August 19 Crossing America

Wheeler, OR – Pacific City, OR distance traveled 64 miles.
Distance traveled through today 4,415 miles, 3,747 of them on my bike.

Soon as I crept out of my sleeping bag this morning the wind was still blowing a cold wet mist.  Larry and I quickly broke camp and went to see if we could eat our cereal in a more sheltered location at the Marina.  Ah yes, Kelly the owner of the marina had a nice warm fire going in a super large wok looking fire pit on the deck in front of the store.

Breafast at Kelly's Marina

Visiting with Kelly I learned his wife Janice has MS and so far is doing OK.  I told him about the professor from Stamford who feels there will be a cure within a few years.  Thanks in much part to the funding for research by the National MS Society.   After finishing our breakfast, I saddled up Spirit and prepared for a full day of riding.  My intent is to increase my daily mileage to make up for the many days off I’ve taken while here on the west coast, hopefully my body and mind will hold up to the task.
Today is starting out the same as yesterday, cold wet mist blowing in from the ocean chilling me through and through.  The traffic on Highway 101 is much greater than I had anticipated makes me feel like I’m on a freeway in a big city.   The road between Rockaway Beach and Tillamook was mostly flat allowing me to cover the 20 miles quickly.  While riding to Tillamook I kept thinking about  getting to tour the famous cheese factory and if I’d be able to find it once there.  No problem, practically the first thing you come to when entering Tillamook is the factory and it was opened for tours at 8:00 AM, fantastic as it was 8:50, no waiting for it to open.  While staying with Mark and Jenni I discovered Tillamook also makes one of the richest and best tasting ice-cream in a variety of flavors, maybe I’ll be able to have ice cream for my second breakfast today.  As I entered the visitor doorway I saw the front half of an old VW van all painted up with the Tillamook logo and slogans on it.

Driving the Tillamook Creamery Truck, NOT!

I asked the first employee I saw if she’d be kind enough to take my picture which she gladly did.  Afterwards, I handed her one of my cards with information about my journey on it.  The gal then handed my card off to another lady, Vicki Wear which I was soon to learn was the Retail Floor Manager.  While I was walking around checking out the factory’s history, Vicki came up to me and handed me a couple  coupons, one good for an ice-cream cone of my choice and the other for a 2 lb. block of any flavor cheese I’d like.  Vicki said she and the folks of Tillamook County Creamery Association appreciate my  efforts on behalf of folks with MS.  Gees, made me feel really special and even happier I made Tillamook a must stop and visit on this stage of my adventure.  Even though Tillamook cheese is already my most favorite brand of cheese, I guess I’ll be eating it the rest of my life for sure.

Vicki Wear presenting me with coupons for icecream and cheese. NICE!

Visiting with Vicki further I discovered the dairy is a Co-op owned by the local dairy farmers and employees of Tillamook.  It is the largest and oldest employer in the county and a great source of pride to
everyone associated with the operation and it shows, too.  A special thank you to Vicki and all the folks at Tillamook County, you are the America I seek and cherish.
Before leaving the Creamery Vicki told me the scenic loop I intended to take was closed due to a large landslide this past spring season.  She even phoned to confirm she was right.  Vicki saved me from a riding an extra 26 miles (the route and back).  Thank you again Vicki.  Vicki had also thought I might want to stay on Hwy. 101 as it was much flatter and shorter then riding along the ocean.  The
Adventure Cycling map showed there was another route leading to the ocean and I asked if it was open and Vicki said it was but I’d be making a hard climb once I reached the ocean.  I should have taken
her advice and skipped riding up to Cape Lookout State Park.  The climb up was an 8% grade for the better part of 8 miles.  Hey, I love climbing hills.  NOT!
The ride down from Cape Lookout I had to go slow due to poor condition of the road and little to no shoulder.  It did flatter out substantially at the bottom for an easy ride into Pacific City.  The sun was out and it warmed a little at this lower elevation but still not enough to warm me up.  Saw a Pizza place and decided to stop for a
pizza and see if I could warm up.  Looking over the menu I saw there was a Spaghetti dinner on the menu and asked the order taker, who happened to be the owner, if the salad listed with the dinner was the salad bar which looked pretty good.  He verified it did and that the dinner was the best bargain on the menu as it included not only the salad bar it also included 3 meat balls and cheesy bread (the cheesy bread turned out to be the size of a personal size pizza) all for $8.95.  This is a must stop for anyone with a big appetite for good Italian spaghetti.  While I was eating this humongous meal, Larry arrived.  He had found us a campsite in Kernville a short ways up the Siletz River for tonight and then rode his bike back to meet me.  Larry had a salad only as he had stopped across the street from the pizza place and had salsa and chips before seeing my bike.  After finishing lunch we headed for Kernville some twenty miles distant.  Larry told me the route was  fairly flat and easy.  However, his calculation was about 10 miles less than mine and I questioned him if he had ridden the right route as there was a shorter distance but it was on a section of Hwy. 101 which both Larry’s copy of the Oregon State Bicycle Route issued map and the Adventure Cycling map warned to stay off as being unsafe for bicyclists.  Larry assured me he took the longer route and
I believed him.   How gullible can I be to avoid riding any further then necessary?  Larry kept us on Hwy. 101, I even saw the turn-off we were to take but Larry was far enough ahead he didn’t hear me yell we missed our turn off or did he?  Sure enough this section of Hwy 101 was up a steep hill with little to no shoulder and where there was a shoulder it was flanked by either a guard rail or curbing which came right out to the white line forcing a bicyclist to ride on the  roadway.  Quite unnerving to say the least having a motorist  especially big 18 wheelers roaring past much too close for comfort.  I was not pleased with myself as much as I was with Larry as I could have made the correct turn and rode the extra and safer route.  After reaching the campground and setting up our tents I told Larry he did take the section we weren’t supposed to take.  At first he denied it but when I showed him on the map he said he must have made a  mistake.  Then added, “Oh Frank, you know me just go charging straight ahead of whatever task”.  Yea, I do remember that about you Larry.  Thanks a lot.   Guess, I forgive you?  I may even have to thank you for helping me overcome my current fear of being run over by
motorist?  You dirty *@#%* rat!  Just kidding, you know that Larry?

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