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Published: October 24th 2008
Sunset at the campsite
Cape Lookout, Northern OregonMike:
This may seem quickly written, and will more than likely contain a fair share of typos - because they're gouging us for internet time in Lincoln City, and I just found out the dollar has plummeted!
Sharon last updated the blog in Portland - and, like always, a lot has happened since the last post! We said goodbye to Matt, and headed west - and north, for some odd reason (decided to skip the mountain range by following the Columbia river). Slept in a ditch near St. Helen's (the town, not the volcanic mountain) and were pleasantly awoken by gun shots - apparently goose hunting season has started! The funny thing is that it really didn't phase us that much... we just layed in the tent till it got light out, packed up, and hit the road. Good thing gun shots didn't cause us much alarm, as our pre-slumber routine at dusk the next night was disturbed by an 18 year old outside our tent with a gun as tall as he was... he (and his friends) left us alone that night. Funny, how what seems like it would be a worst nightmare resulted in fits of giggles
Lookout over Cape Lookout
We thought this lookout marked the top of a brutal hill - what a reward! Of course, we were only actually about a third of the way to the top... (they were pretty awkward guys!)
The route has been beautiful - but a bit turbulent... We had been awaiting the mythical 'hiker-biker' campsites for quite some time now, and planned to reach one near Manzanita on Monday night. We arrived at dusk (6pm) to a notice at the site saying that massive trees have been falling over onto the sites, so the park closed early this year - July. Now, wouldn't it have been nice if for at least one of the marker signs leading to the campsite to have read 'closed'?! There was nowhere to 'gypsy camp', and no way to hitchhike (few trucks, no shoulder), so we pushed on to the next campsite, 10 miles away. Just our luck - it started pouring. So, we were biking on a windy, steep (uphill and downhill) shoulderless road, in the pitch dark with only our emergency LED lights to save us... and then BOOM! My beautiful semi-pricy double-shielded brand-spanking-new tire from Portland exploded (so much for that solution to the tire problem...). Cold, soaked, tired, and pretty mad at my hog (and everything in general), we walked down to Manzanita - hoping that traffic would see us through the
Hanging out with our buddy, Obama
Tillamook County Democratic Office... they thought we were a bit odd! curves. It all ended well, however, as Sharon found a motel (San Dune Inn) and the manager, Brian, gave us homemade brocolli chowder and cookies, most likely because we looked so drowned-rattish.
We've been slowly meandering down the coast - there's been a lot of distractions (mostly just sitting on the beach and watching the awesomeness of the ocean). Eventually, we did run into a hiker-biker site - right by the ocean, all by our lonesomes (no RVs to be seen!). Went and played in the frigid waters and watched the sun set - leaving packing up our 'bear bag' to when it was already dark. Found a nice stump to set it on... or so we thought. Woke up to our bag ransacked - and all of the food (including our Fisherman's Friends) gone. Apparently, the stump was a racoon nest, and we put our food right on their doorstep!
We've been lucky with the weather - looks like it will be another beautiful day, so we'd better get out there!
Sharon:
I got my first flat tire 😞
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Laura
non-member comment
Hey guys!!! Amazing stories! and pictures!! Ha, as I worry about biking to a location 40 minutes away, your reality is quite different. Love you guys and thinkin' about your sweet souls! Paz y amor, Laura