May 28th

Milepost ~570

The hotel was no better than expected, or worse really. Headed over to some pirate-themed coffee shop across from the hotel, “voted best coffee 2018!” but my mocha tasted like something I could make without trying, and I’d judge as pretty miserable. Nonetheless it was good enough, for breakfast. I sat in the cafe scheming on an end to the trip, since my bailout/return options get a lot sketchier starting after Yachats (about 40 miles south), which is the “last bus northeast” towards home. I could greyhound from many places, probably towards an amtrak stop (though the choices of “places you can put luggage on” also get slim south of oregon), but the bike+greyhound is pretty hard to manifest perfectly anyway (bike gets squished or won’t fit, are typical problems). So I’ll probably call things off in Yachats, and maybe I can convince Lori to come out after work on Wednesday to give me a ride back to civilization? TBD.

Got rolling pretty early considering I thought I’d be leaving at 11 but was on the road before 10. Knew I had a very short ride so decided to look at all the sites and so it was a slow roll - stopping at 4/7 of available beachy-overlook-areas within the ~15 miles of route today. Beaches can be quite pretty, for sure.

I ended up matching pace with some older women from Vancouver Island, BC who were out on ebikes on the same route. “We’re old and our cheater bikes are letting us pass you!” but in the end we agreed we were all having fun and that was excellent and just smiled and waved a lot. It was great and I hope I do something similar up until I’m way older than they seemed.

So, beach overlooks. Sandy, windy, gorgeous, etc. Check out the photo gallery here.

Just before Newport came a remembered-from-tours-past Otter Crest Loop, where I could see my parents buying a second home. This is a road perched cliffside but below (towards the sea) from highway 101 that goes for miles along Cape FoulWeather, first “named” location in the Pacific Northwest by a white colonizer anyway.`

I tried to launder last night but there was no laundromat in depoe bay and my hotel’s laundry facility was busy due to the recent holiday weekend, so I postponed and planned laundry today. There were a few laundry places in Newport but one was very highly rated so I went there and it was just a laundromat, y’all. But it was fine, so my clothes are clean. I noticed a conveniently located bathroom on the roadside on the way into town and it turned out to have what I actually wanted - a changing room - so I could get out of dirty bike clothes into cleaner street clothes. Fortune smiled on the needy this time in providing the room in the right spot!

While laundry spun, I had a blizzard-esque beverage from the chain called Arctic Circle and some fried curds, and now I think DQ does it wrong, since there was most of a butterfinger in my shake. Witness only a very partial butterfinger present in Blizzards, case closed!

Received some maybe (?) good route suggestions on roads from the locals whilst I laundered. One abuts the campground so may check it out briefly in the morning.

I rode across this bridge, unlike the previous pictued ones:

…and then pulled into campground from its less-traffic backside, found upgraded facilities all over compared to my past visit, but hikerbiker got squished, delineated, and some nicer accessories, but now it’s surrounded by nearby yurts. This campground has definitely “monetized” a bit since my last visit, but I guess yay for it still being there and having free showers! Pitched my tent and then had to sit in it to dodge mosquitoes until I got up to head to the nearby (not back across the bridge) Rogue brewpub for early dinner and beers and blogging.

Ate rogue’s delightful grilled cheese and dirty fries and drank beers, and it was great.

Pondering memories of being here before. Beverly Beach and this campground I’ve stayed at both of - I guess on separate trips, since they are less than 10 miles apart? Not so frustrating that I can’t recall but I must be missing a whole trip’s memories maybe? Not sure how I could have camped in both but not been here twice. But then I think about the unknown to the south that I’ve never biked…that I’ll have to crack another time.

Campground is so mosquito-filled that I went to the beach to watch the sunset and read, then headed to bed where I stayed for almost 12 hours.

Written by Chris McCraw who resides in Portland, OR but maybe his heart is on the bike?