Breakfast was at the trailer today as the Silver Sands Motel has no breakfast facility.  We passed one of the local Rockaway Beach establishments less than  mile from the motel.

Barbara and I decided to ride together today – she is quite a bit stronger, but graciously waited for me several times.

Our route took us through Garibaldi and Bay City into Tillamook.  There were many Sunday fishermen out on Tillamook Bay.  Many of our group stopped at the cheese stores in Tillamook but Barbara and I pedaled on.  We passed a group of people enjoying a ride on the train rails.

Several from our group elected to continue on US 101 at this point; we decided to follow the cue sheet route.  At first, I was worried about the lack of a shoulder, but there was little traffic and all vehicles were considerate.  I had hoped that all of the RVs towing cars would be gone for the fall, but we continued to see a few of them on the road.

At Netarts Bay, we took a restroom break and spoke to a local – many boats were out searching for dungeness crabs, limited to 15 male crabs taken per person.  There were even scuba divers gathering the crabs.  The bay is a well-mixed estuary, i.e. it has low inputs of freshwater and strong tidal flow which mixes the water evenly throughout the estuary. The mixing that occurs is so complex that the salinity is the same from top to bottom.  I was intrigued by the sand bars and low water levels, wondering how much the tide affects the bay – no answers yet to be found.

We joined the Three Capes Scenic Route, missing Cape Meares due to a landslide. I stopped at Cape Lookout State Park hoping to see where the ocean joined Netarts Bay – only scenic ocean views.  Then we had a 3+ mile climb, with some 10% grades, up to Cape Lookout – beautiful views after a very slow climb.

Sadly the downhill was treacherous, with uneven surfaces, so no super fast descent.  We continued on the Three Capes Scenic Route to Cape Kiwanda, site of another haystack rock (we did not stop for photos).  Daughter Sarah had recommended Grateful Bread in Pacific City for lunch/cookies, and we were not disappointed:  Barbara, Janine, Joyce, Susan W. and I enjoyed soup and sandwiches as well as the recommended chocolate chip cookies.

The route rejoined US 101 into Neskowin where we are staying at the Neskowin Resort, condos on the beach.  My roommate is Joan from New York State – she tests beer for InBev (formerly Anheuser Busch).

As luck would have it, our condo is on the third floor, no elevator, so I carried first my bike, then my suitcase upstairs.

Barbara and I walked on the beach before dinner as the tide was going out – some beautiful homes that look to be at risk in the event of a tsunami or a rock slide.  The iconic rock offshore is the Proposal Rock with a variety of legends about how it got its name.

(Last night’s roommate was Donna who is a retired middle school gym teacher from santa Cruz, CA.)

Relive: https://www.relive.cc/view/1200338779

No wifi in our condo, borrowing from another condo, so no photos for this entry.