Over the hills cyclists

We can see the ocean! We did it! 82+ km and we are now in Lincoln City. We started our day at 7am by biking into McMinnville for breakfast at the Wildwood cafe. I wish I had brought by iPad to take a picture of Norm's Wildwood Toast. It was 2" thick white bread, rolled in granola and fried, sort of French toast. He definitely was "carbing up" for the ride. (Note from NG: had a plate of fruit too, including some bananas.) Too bad it didn't taste as good as it looked. Back to our motel to pack and we were on the road by 9 and off to Lincoln City only 48 miles away! Having to take a main highway means a lot more traffic. Fortunately the drivers have been really good, giving us lots of room and most of the time we have a four-foot shoulder to bike on. But Norm is always looking for a better way, so all of sudden we take a side trip to Sheridan (coffee anyone?)  One thing you notice is the worn and tired state of many of these small towns. So many homes need fixing, store fronts are closed and many people are living in trailers. The recession is still going on here. But we did find a coffee shop, Slow Train. And she was slow but the coffee, tea and toasted bagel were perfect.

Next staying off the main highway we pass through Willamina. You probably haven't heard of it but  it was busier when they had a plywood mill. Looks like the small town where they made that Stephen 

King movie about the kids tracking down a rumour about a body out along the river. Now Willamina makes veneer and we were passed by many trucks loaded with logs and the finished product peeled off them. We now joined back up with highway 18 to the coast.

Since we had a long long long way to go we didn't stop too often, only to give our bums a rest and to share an apple.  But here we are at the summit of the coast highway. Yeah! Only had to walk about 1/2 km to reach the summit. It was a long climb.

It is all down hill from here, we'll almost. It felt great to get into high gear and just go for it. We made it to Captain Cook's Motel in Lincoln City by 2.30. To say I was pooped would be accurate. Showered and feeling somewhat refreshed we then walked 3 km into town and celebrated with a drink at Kyllo's -- photo below especially for Colleen Brownlee, who knows the restaurant that sits on stilts by the sea. It felt so good to sit and not pedal but not easy to get up and walk back.

We had to check out the beach. Windy! Windy! It was so windy we walked only until we could find the nearest exit. But it is beautiful. 

Tomorrow we will spend the day exploring Lincoln City, outlet malls, antique malls and maybe a bike store too. It will be nice to rest up for the next 80+ day Norm has planned.