June 14, 2006
Cape Lookout - Devil's Lake State Park, OR (near Lincoln City): Yes, the scenery can get even better and we can have even more miserable weather.
We stayed in the tent until 9 AM. It was too cold and rainy to get out. Finally the need for the bathroom overpowered our wuzziness.
We hauled all of our gear to the pavilion to pack up. We ate breakfast there also. It was a 3 arrow climb heading out of the park on the Bicycle Oregon map. We did not retrace our steps, but headed toward Sand Lake. At least the climb kept us warm. The hill was deserted and scenic. We stopped at Sand Lake Store to warm up. It was a typical very small store with a bit of everything. I tried to chit chat with the older couple (owners?) who were manning the store. They had only short answers for me. Hmmm, do they not like cyclists? Perhaps they don't like my white skin and Jacinto's brown skin? I'm pretty good at chatting people up, but these two just wouldn't talk with us. They did with everyone else who came through while we were sitting out on the porch with the dogs. There was a variety of furniture in various stages of disrepair. There were a variety of dogs on and around the chairs. I sat carefully in one of the better looking unoccupied chairs. Jacinto chose to stand. After we had been there about 15 minutes and watched 5-6 customers being served in a friendly manner, THEN the man decides to talk to us. He was quite entertaining, describing the road ahead. We were debating between the option road, old Hwy 101 and the less scenic straight shot down the road. This man suggested the scenic road. He said it had a switch back so curved that "you could kiss your own butt" as you went around it. Well. We definitely had to take the option with that enticement!
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Sand Lake Store was in an area of sand dunes (could you guess that on your own?). We passed several areas where the sand was drifting across the road with the wind. That was a novelty for us land locked cyclists. I also found it interesting to see pine trees growing in the sand. Somehow that just doesn't seem right. When we turned at Sand Lake, the road took a tilt upwards as we headed away from the ocean. It started raining again - hard. This time it didn't ease off or quit. It just rained and rained.
The inside of my raincoat was wet. I think from sweat. I hated to make a bush stop because my feet and legs would get wet - but there was no getting around it. I accidently parked my bike on top of blackberry brambles.They have lots of thorns. No flat at the moment, but I was much more careful next time I needed to pull off of the road.
We interested with a major highway - lots and lots of mucky water thrown up at us from passing vehicles. We stopped at a scenic point and met the couple we had seen in camp last night. Dan and Katherine were starting a cross country trip. We talked to them so long I got cold. Before that I had been wet but warm from the exertion of climbing. We all traveled at about the same speed. When we arrived in Neskowin I suggested we find a restaurant to dry off in and talk. We had delicious clam chowder and a sandwich. The restaurant charged us a dollar for two trash bags. I was surprised, but I paid. They had a gas stove and we dried our gloves around it. We lingered quite a while in the warmth. Perhaps too long. It had not been raiing when we went inside, but was raining with a vengence when we finally pried ourselves back outside.
We told Dan and Katherine about the 'kiss your butt' road. They hadn't been planning on taking it. They were slightly ahead of us. I thought they went straight, but they did take the old Hwy. It was VERY beautiful. Even in the downpour, it was worth the extra miles. I think it was the best road of the trip. Maybe. Definitely in the top three at least. Just for the record, every switchback we went around, I wondered if it was 'the one'. We did go across a curved bridge, which was a new one for me. I don't know why I didn't take a photo of it. We went around several switchbacks, but they all seemed pretty normal to me. Maybe we ride too many switchbacks living in Colorado. But the 'kiss your ass' phrase is certainly going to stick with me forever!
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We joined back up with Dan and Katherine as we neared Devil's Lake. We wasted quite a bit of time in the cold, driving rain questioning the location of the hiker/biker. We saw a sign for a KOA on the outskirts of town. It did also say the lake was that direction. By the time we figured that out we were already down the road. The traffic was heavier and the road had been repaved with a nasty lip in the center of the shoulder. This little section was not pleasant at all. We checked the maps (again) and asked some fellows golfing (in the rain!) for the campground location. They were tourists. Finally we rode on in to town and went to the nice, big Fred Meyer's. We left big puddles at every step we took. We bought things to cook, but Dan and Katherine had a cannister stove and hadn't been able to buy a cannister. They had been eating deli food ever since leaving Portland. We agreed to meet at the campground. A clerk had given us directions - to continue through town and watch for the sign on the left. Definitely not what the ACA map said.
Jacinto and I rode through town. It was a long narrow town. We stopped at Motel 6 and asked for a price. It wasn't bad - $52. - but the thought of lugging our dripping bikes and gear into the hotel would have made me feel very guilty. We continued on to the campground. We found it, but couldn't find the hiker/biker. Jacinto got ahead of me when I realized I had a flat tire and had to walk the bike. Some nice fellow took pity on me and walked with me in the rain to the hiker/biker. I thanked him a zillion times. He sluffed it off saying he wanted to find a site that wasn't submerged as he was car camping and didn't have an RV to get out of the rain with. The hiker/biker had a small spot down low that was full of water. The rest of the hiker/bike was up a short, steep hill and was dry. Or, at least, not submerged. In the lower part there was a man sitting at a picnic table, no backpack or bike. Just sitting staring at his feet. He gave me the willies.
We set up the tent in a hurry. I had the shakes from being cold. Jacinto mentioned going back to the Motel 6, but it was a ways back and I just wanted to get a shower and get inside. That would be accomplished fastest where we were. Our tent was watertight - I just needed to get inside. The showers didn't have a hot and cold adjustment. I felt as if the water were only lukewarm. I had really been hoping for a hot shower. Another lady in the restroom said her shower had seemed warm enough earlier in the day. She was staying in a nice, warm RV. Not that I'm an RV type - but the inside and warm part sounded good at the moment.
I got back to the tent and started the stove in the vestibule. A no, no. But I did it anyway - with the fly cracked. Jacinto tried to talk me into going to a restaurant we had seen a few blocks away. I was inside and dry. I was staying. I urged him to go ahead - but in the end he stayed and had hot chocolate and a rice dinner with me. The stove warmed up the vestibule nicely. Later we had lots and lots of condensation that made it cold - but at the moment I didn't think of that.
I told Jacinto about my flat tire. I think it was related to getting off the road in the bramble thorns earlier in the day. I certainly hoped I didn't have to change it in the rain tomorrow. Please, please let the rain hold off for a while in the morning.
The french fellow had beat us to camp and there was another biker already tucked in to his bivy sack when we arrived. the next morning we were up at 6:30 and the bivy sack guy was already gone. I'm a very light sleeper - but I didn't hear him pack up and leave. We didn't see Dan and Katherine at the hiker/biker. Perhaps they got a motel.
No sign or word of Ann and Don today. Now I was passing worried and getting pissed off. We had spent lots of time spinning yarns around the fire. But maybe they hadn't had as good of time as we had. It just seems like common courtesy to say "Hey, things aren't working out and we're going to head off on our own." At least we wouldn't be worried that they were in the hospital somewhere. So - fellow bike tourists - if you ever find yourself wanting to leave your companions - please give them a brief heads up. It's just the polite thing to do.
Positive thought for the day - we're saving a fortune on sunscreen!
Today's ride: 42 miles (68 km)
Total: 230 miles (370 km)
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