Go Big And Go Home - Day 4 - Is there no end to the WOWs?

Wow…bet you are getting tired of hearing that word….good thing you aren’t travelling with us.  It is the single most used English word so far on this trip.

We left Salem this morning by 8:30 am wanting to get a good start on the day.  We travelled through the city, crossing another bridge with a “cheese grater” for a platform.  Not long after this we were in the countryside.  Temps were around 20 which was comfortable.  As we moved along the 22W, the route had some tree coverage so we would move from 20 degrees to 16 in the shade which was a nice change from yesterday afternoon.  As we moved along this route we started closing in on the Cascades….yup you guessed it.  Only this time instead of open spaces we were moving along twisting roads under the canopy of some of the tallest trees we have seen.  

At Dallas, OR we took the 223S.  When we got to Wren, OR, we took the 34W.  This brought us through more canopied forest and long twisting roads as well as a bicycle event through the area called Alsea.  Luckily for us they were coming the opposite direction so we had a clear trail through to the coast.  The cyclists had great temperatures which was good as they had a long climb through that route.

We enjoyed this part of the ride so much that we rode for 3 hours straight stopping only at the end of the 34W when we reached the coast at Waldport, OR where we stopped for gas and got our first peek at the Pacific on this trip.  White sands, calm water and fog but an absolutely beautiful area.  

We stopped for lunch in Yaghat (pronounced Yack it) at a place recommended by the guys at the gas station.  LeRoy’s Blue Whale…seemed like destiny!

We started down the 101S along the coast and it did not take long for that shoreline to change.  Our second glance came as we started to climb in elevation AGAIN.  We were surrounded by rock and trees…mostly trees.  The roads just seemed to wind around the coast on our right and around the mountain of trees on our left.  

We stopped at least 2-3 times to take in the coastline as it changed that many times in a very short distance.  The fog kept rolling in and out along the route at this point as you can see in the photo.  Again much like the canopy of trees across the Cascades, the temps dropped to 16C until you came out in the sun and started warming up at 20 C

 

The things that stand out to us so far are the changes….we are seeing leaves changing to red and yellow much like home, the changes in temperatures when we ride under the canopy of trees - the temperatures dropped 4 degrees right away, even the changes along the coast.  As I mentioned, the first sighting was calm water and beaches..as we drove along the coast the view to the west kept changing….the shoreline became rocky, then we passed through thick forest and then the biggest sand dunes ever.

Tonight our faces are slightly wind burnt which might seem odd given we have full face helmets…but we couldn’t stop lifting our visors to feel and smell the air…spectacular and probably has medicinal properties that make us sleep well at night.

We have landed in Bandon tonight, managing to get one of the last rooms at the Best Western Inn at Face Rock.  We walked down to their private beach to try and catch the sunset.  Fortunately while taking pictures as we walked along the path, I managed to get some shots of the sun as it was setting.  The fog rolled in so the final setting of the sun was obscured….we had some fun on the beach though.  

I will share our dip in the Pacific, the huge expanse of beach and of course the setting sun…it has been a great day….another day of….well see the WOWs for yourself.