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| Date | Starting Place | Ending Place | Author | Last Update |
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| 09-01-11 |
Tillamook, Oregon, United States |
Lees Camp Store, Oregon, United States |
ray | 03-06-24 23:22:34 |
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My ride for the day was about 25 miles, most of it uphill. My hosts worked and wouldn't be home before 5pm. As a result, I wasn't in any hurry to leave. The motel breakfast was some cereal, oatmeal, or sweet roll. I opted for a couple bowls of Cheerios, but my heart wasn't in it. I returned to my room and killed time until 10am. It was a warm, sunny day and I decided to walk to the Subway for my sandwiches. On the way there, I came to the Blue Heron Cheese Company and went in for a tasting. It is a cute place with lots of food to taste including samples of the Brie they make. I liked the smoked Brie and got a sandwich of it. It was now close to 11am so I walked back to the motel, packed up and left. I rode to the Subway and got a sandwich there, as well. I rode into town and hit the Safeway for fruit and talked with a bike tourist just starting his Labor Day ride down the coast and back. he told me Hwy 6 had plenty of shoulder and was no problem on a bike. I decided to ride Third Avenue (2 streets south) instead of Hwy 6 to stay off the busy road as long as possible. After a couple blocks, I passed a city park, pulled in, and ate half of the Brie sandwich. It was OK but an entire sandwich of just smoked Brie cheese was a bit strong. Third Avenue was a lightly driven, shoulder-less road that went past homes and then local government buildings. While I was riding by these, someone called out my name and it turned out to be Bruce. We reaffirmed out meeting for later than day and he continued his jog and I my bike ride. It was a nice interlude. Third Avenue goes through the small suburb of Fairview, which has a pretty fair view.  At Fairview, the road (now called Fairview Rd.) joined Hwy 6. It was like the bike tourist said, wide shoulders and an easy grade.  Hwy 6 follows the Wilson River and just after the turn visible in the above photo, I got to the river.  Riding next to the river, I would often see wonderful views that I would stop and photograph.  I took so many, in fact, that I stopped taking them after while, saying to myself "I've already got one just like that!" Having river views all day was wonderful. There was very little traffic in my direction (away from the ocean) with a clump of cars and trucks about every minute. There were many times when I couldn't see or hear a vehicle on the road. While I was mostly riding on an asphalt ribbon through trees, there was the odd house and this Christmas Tree farm.  At times, the shoulder narrowed but it was always wide enough for me to feel safe riding on it.  Riding uphill in the sun was hot work and I pulled off on one of the rare side roads to rest by this beautiful, still, creek and ate something.  Streams often met the Wilson River. This one did so with a small waterfall.  The views into the forest were pretty too.  Jordan Creek also flows into the Wilson River at a marked junction. It is marked by a turn in the road and lots of pretty views.  I took my time as I didn't want to arrive too early. I stopped at the Tillamook Forest Museum, about 22 miles from Tillamook, and spent about an hour learning about the big fires of 1933 - 1951 and the reforesting effort. I also ate the Subway there. I rode the short distance to the store next to my host's road and took down a great ice cream cone and got to talking with an older guy there about the local area, roads, and other topics. Everyone there knew Bruce and Mary, my couchsurfing hosts. About 4:30, I rode about a mile on the dirt road to the house and waited.  There house is next to a stream and in a beautiful area. While I waited, I walked down a path to this view.  There was a waterfall into this pool.  Then, I fell asleep on the grass and was awakened by Bruce. He is my age and has built the house he and Mary lived in. It wasn't quite finsihed but was very well done. He told me about the land, which is owned by Mary's family corporation and some of the local history and color. Bruce was stunned that he and I were born in the same year. He mentioned it several times! Mary came home about an hour later. She began cooking while I showered and shaved. Bruce is an IT guy for the BLM in Tillamook. Mary is the asst City Manger of Garibaldi. Bruce has done lots of interesting things, including a stint as a Electronics Warfare specialist on B-52s. Dinner mostly came from their fabulous garden. It would be a great place to spend time, though, both of them leave early (5:15am the next morning) for work. Because the land is owned by the family corporation, there is virtually no market for the house should they decide to sell. While this clearly was an issue, they decided to build anyway. Dinner was a tasty rice and bean casserole, salad, potatoes, fried garden vegetables and zucchini bread with jam. I ate as much as I could and it was all good. We spoke a bit after dinner but everyone soon went to bed given the early start the next morning. |
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