ghostriders on the sky 

funky erupting clouds on beach 

Path to the beach at the state park... thought it had a spiritual quality to it... 

Camp at Nehalem State Park. Hiker- biker sites are only 4 bucks in Oregon with free hot showers, compared with 10 and pay showers in Washington. I met my first fellow bike tourers here. One of them- Ed- and I, stayed up drinking hot chocolate at the table there. He just finished his PhD in epidemiology- pretty sharp brotha. Prof at Sac State. 

The view south down the coast near Manzanita minus my ugly better-door-than-a-window mug 

After a long climb from sea level, I enjoy the view at a turnout and finally realize what mama meant when she said 'you appreciate what you earn'.
Ok, so she never really said that. I just wanted to add a moral to the picture... :D

They have a button to push to make lights flash in tunnels, alerting cars of bicycles. Nice system... adds some confidence to these otherwise nervewracking death traps. 

obligatory Cannon Beach shot.... 

I've seen the Father/ daughter in this car three times now. Once in Astoria, I pulled up next to them at a spotlight. Then they camped at the Fort Stevens where I was in line with them at the Espresso stand (the father got 8 shots of straight espresso!!- said it was his only vice). And finally, in Seaside. They waved and asked if I liked being followed. Oregon is surreal. 

Tue 6/28, Day 9, Hammond, OR to Nehalem, 40 miles

The ride today was cloudy, but no rain and plenty of beautiful views, including what I suspect were beauty pageant contestants walking the promenade in the town of Seaside. Prrrrr.... :)

Does it still count as camping when you can get a double tall macadamia latte for breakfast?  

A view into the thick wetland greens from my campsite. Lots of mosquitos! 

A slug at the campground/ resort I stayed at, Fort Stevens State Park. 

This is Rosalee and Sid, the owners of the little market. I ended up talking to them for about an hour. I knew something was amiss when I could barely walk past all the clutter to the fridge. Rosalee is the blesser of the bait and the talker of the two. She told me she has a special fish picture that she looks at and then when she looks up at the clouds or into the water, she sees The Lord, all the way down to his ankles. Then she blesses bait. I thought she was crazy until she showed me a picture that her son took of some dishes she has set up in the store. She said her spirit was in the picture, and then proceeded to point out very convincing shapes of cleopatra, a duck, and a heart with two eyes staring directly at us. Now no one has every accused me of playing with a full deck, but this was paranormal even for me.

Sid is 84, and spent 50 years out at sea as a merchant marine. Now he constantly cuts the grass and hedges, since he never got to on the boat (note the work gloves). These two were so quirky and adorable in their love for each other. As you can see, they made a real impact on me.

Yes, you read it right... it says blessed herring. I stopped in for some juice and candy bars, and got more than I bargained for. I'll explain above. Sometimes pictures say it best. 

To keep the questionable taste theme going, here's a sampling of the superabundance of interesting roadkill I get to see upclose every couple miles. At first glance, I thought this one was a toy. Poor guy :( Reminded me of the movie Magnolia. Excellent movie if you haven't seen it. 

This Astoria adult store takes the time honored tradition of cheezy porn titles one step further to the naming of the shop... (no I didn't go in) :-P 

My view from the bike... note the tiny shoulder. Cars were very good at giving room tho. 

Monday 6/27, Day 8, Long Beach, WA to Hammond, OR, 30 miles

Picture taken on the 4 mile bridge from WA to Astoria, Oregon over the mouth of the Columbia river. I had spent most of the day in Long Beach waiting for the rain to stop. When it finally did at about 4pm, I made my move for the state line. I barely got the camera out for this ill-conceived high speed bridge shot. The winds and narrow shoulder made it pretty trecherous. My risk is your reward ;) (licks fingers and straightens eyebrows)

Angels number 349 and 350... let me explain. After escaping the visitor's center, the rain came back with vengeance, and I holed up in McD's for a couple more hours. At this point, I was almost ready to shell out for another motel. So I started asking around McD's for motel advice, and Grant kindly offered to put me up for the night in an extra room. He and his wife lived closeby with their 3 kids. So we watched a movie (Final Cut) and I got a nice dry sleep on their hide-a-bed. They are Young Life youth ministers, and this picture is taken in their basement. Thanks guys!! 

I rolled into Long beach soaked to the bone, and stopped at the visitor info station looking for a place to get out of the rain. Shirley (pictured without her consent) let me hang out while the rain passed- a bastion in hostile territory.... I changed into dry clothes, had some delicious free Ethiopian mocha flavored coffee (3 cups), and sat in a lounge chair recharging my various electronic devices and updating the blog using their free wireless internet! So there are some benefits to annoying touristy towns after all...

Sunday June 26, Day 7, Bay City to Long Beach, 30 miles

My first day riding in the rain. I don't remember what happened during the ride. This is either due to my premature alzheimers or I blocked it out as a traumatic event. Probably a bit of both. An any case, I quickly learned that 'waterproof' is a relative and even meaningless word, as my jacket, pants, and bags were all soaked, although my garbage bag liners kept stuff dry. I didn't want to damage the camera, so this is the only picture I took while riding.

My campsite in the county park of Bay city. It took me about an hour to start a fire with the damp wood there. When I finally did get it going, I went straight to bed, satisfied to have accomplished the feat (which I'm sure any self respecting woodsman could have done in less than a minute). But hey, I'm a city boy, and an often retarded one at that... 

You probably can't really see this, but it's a Ham radio operator with a giant cross antenna rising 30 feet above him. Tonight was some sort of special Ham radio day where all the operators from around the world set up their contraptions and talk to each other. This guy was talking to some guy in Hawaii in morse code. I had never actually witnessed someone communicating in morse code. I found it amazing that he could translate the long and short beeps into words. "It's just another language", he said. Binary bits of information, processed by the sometimes sophisticated computer called the brain. Apparently Bay city is a good place to Ham, because there were numerous other broadcasters in the small county park where I camped. I could hear their beeps late into the night, and they were still at it when I got up the next morning! Serious hobby!!  

Entering Bay City, can you guess what this pile is? clues: _____ shooter, lung _____,  

Mud flats make for interesting walks and little shelled creature collecting, I presume... 

I made my Day 1 post from a restaurant with wifi in the charming town of South Bend. It took awhile to get the hang of this picture posting stuff. I had a delicious mocha ice cream cake. I've been eating with reckless abandon, thinking the extra calories burned would keep me trim, but I'm actually getting fatter, believe it or not. My theory is that once my metabolism revs up the pounds will melt away. I'll keep you posted on developments...

Nice shot of Mama Pacifico. Views like these give the legs and soul new life!!