Bike Forums - 10.26.02 Leaving Astoria, Nehalem Bay State Park

When I woke up from a nice sleep. Sara and Eli were already home. It was about 9am and Eli was fixing up some breakfast. I got together a few things and then said goodbye to Jesse who was heading out. Eli made some great eggs with leftover goodies from a Mexican restaurant and we had some tasty breakfast tacos. Sara and Philippe said goodbye and headed home and I checked my email before changing into my cycling clothes. Eli and I went outside to warm up with a game of hacky sack and then I said my thanks and goodbye and headed for the road. It was looking like a great day for cycling. The sun was out and the sky was clear. I was on the road and headed out of Astoria by noon. I crossed the Youngs River and enjoyed the nice smooth pavement that took me through towns like Seaside and Cannon Beach, Arch Cape and ultimately Manzanita where I turned off after about 50 miles of riding to Nehalem Bay State Park. I didn’t mind paying the 4 bucks for the hiker-biker tent spot. It was a nice park that had its share of RV’s but it also was on a beautiful beach. I set up my tent and climbed past the sand dunes to get to a nice wide-open beach. The waves created a constant noise as I sat on a driftwood log writing in my journal, waiting for the sun to set on the water. I walked out to the hard packed sand near the water and kicked around the hacky sack for a few minutes before heading back to the campsite. I got out my snacks and had dinner as darkness set in. There wasn’t much for me to do on this early evening so I just went inside the tent and looked through some mail and wrote in my journal before laying down for some sleep. (48 miles)

Peace

Dave

Pic: Leaving Astoria