August 5, 2017
Day 33 Bandon to Humbug State Park: Ho hum, another beautiful day in Oregon
The alarm went off entirely too early! It was nice to sleep in a comfy bed two nights in a row and we were reluctant to leave, but wanted to get an early start as we would be back on 101 today. As it was Saturday, we hoped that the truck traffic at least would be light and an early start would beat a lot of vacationers (meaning giant motor homes and fifth wheels).
We had a quick banana, knowing that a little town was not too far away for a second breakfast, and headed out into the foggy morning. We were layered up and had even broken out our winter rain jackets against the cool wet fog.
We rode away from our sweet little motel, and continued down the road we had been on several mornings ago. This beach loop is quiet and takes you through some lovely quiet countryside before finally rejoining 101.
As we had hoped, the traffic was light early in the day and there was no sign of the dreaded logging trucks. There was a slight headwind to contend with, but it was negligent and we sailed along, enjoying the quiet. We rode by a place that advertised great homemade jam, but it wasn’t open this early – good thing we had stocked up in Bandon!
There was also a golf course we passed, which I hear is a good place to play. Too bad we didn’t have room in our panniers for our clubs or we might have been tempted to stop and play!
However, then we came upon this little place. We weren't really sure what to make of it!
We picked up a nice little tailwind and the miles quickly flew by. Before we knew it we were in the little town of Langlois. Now, we are wondering dear readers, how you might pronounce this name. Write in the guest book with your own ideas.
Stopping at the little store on the edge of town, we went in with that question in mind. How does one pronounce the name of this town? Well, the young lady responded, people say it whatever way they want – there is no right way!!!
They had decaf coffee here, so we sat and enjoyed a muffin and some coffee to warm ourselves up. They had some great tunes playing in the store (well, great to us – from our generation) and we took our time eating our little snack before going to buy some cookies for later in the day. As I was waiting to pay, the customer before me made his purchase and asked her to put it on his bill. What? They have running tabs for many of the locals who live in the area! There was a whole bin of little books where they kept a running total – not on a computer, just handwritten! How quaint and sweet is that? I loved this little store and in my books, they get the prize for the best stocked small store we have been in yet!
Leaving Langlois, we were supposed to head up a long hill, but either the book had a misprint or Jim and I are getting much better, cause we really never noticed much of a climb at all.
Riding along, the traffic was light and mostly polite, giving us plenty of space. Of course, there is always one guy who just doesn’t feel the need to watch out for cyclists and he gave us both a bit of a start, but for the most part, we have found both motorists and folks in general in Oregon to be so welcoming and kind.
We stopped into a little place in an area called Sixes, as on Google it says there is a post office located here and we have post cards that we need to send home. However, we found out it had been closed some time ago. Oh well. On the way out, we saw one of those crazy wind sock things that demonstrated really well what a nice tail wind we were experiencing. It was sure nice to just sail along, even uphill, at a decent clip. Our average today was 11mph and normally its between 9 and 10.
We came up a hill and were within a couple of miles of Port Orford when all of a sudden our nice little tailwind turned against us and we were slogging right into it! What happened?????
We still had another 9 miles to go after Port Orford and we decided that what we really needed right now was an early lunch. We looked at one restaurant right at the beginning of town, but it was across the street and traffic now had become pretty steady. We decided to go a bit further and then saw a sign for a diner with all day breakfast. The parking lot was packed, always a good sign, so we pulled in and parked our bikes where we could see them from inside. Luckily, a table opened up just as we walked in so that we could sit and keep an eye on the bikes while we ate. The waitress told us they were pretty busy and it would be a wait for our food, but we weren’t in any hurry to head back out, so we said no problem. We enjoyed the old time décor of this funky little place and the music playing was again, from our generation (The Beetles, The Beachboys) so all was good. The food, when it came, was great. Large portions and tasty. Just what you expect from a busy diner like this one.
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Satiated, we headed back into the cold. We bundled up and headed out, finding out as we went along that the headwind had disappeared and our tailwind was back – hurray! We were now back out on the coast and the views were amazing! We stopped to take pictures before heading up towards Humbug Park.
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The shoulders along this stretch of road go from fantastic, where two can ride side by side to abysmal, with ruts and jagged pavement. You really need to keep you eyes on the road at all times, which is difficult when you are riding beside such amazing scenery!
Eventually we made our way into Humbug Park and registered once again for a hiker/biker site. We rode past the other camping spots (all out in the open, no privacy) and turned up into the hiker/biker spots where each one is separated by lots of trees and bushes and you have complete privacy! All this for $10.00! We met another biker who said the shower had an extra nozzle with a massaging function on it – what?? We put up our tent and went to check it out. Turns out this is the handicapped shower, but as there was no one about, I jumped at the chance to have a really really nice shower instead of just a plain one. Thanks, sweetie, for letting me have it!
Cleaned up, we headed back to our now sunny camp spot and had a little snack while playing a few hands of Gin. We both had some work to do (me the journal and Jim some videos to edit), so we took a break from playing to get that accomplished.
Now that all is done, it is time to relax once more before making supper. Tomorrow is a really short day – just 25 miles to the town of Gold Coast where we have a room booked, so we get to sleep in – nice! Boy oh boy, we both have to say, we are sure enjoying this retirement stuff! Each day brings something new. Each day we meet new people and each day we get to decide when we will do things. Life is good on the road, life is good!
Today's ride: 56 km (35 miles)
Total: 1,221 km (758 miles)
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