Florence, Oregon: It's Freezing, Up Here

January 27, 2012

Dodie was eager to get cycling and set the alarm for some ungodly hour. I was able to negotiate this out to 6:30 a.m. I argued it would be too dark and cold to make breakfast, while Dodie held forth the inviting prospect of cooking in the heated, lighted washroom.

Fortunately, due to a programming error the alarm did not go off and we woke up on our own at 8:30. Even then though light it was really cold, though water was not actually freezing. We set off and quickly felt the effects of the breeze on hands and feet. Though the forest, lakes, sand dunes, and ocean here are absolutely gorgeous, the thought of getting further South seemed more and more attractive.

By mid-day the sun was shining and we were sitting at a picnic table surrounded by sand dunes at the beach. Life once more seemed good, but the die was cast. We headed back to our camp, semi-expertly folded our bikes into their bags and beat it South. Goodbye beautiful forests and dunes, next stop California!

The whole coast is lovely and this area is great.

We thought our 40 width tires would handle this, but no.

A mysterious pile of oyster shells. Remains of a giant beachside BBQ?

Addendum: Actually, we made one stop just before California, at Gold Beach. We treated ourselves by stopping at a nice steak and seafood house, Spinner's. This was just a little bit pricey, with main dishes sort of in the $18-25 range, but service was excellent as was the quality and preparation of the dishes. Here is my steak:

The disk on top is some sort of garlic butter, yum!

Because Spinners was so good, we left restored and ready to drive on into the night for a bit. We would need the strength, because Dodie found a way to close the sliding door on her finger in the dark. Neither of us remember that kind of painful experience since we were kids. The people at Spinner's were very kind and helpful, bringing cloths and ice, and saying don't mind the blood on the floor. Dodie was brave but I was shook up. We stopped soon after for the night to give me a chance to recover. Dodie, the actual victim, will also be fine. The finger does not appear to be broken.

It hurt a lot but seems like it will be OK. We will have to put off cycling for one day, though.

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