Losing Monte & Jake’s Wipeout (Spoiler: We are all OK!)

Day 60 – Friday April 28, 2017
Miles – 28
End – Gold Beach Inn, Gold Beach, OR

Campsite at Harris Beach

Monte enjoying the view from our hotel room

View from our patio

THe Gold Beach Inn

Day 61 – Saturday April 29, 2017
Miles – 27
End – Humbug Mountain State Park, Port Orford, OR

Morning view from the Gold Beach Inn

Walk to the beach at Humbug

Under the bridge

Beach at Humbug

Humbug campsite

Monte napping on Jake’s clothes

Jake’s hair is growing out of his helmet!

Day 62 – Sunday April 30, 2017
Miles – 36
End – Lighthouse Cove Inn, Bandon, OR

We were packing up at Humbug. Monte woke up from his morning nap in the tent and we let him outside to eat breakfast and we didn’t put his leash on him… I ask Jake, “Where’s Monte’s towel?” And then a second later, “Wait, where’s Monte?” He had finished breakfast and then wandered off! Like a ninja. We were terrified. We briefly checked around our campground and called his name and then we both went down to the campground road. I had the worst case scenario in mind. That he went to play in the river across from our campground and then was swept out to sea or tangled in some branches and drowned.

I walked along the river to the ocean while Jake asked around at the campground. He went back up to our campsite and checked in the creek running behind. He and another camper heard Monte playing in the water. He makes a nervous squeal/bark when he gets mesmerized by the water. He didn’t hear Jake calling his name. He had to walk into the creek to grab him. I asked a surfer coming back from the beach if he had seen my dog and he said no, there is no dog out there. I felt pretty sure that Monte hadn’t drowned in the river or the ocean so I headed back to the campground. Jake and a wet Monte came walking up to me!

The whole ordeal lasted about 20 minutes but it felt like hours. I’m sort of glad that our instincts were correct. We thought that he must be playing in some water! The park ranger tried to point us toward the 101, saying that dogs like to go up there and then eat the berries on the bushes or something. But we knew that Monte could not make it that far with all this water around.

Lighthouse Cove Inn

Day 63 – Monday May 1, 2017
Miles – 4
End – Bullards Beach State Park, Bandon, OR

We have only one picture from this day for some reason. We stopped at the bike shop in Bandon to get new brake pads, adjust my derailleur and check my front wheel. A branch got caught in it the other day. It took a couple of hours.

Day 64 – Tuesday May 2, 2017
Miles – 23
End – Sunset Bay State Park, Coos Bay, OR
Jake, here. We stopped in the small town of Charleston for a late lunch. The people working there were extremely nice. Richard even gave us a cycling map of coastal Oregon, and he warned us about the narrow shoulder ahead. The only other customer sitting outside was Sketch, the artist who painted the logo, menu, and mural on the side of the restaurant and so many other murals on establishments in the area.

It was recommended by both of them that we go to Sunset Bay State Park, so we did. On the way there, which was just a short 3 miles down a side road, I hit a slick in the shoulder and wiped out. I fell on my left side, but the bags braced my fall. I escaped with only minor road rash on my shin and a couple of scrapes. Monte’s trailer did exactly what it was designed to do, preventing it from tipping along with my bike. It was really scary. There was nothing I could have done to prevent it, but I was lucky there was no traffic at the time and I reacted quick enough to brace my fall and hop right back up. My bike was a little dinged, but it seemed rideable. Everyone was safe, and that is what mattered most.

– Jake

Lunch spot in Charleston. The owner was really nice and gave us an Oregon bike map.

The muralist who did this stopped in for lunch while we were there. His name is Sketch.

Sunset Bay.We saw four grey whale calfs spounting in the bay.

Sunset Bay

Sunset Bay. It was clear enough on the water for this view.

Monte going crazy for the ocean waves.

Day 65 – Wednesday May 3, 2017
Miles – 18
End – Oregon Dunes KOA Campground, North Bend, OR
We stopped by Moe’s bike shop just before the 1.5 mile long Coos Bay bridge to get Jake’s bike checked out after our crash. The bike route we are following offers a detour that takes you inland around the Bay so you don’t have to go across this bridge. There is just a narrow sidewalk and narrow travel lanes. We decided to go for the bridge. But Carol at Moe’s Bike Shop was not going to let us bike across with the trailer, which wouldn’t fit on the sidewalk. So she drove home and got get her stepvan and drove us and our stuff across. She was enamoured with Monte and let him roam around the bike shop and sniff every nook and cranny.