We arrive in Lincoln City, Oregon

We had an enjoyable day with our new friends from the IBMC2010 in Bend, had breakfast, rode back to Corvallis as a group and spent the afternoon and had a snack with Troubadour and Trobairitz. I don't know where the time went. We had planned to leave by mid afternoon and head West towards the coast but we were having such a good time socializing, we left behind schedule.

The plan was to take Hwy20 to Newport then head north to Lincoln city. I knew that we had to go over the mountains and although I did not know this particular road I was afraid of being caught in darkening conditions and the fading light. We left in bright, warm conditions and soon we were caught in the shadows. Sunset was approaching and the sun was barely peaking over the mountain. With the trees helping to block the light we were in bright sunshine one minute and the next we were thrust into darkness. I knew that all would be okay once we made our descent but for now we were on the other side. Imagine bright sunshine in the twisties and then thrust into the shadows of the forest. You could see the road enter the darkness and you had to guess where the road went before your eyes could adjust. It was like riding blind and hope for the best. SonjaM had the benefit of my tail-lights to follow, but as I was in the lead with no one to follow it was tiring work with a bit of luck. I had to reduce speed in order to follow the apex of the curves.

We finally made our way to Newport and as SonjaM had never been there before I thought it necessary to make a detour to Cannery Row.



The light was fading fast and we had no difficulty to find lots of parking spots. We wanted to grap a few photos while there was still a little time and perhaps be lucky to capture a sunset



This is the main tourist area and during the day you would be hard pressed to find parking, but tonight it was nearly deserted



We went down the street to one of the piers and tried to see the sunset, but we were out of luck. The buildings blocked the view. As we didn't really wish to ride in the dark not knowing where our hotel was we decided to leave and head up to Lincoln City to check in. Our GPS led us right to our hotel where we parked next to some other bikes. We didn't think they would mind us parking there and we tried to leave sufficient room for them to back out



It was not our intention to be riding every minute of our vacation. It was decided that we would spend a couple of days along the coast for some relaxation, sightseeing and just vegetate before we had to return home



One of the criteria for our hotel selection was to obtain an oceanfront view. This hotel is on a small cliff overlooking the ocean. There are views from every room


(view from my room)

I normally don't take ground floor rooms because of the security aspects and the fact that you can't always leave your curtains or windows open. It is always so dark when you have to draw the curtains shut and rely on artificial lights. So I leave them open most of the time. On a couple of times during our stay while I was air drying after taking a shower I was caught by people walking their dog on the lawn in front. I think they pretended not to see me

During the past few days we were in sweltering heat. From the 100F degree heat of Yakima and Bend we found the mid 60's of the Oregon coast very chilly. Luckily I brought a pair of blue jeans and even during my early morning walk I was feeling the coolness of the air



Access to this beach area is by a short driveway beside our hotel. There is a steep ramp to give vehicles access



to drive on the beach area. Our hotel is on top of the Bluff (on the right)



I can tell you with certainty that the water was really cold



Even with Pink Crocs on there were no thermal attributes. It was like ice water being poured on your feet.



After the included continental breakfast we were on our way to explore. We headed south and found remnants of the Old Hwy 101 and an historic bridge



I have been to the Oregon coast numerous times and most of the time you are shrouded in fog. We were very lucky to be able to see the sun and capture views of the ocean . We had no timetable, no destination, no miles to cover . Just meander or stop or whatever was our fancy. Sort of like a Gary France but on a much smaller scale. Think 5 days instead of 5 months.



Pink Crocs feel right at home here, too