Bay to a restaurant that opens before 8:00 AM for breakfast.  I did my shopping for tomorrows lunch and dinner and I will be staying at another KOA  near Langlois, OR.
     The restaurant tonight is really two by the same company in the same building.  One is Bedrocks Pizzeria the other is Bedrocks Cowder House and Grill.  The restaurant in the morning is another one of Bedrocks.
    The pizza and salad were perfect (it was a salad bar creation) and I had a semi local ale from Rogue Brewery in Newport, OR.
   Below is a photo of the infamous Best Budget Motel.  As many of the thrifty motels I've been in, the motel is run/owned by an Indian family (from India).  They frequently have these older motels that they gradually update the facilities.  Not yet done to my room, but every thing worked and was clean.

7/6/2013

As planned, this was a short day in order to relax a little.  43.3 miles to Waldport, OR KOA kampground.  Left Lincoln City at 6:30 and arrived here  about 11:00.
    Set up the tent and other preparation duties including cleaning and lubing the bike chain plus adjusting the rear derailier.  Had lunch, which I bought in Newport, OR and took a shower.  Normal routine for camping.
    The wind,  which was my friend during the ride is chilly setting around camp, so I am hiding from it in the community room writing this.
     Tomorrow it's to Reedsport, OR.

Below are scenes along the way down here today.

   The first ithe strange little rocky islands rising out of Siletz Bay early this morning during low tide.

The second is of a typical cove in this area; this one is just south of Otter Rock.   The last is the bridge above the cove.

7/5/2013

Well, today was into normal distance for this trip (56.6 mi) but there were two hills, at or over 2 miles long and 750 and 850 feet high. I will not have  any more like that until the day after tomorrow.
    The KOA campground that I was interested in staying at had bad reviews and was not convenient to get to due to traffic so I opted for the Motel 6 in Lincoln,  OR.
    Speaking of traffic, this place is a zoo.  The congestion coming into town was so bad that I was able to keep, and often pass cars.  The result of the 4 day weekend I presume.
    I found a brew pub restaurant just a 10 minute walk from the motel.  Their Porter and stout are right on the taste I expect.
   I was so impressed with the line up and number of taps at the brew pub that I took a couple pictures of them. When I got back to my room, I discovered that they were not in memory, so there will be no pictures today. 
   Anyway, there is a whole wall of generically labeled spigots
ranging from the normal lites and their unlite brethren to all of the brewery's brews to 5 or 6 of the house chilled wines.

7/4/2013

I arrived Garibaldi, OR at 2:30 after a more reasonable ride of 63 miles.  There were 5 or 6 moderate hills an one longer and harder one just before Nehalem, but I'm not going to complain because the really hard stuff is yet to come.
    I had a dread that accommodations would be crowded today and probably though the weekend and the dreads were well founded.  I checked with or found all motels, a hostel and two campgrounds were full until I got the Harbor view Inn in Garibaldi 5 miles further than I planned to go.

As to the pictures:

       The first is the Astoria Bridge which I crossed over the Columbia River bay into Astoria.  The second is of the entrance to the Neblad Hotel and hostel.  The third is from a vista point over looking a view of beach area to the north along the Oregon coast north of Seaside.  The forth is an explanation plate with numbers referring to the different elements of the updated photo.  See if it is readable on your computer screen.  It is hard to read on my phone even when expanded.

LI

7/3/2013

Well I started out the day with my phone dead.  At first I thought that I had not plugged it in all the way but what really happened was when I got up in the middle of the night to checked what time it was I must have held the off button too long and the phone turned itself off.  The real problem was I had set the alarm and it didn't go off.  Fortunately I woke up and was only about 15 minutes late getting up and with the adrenalin rush I was able to get out the door on time and was on the road a little before 7:00AM. 
    As I mentioned in yesterdays installment, I had breakfast at the BeeHive Diner and, although I thought I would never take a picture of my food, I did this morning because it was so overwhelming.  I did not eat the whole thing.
    I made it Astoria, OR at 87.2 miles at about 3:00 PM.  I am at the Norblad Hotel and Hostel. Very nice accommodations for a hostel.  The  counter lady even helped me sclept my stuff up to the room and recommended  The brew pub across the street for local beers and dinner.
   I'm tired and going to bed.  Tomorrow the goal is in the mid 50 mile range around Rockaway Beach, OR.

7/2/2013

Today was a longer ride, almost 68 miles . I got started about 7:15 again after a, well I don't know, delicious breakfast at McDonalds. Actually their burritos breakfast plate is pretty good and inexpensive; comes with coffee in hash browns.
   Shortly after I started this morning I turned onto a side road as per Adventure Cycling directions and started up one of the rudest Hills I've had on the trip so far.  It was about a half a mile long and took forever and I was down to 3 miles an hour.  The rest of the route was gentle hills or flat.  There was a persistent head wind later in the morning since I was heading mostly SW and wind was mostly from the west.
    I ended up in Montesano, WA which is off the official Adventure Cycling route.  I decided to detour west and see some of the Washington coast and and go across a real cool bridge into Astoria, OR.  If all goes well tomorrow, I should be in Astoria at the end of the days ride.  This little detour should also cut off about 45 miles.
     Below is photo of the hotel at which I am staying.  Notice that the bottom floor is all small businesses.  The check-in is done in the convenience store of the Chevron station that is behind me.  The motel, Montesano Square Motel, is the only game in town.  There is no other motel and no close by campgrounds.
    The other picture is the Beehive Diner where I had dinner tonight and where I plan to have breakfast in the morning.  It seems to be the only place that is open early enough for my schedule.
   

7/1/13

Left Everett about 7:14 AM and arrived in beautiful downtown Belfair, WA  about 3:00 PM (not- it is not beautiful and it doesn't really have a downtown.  It is surrounded by nice  forests and what businesses it has are along the 3 highways that meet at its active center.).  The journey was pleasent and ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston was short (30 min.) And sweet.  I even had a decaf coffee on board. 
   I stayed at the Befair Motel and had a couple local beers and dinner at the Woodshed Bar and Grill.  The beer was was good, the chicken strip sandwich was just OK.
   The room was very good for the price and I slept like a proverbial log.

    Sorry, no pictures today but I will try harder tomorrow.