Day 4 - Aug 9 Seashores and Blueberries

We awoke to moderate temps in the 60's and a slight dew on the bikes in Crescent City, CA this morning.  As we loaded the bikes and talked over our general plan for the day, we took a moment to recognize Tim and Shannon's 36th Wedding Anniversary.  A feat that none of the rest of us will likely reach.  Torrey also helped post the colors to my bike.  It only seems appropriate to fly the US flag and POW/MIA flag representing our nation's service members as we encircle the country they willingly defend with their lives and that provides for the freedom for us to enjoy a ride like this. 

The plan for today was to ride the entire coast of Oregon!  Sounded easy enough.  Weather looked to be perfect for riding again with temps in the mid to high 60's with clear skies.  Our route was 101 also known as the Pacific Coast Scenic Byway.  And, it completely lived up to it's name today.  The road winds along the coast, but the turns are more sweeping than those we encountered yesterday. This came as a relief to our hands.  The past two days have proved to be quite a workout between the clutch and the brake.  The corners are clean and the pavement seems brand new.  As we sailed along the highway, the waves keeping rolling into the shores and the condors that glided above us yesterday continued to guide us from overhead today.  Our path was occasionally interrupted by road work and bridge work which meant waiting for flaggers to waive us through.  Of mention though is the behavior of our fellow drivers.  From Northern California through Southern Washington drivers consistently pull into turnouts to let us pass by.  This is markedly different than the drivers of the San Francisco Bay Area that often rolled up their windows with a look of disdain as our paths crossed. 

Our first stop of the day was at the Coos Bay Harley Davidson.  While we were there, Tim bought his and her gel pad cushions for their anniversary.  Few things say love like that!  Back on the byway the scenery continued to wow us.  I sound a bit like a broken record from yesterday, but there are only so many adjectives and superlatives in the english language.  The truth is we hit the weather just right and we had front row seats for the best that the pacific coast has to offer.

 

As we traveled we noticed repeated signs for primarily two purposes.  The first was for elk.  The second was for fresh blueberries.  At times it was hard for me to imagine that an elk might live so close to the ocean shores, but as we passed through I noticed elk habitat was on one side of the road and the ocean was on the other.  The signs for the blueberries were tempting.  In fact, berries of all kinds were plentiful.  This however lead to a debate about just what kind of plant do blueberries grow on?  Is it a tree of more of a bush?

When we arrived in Tillamook, we couldn't resist going to find an afternoon treat.  Cheese curds and sausage were stashed in the saddle bags for us to enjoy later and the ice cream provided instant satisfaction.  Torrey chose blueberry ice cream and Alan chose huckleberry after being inspired by all the road signs along the way.

 

As our tour of Oregon was nearing its end, and we rode into Seaside the brake lights in front of us lit up and traffic came to an abrupt halt.  On our left was a herd of elk that must have just crossed the road moments before we happened upon that place.  They were all off the road way and milling about seemingly debating about whether to head into town or into the hills.  Beyond that we rode into Astoria and across the bridge out of Oregon and into Washington.

 

Stats for the day - Total miles today: 395; Time to travel that distance: 11 hours
Cumulative miles = 1595
Poker Hand (3 card) winner: Nicki with a pair of 2's.
Other Random thoughts: Tim really likes bridges.  We're burning through lip balm.
Tomorrow: Finish going North, catch the ferry, turn east