BAC Seattle to San Francisco

20100714 – Lakeside to Port Orford

Jeremiah entertained us last night. The Lakeside Lodge is on the shore of a lake and there are lots of lily pads.

I was up at 6:00 for a 6:30 breakfast at the lodge. I had French toast with blueberries. Afterwards, I packed, loaded my luggage and took off alone at 7:45. It was sunny and cold with a good tail wind.

We have been following the Oregon Coast Bike Route along with Adventure Cycling route maps. There get us off of US 101 as much as possible taking us on less traveled and more scenic roads. Today was no exception. At North Bend at mile 15, we turned west and followed Hungryman Cove which is part of Coos Bay. At Charleston we turned onto three of my favorite road names – Seven Devils Rd, Beaver Hill Rd and Whiskey Run Lane. We went south on these roads through remote forests until mile 41 when we merged onto US 101.

Around mile 46 at a draw bridge we had to wait at the side of the road for one land traffic to clear before we were allowed over the bridge. Then we left US 101 at Bandon turning west the south around the bluffs lining the ocean. It was very windy here cooling me off considerably. I had to put my jacket back on having shed it a few miles back. I stopped at one of the state parks and ate my PB&J sandwich at a picnic tables overlooking the surf.

At mile 51, I merged onto US 101 again and was thankful for the tail wind that pushed me all of the way to Port Orford and the Sea Crest Motel.

Traffic was heavy on US 101 but very light on the other roads. Road surfaces were mostly excellent although we had several short stretches were shoulders were very narrow or disappeared altogether. We went over a few small bridges and a long one-mile bridge with no problems.

Here is a link to today’s route.

Our motel is an old-style one just south of Port Orford. On the surface, my room looks clean. Closer inspection shows cobwebs in the corner, dust on higher surfaces and dead bugs on the ceiling (there is a fly swatter hanging on the wall). The walls have fresh paint but someone forgot to scrape the mistakes off of the window. I have a great view of the ocean and the entrance to the harbor. There are several fishing boats anchored off shore.

Happy Hour ended early. We were all eager to get to the Crazy Norwegian’s Fish and Chips before it closed. Believe it or not, this is a highly rated seafood restaurant right here in Port Orford. There were at least 16 of us that were shuttled the half-mile to the restaurant which looks like a fish shack. The interior is fairly small with a dozen or so tables. I had their specialty – fish and chips. It was lightly battered fresh cod. I abstained from pie and ice cream.

It is closing in on 8:00. I’m going to wind it down for the day and watch the sunset from my room.