Day 75 – Saturday May 13, 2017
Miles – 0
End – Western Royal Inn, Tillamook, OR

We were a bit traumatized by the freezing cold rain that hit us the day before and opted to stay at the motel another day rather than face the elements again. The morning was cold and rainy and then cleared to more intermittent rain later in the day. I did a grocery run and we hung out at the motel.

Day 76 – Sunday May 14, 2017
Miles – 28
End – Nehalem Bay State Park, Manznita, OR

There was a break in the rain forecasted overnight so we made our move! Blue skies with some showers.  We met a bike tourist at the campground who we had met before back in Lincoln City.

Day 77 – Monday May 15, 2017
Miles – 22
End – Neil’s House, Seaside, OR

Overnight we had our first raccoon incident in Oregon last night. There were no secure boxes to store our food in so we sealed it up as best we could and hoped for the best. Three raccoons sniffed around our tent and opened Monte’s trailer in search for food. Luckily Monte was exhausted and slept through this, but I was up, scared they would decide to try to break into the pannier that had our food in it. I could see their shadows cast on the tent. It was creepy!

We had to press on today to make it to our Warmshowers host in time for it to rain overnight. We made dinner for our host and had a cozy night in at his house. He was skeptical of having a dog stay with him, but Monte won him over with his cuteness! Or rather how clean and quiet he was.

Day 78 – Tuesday May 16, 2017
Miles – 0
End – Neil’s House, Seaside, OR

Rain was in the forecast so we stayed at Neil’s another night. We went for a walk up the Prom and Main Street. It seems like Seaside is a happening place in the summertime. Jake stopped at a barber and got his first haircut since we left LA.

Day 79 – Wednesday May 17, 2017
Miles – 24
End – Steve’s Apartment, Astoria, OR

We had an uneventful ride to Astoria. I got a little turned around on the back roads and lost the route. My clue that something was wrong was when a dog ducked under his fence to chase us down the street. Luckily he was all show and no bite. But typically dogs that live on the official bike route are not that terrified of us, so I figured we may be lost. After getting to town we had a late lunch at Buoy Brewery. The brewery is built on the piers over the river and inside they have a glass floor so you can look down at the sea lions lounging underneath. We settled into Steve’s apartment in an old twine factory and he cooked us dinner.

Day 80 – Thursday May 18, 2017
Miles – 0
End – Steve’s Apartment, Astoria, OR

We spent the day exploring the city. We walked through downtown and nearby neighborhoods in the morning. Then we went to the grocery store three times because I kept forgetting things. We went to Fort George Brewery for a beer. Monte ate all the food off the ground there and chased away the pigeons. One of the staff there said, “You’re hired!” because they have issues with pigeons on the patio. We left Monte at Steve’s apartment and went to the Maritime Museum and toured the retired Lightship Columbia. We learned that where the Columbia River meets the ocean is one of the most dangerous shipping channels with hundreds of wrecks and thousands lives lost. The lightship was anchored out in the water and served as a lighthouse where it is not feasible to build one. It was decommissioned once all the ships got GPS. All cargo ships are required to have a specialized “bar pilot” come on board to navigate the ship through the sand bars. There are only 20 such pilots and they go on and off the ships via helicopter. We spent the evening hanging out and talking with Steve. We cooked dinner for our host and took in the sunset on the roof.