Seaside to Tillamook

Seaside was sponsoring a old-time street rod convention this weekend. There were a great many beautiful cars around town. The picture shows just one of them. Jim said that I could paint flames on the SAG vehicle if I paid him $20,000. I left my checkbook at home so you missed out Jim.

It looked like we would have a rain-free day when we departed Seaside at 9 this morning. I was in the SAG vehicle to start. I filled up with gas before I left town. It was raining slightly before I got out of town, but the roads showed that it had rained quite hard. The roads were dry after 6 miles. Tracy had left the hotel earlier and got the worst of it. She just got a new bike and it has electronic shifting. The water must have interfered with the electronics as she rode with just two gears the rest of her time on the bike. And she had 3 major climbs to do. There was 2,000 feet of climbing in the first 25 miles, but only 700 in the remaining 22. We had occasional wet roads during the remainder of the day, but nothing on us.

Everyone enjoyed the ride today. The scenery is spectacular. The riders stopped in Cannon Beach to see Haystack Rock, a large rock formation just a few feet off the shore. It is supposed to be the most photographed spot in Oregon. The last climb traversed the side of Neahkahnie Mountain, the highest point along the Oregon coastline. The construction of Highway 101 along its flanks is an engineering marvel with rock walls dozens of feet high and absolutely completely vertical to prevent the roadway from slipping into the ocean. The view from the many pullouts before the summit afford great scenery of the coastline to the south. Today was a little grey so the blue of the water did not show up as on a sunny day.

We went to the Blue Heron French Cheese Company for lunch. For $8.50, you receive a cup of soup and two salads. We went to the Tillamook Cheese Factory for a tour and cheese samples and some of the best ice cream. It was a great way to begin a bike tour today!