Pacific Coast 101

Well, I'm finally getting caught back up on the blog. Day 6 Motorcycle adventure. Today I hit the coast. It was incredible. It has been far too long since I have been at the ocean. I got a late start heading out of Seattle on I-5 around 11am. I really wasn't enjoying myself on the interstate very much and may or may not have been going a little too fast to get onto the highways again. And what I've been looking forward to the whole trip finally arrived. I hit the 101 pacific coastal highway. The weather was great, the sun shining, and although the highway was busy at times, for the most part I wasn't every really stuck behind anyone.

The bridge from Washington to Oregon was really cool. Its almost 4 miles long across the Columbia river. While the Washington coast was mostly underwhelming, and mostly well away from the coast. The Oregon coast was stunning, and right along the water. This leg of the trip once again was where the miles were flying by. I kept just wanting to ride. Photo ops came second to the gorgeous twisting roads. Here is some video of me riding down the coastal highway if you want to ride along with me. The camera picks up the sound of the exhaust most at like 7500 RPM, so that's what the extra noisy blurts are.

I rode through Tillamook, where the cheese factory is, and considered taking a tour and getting some samples, but again, riding was just so enjoyable I didn't want to stop even for gas. Speaking of which, every single gas station I've been to in Oregon is full service. It caught me off guard the first time I stopped, as this guy just came over to me and was kind of creeping on me. I had my earplugs in so couldn't hear him through my helmet, I thought at first that he was begging for money. I convinced him to let me pump the gas myself, but still he ran my card for me and turned the pump on. Weird. Perhaps they have a lot of people huffing gas or something and its regulated through full service stations to combat that. I don't like it.

I feel at peace next to the ocean. I've always felt that a lack of oceanfront is the only thing missing from Colorado. I would only ever consider moving to somewhere with an ocean if I were to leave Colorado.

Motorcycling Reflection: Inside the Helmet. Today brought to mind the Nietzsche-an philosophy of eternal recurrence. This is the thought that we will live our lives through an infinite number of times, in the exact manner that we live right now, so everything you do must be done in such a manner that if forced to do it again, you would not do it any differently and have no regrets. It struck me that this trip has been an occasion that falls directly into that category. So far there have been amazingly good moments and incredibly miserable moments (snow and 35F in Yellowstone come to mind) but its all part of a whole that I wouldn't want to change in any way. Riding down a coastal highway with the glare of the sun off the water and the salt breeze, I know if I have to do this over, I will, gladly.

So as I made my way down the coast and the sun got lower and lower in the sky I knew I would need to find a place to stay for the night, and camping was the only option in my mind. I found a state park to camp in called Sunset Bay and was able to witness the incredible sight that is it's namesake.  A beautiful sight to see before going to bed in a beautiful campsite just away from the beach.

Waking up in camp, the morning was humid and brisk, but is warming up very quickly. I have a good day ahead of me, into California, and through some Sequoia forests, another part of the trip that I am looking forward to greatly.

Here is a quick video, being irresponsible in a tunnel.

Mileage Day 6 - 415

Cumulative Mileage - 1975

Song I sang most in my helmet: Wonder Boy by Tenacious D

Continental Divide Counter: 8