Reedsport to Coos Bay

We had a short trip today. The weather was forecasted as rain. It started to rain just as we found a motel. We want to do a Powers to Riddle ride and it will require a night of camping so we are trying to "time it" for a day without rain. Tomorrow night we will stay in a cabin in Powers and likely Fri night will be camping. We may not have cell coverage either night.

Yachats to Reedsport

48 miles. We have ridden this route several times. We remember the area around sea llion caves as being very steep. What surprised us was how hilly the rest of the ride was. Weather was better than yesterday. The Sea views are phenomenal. We plan to turn east tomorrow. All is well--we feel very blessed!

Depoe bay to Yachats, Oregon

40 miles. Today we had typical Oregon coast weather. That means windy--unfortunately it was a headwind. Combine that with hills and we decided to do a shorter day. This is a nice community. We are staying at the Ocean Cove inn. We give it a great rating! We had a great seafood dinner at the Luna Sea Fish House--another great rating. Also found a cafe with a wood burning oven and exchange "secrets" with one of the bakers.

Home to Depoe Bay Oregon

67 Miles and two flat tires. The weather could not have been better.   Many whales are performing here in the bay.

Abrupt end to ride!

We were getting ready to start our 10th day of riding about 6 AM today. Ron was making coffee in the hotel. The glass coffee pot broke while he was holding it and cut his right hand. The doctor who examined him found the flexor tendon was severed. He will need the attention of a hand specialist. So no more riding at the present time. He actually feels fine and this will just be a slight bump in the road.

We rented a Tahoe SUV in Boise Idaho and Sharon drove is home with our bikes in the back. We arrived home about 9 o'clock this evening. 

Day 9: Halfway, Oregon to Cambridge Idaho: 58 miles

We got an early start--we were on the road by 6 AM. We had 25 miles x 8 a.m. Then we hit the dreaded Hillclimb and the heat. It took us five hours for another 30 miles. But we are safe in Cambridge Idaho. 

We met a couple of riders going west. We have never seen bicycles loaded more heavily.  They had heavy canvas bags packed with who knows what loaded many upon many. They were older than we are -- surprise surprise. they average about 10 miles per day! For my sister Fran I would say that is fully loaded! 

We were sad when we realized were in the time zone change and it's one hour later. We will miss that one hours sleep tonight. The Brownlee Dam area of the snake River was very beautiful. 

Day 8: Baker city to Halfway Oregon 54 miles

 We were up early today because the forecast was for hot weather. We went from being cold to being hot with no transition. The hotel we stayed in had a restaurant that opened at 6 AM. Breakfast was included and we were given the option of three meals. Worried that the meal would not be enough we also had a short stack of pancakes. Ron left Sharon to pay the bill and gave her money to do so. the total was four dollars since we only had to pay for the pancakes. Sharon told the waitress we did not need any change and gave her the bill that she thought was five dollars. I told Ron to leave one more dollar when he got back but the waitress said we had already given her enough. It was miles later when we realize that it was a $10 bill! We are very generous tippers. We actually had more food than we could eat.

Most of our ride today was in Hells Canyon. It was scenic. We had no towns 44 miles so we had a picnic along the river when our huge breakfast wore off.

The day was not done until we had conquered the hill. It was 4 miles uphill and we could see the switchbacks clearly. It was hot with a headwind at times.  We are very happy to reach the summit and begin our downhill into Halfway, OR.  It was probably 90° when we arrived.  Tomorrow we leave Oregon and enter Idaho.