Oregon: The Land of Sand and Fog

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After a restful two nights and a bike fitting and tune-up in Portland, we continued our trek southward. Portland did include a trip to the Rogue Brewery, but no beers are worthy of mention. We left Washington with a sense of excitement as we had cycled the entire route and were beginning to really feel comfortable on our bikes. Oregon, however, proved to challenge us in a way that we had not really expected. The Oregon coast is littered with amazing ocean views scattered with jetting pillars of rock. In cycling terms, this equates to, at best, rolling hills and on the 'fun' days, peaks with minimal shoulder, stronger wind than should be allowed by the Gods, and our first experience with fog and its ability to completely encompass an area/cyclist. The temperatures were somehow colder than either British Columbia or Washington state.

We spent our Fourth of July skipping the day's ride due to the pervasive presence of large RVs and screaming children. Driving the 40 miles and setting up camp early, allowed us the opportunity to explore an Oregon beach. Let me be very clear, beach is defined as ocean hitting sand. It does not include (as those accustomed to South Carolina beaches) warm water or weather, nor people having a good time on the shore. However, one very surprising aspect of the Oregon are the Dunes (capitalization intentional due to the state park of the same name). These sand dunes are open to off-road vehicles (and around the Fourth, these are many and driven by scary people) and look like they belong in a desert. It was quite the sight to see people traversing the dunes on these small ATVs and knowing we were about 2 hours from Portland. Caleb and I also had the chance to explore some of the tidal pools and Seal Cave. This cave contained a permanent colony of sea lions. The elevator descends 700+ feet to the cave and one is immediately greeted by two things: first, the aroma of a permanent colony of sea lions and second, the continual barking of said sea lions. It was impressive and a little sad to see these creature so close in a quasi-wild atmosphere. We both wondered if we were not there how would they be living differently.

As we neared the coast, while Caleb was cycling, Eric stopped at the aptly named Whale Watching Point with the expectation to be disappointed (Seal Rock outside of San Fran has no seals for example), but to his astonishment saw a Grey Whale!!!! Right in the cove! This took the whale (by species, not animal) count to 3 for this trip. Becoming discouraged with the challenges tucked in with the beauty of Oregon cycling, we became very excited approaching the California coast, awaiting our third party member, and promises of warmer weather. The final day ride to the border was perhaps some of the best cycling of the trip thus far! Oh yeah, if ever in Oregon camping, a must do that we were deprived of is staying in a YURT! It is a cabin-esque lodging but awesome in every respect and seriously like 5 dollars more than a tent site. Next on the sporadically updated blog: Alex arrives!

PS-the author is aware of his continual switching between 3rd person omniscient and 1st person narrative, but assures the reader it is simply due to the flux of which voice in his head is louder at the time.

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Photos

DSC00989
These were everywhere!