Saturday, more woods, water, and coastline

Saturday morning I woke up to find the whole world soaked with dew. I had left my shirts hanging out to dry, but the best I could hope is that they got a dew water rinse. The seals were still on the other side when I woke but it wasn’t long before they were gone. The guy who cooked my breakfast said they were chased off by a coyote.

Dawn breaks over the water

My dinner the night before

Breakfast!

When I had finished breakfast and packing, I biked off into the cool gray morning. The route started off flat, going mostly along the water and through green farmland.

Before long I came into Tallamook, home of the famous cheese factory, and I decided to stop for a look. I had wanted to replenish my cheese supply anyway so I was happy to pick up a bar of sharp cheddar, my favorite.

It’s quite visible from the road and has a huge parking lot, like they are expecting tons of visitors.

Huge vats start the process

Huge blocks of cheese made their way down conveyer belts

The big blocks were then cut into much smaller pieces

The smaller pieces made their way down the line

Finally the pieces were wrapped in plastic packaging and dropped in a bin

Of course flat never lasts, and it wasn’t very long before I found myself climbing. I avoided the three capes scenic route because I know it was also three big climbs, but that didn’t get me out of all of the climbs ahead. But, as always, I was rewarded by viewing points where I could see beautiful scenes of the coast below.

A bit more water before the climbing begins

These two women passed me on the big uphill.

More great views

I had apparently climbed quite high

Then, around the Sandlake area I passed an area that looked like a sand desert! There was a lot of noise from many ATVs that were playing in the sand. A guy by the side of the road said people camped out there and the noise went on day and night. I could still hear it for many miles as I pedaled away.

But, eventually the noise faded and I again found myself climbing, and then descending as I got close to Pacific City, my destination.

I planned to stay at an RV park that had been recommended by a friend of a friend and as I was checking in, there was another cyclist and she even had gray hair! It turned out she was one of a group of four who were only on a weekend trip from points east. The guy closest to me said this was a test run for him before he did a tour across the US in May.

The tent area wasn’t beautiful

There were rabbits everywhere

More rabbits.

I was at the Cape Kiwanda RV park and this pace was huge! There were a ton of RV sites along with tent camping sites, and they also had quite a few cabins for rent. There was a fairly large store, a choice of restaurants, and a pool and spa. I ended up spending the evening by the pool because it was indoors and warm, there were electric outlets, and I could use the free wifi. Eventually though it was time to return to the tent but I passed a very comfortable night. I like having neighbors, and it was really nice starting out warm from spending time in the pool area. Unfortunately though, I was too tired to even think of getting back on the bike even after I had rested for a while, so I never did go into town to see the friend of friends and check out his wines. I would have been under the table with one glass.