BAC Seattle to San Francisco

20100709 – Astoria to Garibaldi

I awoke a little past 6:00 to fog in Astoria. I had oatmeal and coffee cake in the motel’s lobby at 7:00. I rolled near 8:00 dressed in my tights, arm warmers, jacket, toe warmers (I wear sandals) and a light undershirt. No fog would deter me!

After 1 1/2 miles, the fog was gone but it was still cool. So I left my cold weather gear on. I’m glad I did because near Seaside after 20 miles, it got foggy and cold again. I had caught up with the Indy Chicks just before that and they had to stop and put on their warmer outer clothes again. Here is a photo of them arriving in Seaside.

The route to Seaside was beautiful. We bypassed the busy roads getting our of Astoria and rode past farm land and forests. All of the flora was lush, a sharp contrast to parts of our route in Washington where timber companies had clear-cut a lot of the forest.

We finally reached the Pacific Ocean at Seaside where we rode up to the beach and turned south along a promenade. I stopped at a coffee shop for a raspberry scone and some coffee. Then I continued on to Canon Beach on US 101. I didn’t stop there, but it looks like a good place to stay sometime. It is gentrified compared to Seaside’s run down glitz.

After Canon Beach, I was on US 101 all of the way to Garibaldi. Parts of the route had wide shoulders similar to Washington. But other parts had narrow, dirty or no shoulders. It was scary with the trucks moving past me at speed. I was especially nervous in today’s tunnel. It was uphill so I was going pretty slow. It was a relief to get out of it.

I left Astoria a little before 8:00 and arrived at  The Garibaldi House a little after 1:00.

This is a link to today's route.

My room is very comfortable. It and the hotel in general are several steps up from the last two nights. They gave me towels so I could clean and lube my bicycle. They insisted that I use the hot tub to soak my tired muscles. They had popcorn, juice (one was cucumber, mint and ginger) and some snacks (crackers, cheese, salami).

Happy Hour was moved back to 5:00. Everyone seemed to want it earlier. This gives us an opportunity to eat dinner earlier. Speaking of dinner, I ate the Garibaldi Pub and Eatery with Ron. I had a pulled pork sandwich with beans and coleslaw. An IPA went with it.

The sun is out at 7:30 and the temperature is very pleasant. I’m signing off for the night.