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07/03/2007 Entry: "June 10, 2007"
This is my first post. I am not sure of what style Seager has been doing, although I read his posts I don't remember, so I will do it my way. We started off the day sleeping in a pitch black warehouse, uncertain of the time. Seager set an alarm to wake us up at 7am, since Gunther (the man who let us stay at the warehouse last night) and his wife wanted to take us out for breakfast. I ate two slices of french toast and two eggs over easy, which is absolutely delicious food to have on a low budget bike tour, and Ariel, Seager, and Kendra had the same. Gunther and his wife were lovely, and returned us to our warehouse full fed. We decided to ride an easy day, between 30 and 40 miles, which would put us around Cannon Beach. We had a few showers early in the ride, but later on the sun started peaking through and we didn't get as drenched as we did yesterday. We rode 27 miles without a break before stopping in Manzanita, a very small town close to Cannon Beach. We were informed about a cool campsite a few miles down the road...supposedly with an old growth forest and beautiful beach access.
We went to check out the campsite. The campsite was partway down this long flying downhill...we would have missed it if not looking for it. There was a small parking lot, and then a path down to the campgrounds. The only access was by walking down. The parking lot had wheelbarrows so that car campers could wheel their stuff down. We walked our bikes down and found a few open spots left, including a spot next to a tree that must have been 8ft or more in diameter, with beautiful roots exposed above ground, including a little hole for access between two campsites. We camped next to this tree, and old and decrepit tree not quite dead, oozing sap from its pores with a few branches on top, which made it a flat-top pine. The forest was lush and green, which means wet. It only rained twice, briefly while we were there (first, while we were setting up our tents, second, when we were trying to start a fire), but was muddly and wet the whole time. But breathtaking. A nice gravel path took us to the beach. It was good enough for bikes, so Ariel and I brought our bikes down to dip our tires. The beach was rocky at first, with old logs washed up into a pile in a nook. The waves were strong and so was the surf. There were a lot of surfers at the beach, all wearing wetsuits, who stayed in the water far longer than I would have wanted to. The beach was tucked into a cove, with grand cliffs rimmed with pine trees enclosing the beach from the ocean in a horseshoe. The campsite was called West Oswald. There is a nice collection of trails heading out from there, and we met a kid who was hiking the coast down to Tillamook with his surfboard. If you are in the area, I highly recommend taking a look.
Replies: Leave us a note! (3)
Hey Karen, Sounds amazing what you’re doing and heaps of fun!! Much better than being suck in a stuffy office in the height of summer with no air con!! I’ll hopefully be bundling around America in about a year, maybe I’ll bump into you. May your roads be more downhill than up. Much love. Alex xx
Posted by Alex Sugden @ 06/13/2007 08:19 AM CST
Hi Karen: Connie passed this on to me and I have emailed Alex,Jack and John with it. Gosh I am so proud of you and good luck to the whole team please send us all the updates and I will send on to the family. Well done. It sounds a once in a lifetime adventure. Looking forward to the next instalment XXXX
Posted by chris sugden @ 06/13/2007 07:37 AM CST
Beautiful campsite, eh...Stayed there a coupla years ago...Enjoy the rain now, cause soon yer gonna be peddlin' through Iowa in July and yer gonna be a wishin' fer some rain!! I'm hella jealous of ya'll and am glad your out adventuring about. Keep up the posts so I can stay on my vicarious bike ride across America...
Posted by The Oregonic Marktronic @ 06/11/2007 09:46 PM CST
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