Bike the OR Coast

Day 5 - Inn at Otter Crest to Le Chateau in Florence







The day is looking MUCH better already. High clouds, but no rain. The boys' clothes dried nicely under the heat lamps in the bathrooms at the Inn at Otter Crest

We took off around 9:30 and stopped at the Devil's Punchbowl, a really cool natural landform that formed when the roof of two seawater caves collapsed. Unfortunately the camera washed out the picture and the tide was out.

Ruben and Keith said their good-byes, especially to Elias who was very nervous about being so close to the high cliff, even though we kept reassuring him that it was really ok. He was pretty mad at me for trying to get him to challenge his fear for much of our drive to Newport.


Marc caught up with Keith and Ruben on the road to Newport. Hilary and Lauren caught up with each other at an internet cafe, then the boys joined up with us for a cup of coffee. Marc's bike was having trouble, so they asked the lady at the cafe where a bike shop was in town (1 mile back, about 1 block off the road)... They doubled back and Lauren, Elias and Hilary went off to the Oregon Coast aquarium.

The aquarium was very cool as always. I still love the Seal/Sea Lion exhibits. The seals are so cool and playful. In the picture on the left, Elias is "petting" the seal who presses his head up against the window. The adorable critter had his eyes closed at first, then opened it to make sure Elias was petting him. The other picture if of Elias "petting" the sealife in the tide pool exhibit, with Hilary making sure he doesn't fall in.


Hilary received a call a short time later that Marc's bike needed a big repair - the bearings in the rear wheel were full of water and shot. Keith and Ruben continued on by themselves, while Hilary picked up Marc and they had lunch in Newport.

Elias and I started southbound. About 5 miles north of Waldport we saw Ruben and Keith, with Ruben's bike upside down. They were trying to figure why Ruben's rear deraileur was squeaking. It also turned out that Ruben had taken a spill back in Newport and had a nasty road rash (partially covered by a bandaid) on his shin. He did it trying to hop a curb with a flat tire. Oh well, at least he's "pre-dinged."

Fortunately we had some lube/cleaner and we were able to solve the problem before it got worse. I also fixed Ruben's finger with some "minor surgery" which had some small flecks of metal imbedded into the tip... The boys ate a quick snack, and I took Elias to go scout ahead for lunch. I found a place with passable food in Waldport called the Grand Central Pizza. Everything was greasy though. Ugh. Still I did get a solo walk and found a cute little shop with some of the best tie-dyed shirts I'd ever seen. I couldn't resist one long sleeved shirt. It was hard to resist more of them, but I did.

I sent a text message to Marc and Hilary and let them know where we were eating. With Marc's bike all fixed, they caught up with us, and the boys were able to start back on their way around 3pm. It was going to be a long day (60 miles to begin with, then all the mechanical problems), but it's a beautiful ride. Most of the ride are low rollers, but there are 2 large hills - one near Cape Perpetua and one near the sea lion caves.


Speaking of Sea Lion Caves - Hilary had asked me where to see Sea Lions. I told her about the caves, but how you pay money to go down an elevator to the caves, only to have this overpowering stench hit you. We found out from the biking book that sea lions like to hang out at Strawberry Hill - and they were in fact there. Sometime later I gave Hilary a brochure of Sea Lion Caves that I had picked up along the way. I pointed to the picture and said "See? You've seen Sea Lion Caves!"

Also speaking of Sea Lion Caves, Ruben took these pictures when they had crested the hill there...






Hilary, Elias and I checked into Le Chateau hotel right at 4pm. The hotel is functional - not fancy, but not expensive. There is a pool, jacuzzi, and free internet. The beds are big. The rooms are big. The people up at the front desk are nice and helpful. This is as opposed to last night at the Inn at Otter Crest. Beautiful location, ok rooms, but very little service (Did I mention last night that I called and asked for more towels and they never came? It was annoying, but I found the supply closet open and just grabbed some.)

The boys arrived around 6pm and showered. I got a 25 minute swim in the small pool for "training," then showered myself. At 8pm we walked down to the "Old Town" and had dinner at the Traveler's Cove - which was pretty good Mexican food and had a nice view (shown here with a picture of another old town restaurant/chain - Mo's). After dinner we all just retired to our rooms to get ready for Day 6....