December 23, 2012
North Bend to Bandon, Oregon
Let's see, where to begin... We set out in the rain... oops, that was yesterday, the story must be getting old. If this were an expedition to the North Pole one would not start each chapter with "the trail was icy". Actually the story here is not really one of all rain. For 1/2 hour in the afternoon the sun did appear. It was wonderful. The water running down the roadside sparkled, and it felt like Spring. But before I could mentally get too much planted in the garden, the cold showers started again. Hmmpph.
We crossed the bridge over Coos Bay, using the narrow sidewalk. It was not really scary since the quite solid railing blocked any views straight down. On the other side, which is where North Bend actually begins, there was this encouraging sign that someone does care about cyclists:
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We never did get to see the rest area, since we diverted in the direction of the dollar store and Walmart. We were after more batteries for our red flashers, and some shoes for Dodie. We find the weather dull enough and the traffic heavy enough that we want to run flashers all the time.
The shoes are also a bit of a strategy change. In the past we found that closed shoes tend to fill with water, resulting in cold wet feet. So we switched to sandals and merino socks, to maybe have damp, warm feet. But we found that with temperatures just a few degrees from freezing, best is dry feet, in warm socks. So now it's closed shoes, merino socks, and shoe covers.
While we were shoring up our stuff, we took time with electrical tape (alwaysin our kit) to repair Dodie's seat. It has decided to disintegrate just because of the bike crashing a couple of times!
North Bend and Coos Bay struck us as more working towns than ones catering to tourists and summer residents. Huge piles of sawdust and working boats in the harbour made up the scene, with little of the weathered cedar shakes and maritime decorations so characteristic of places like Seaside or Yachats.
We headed out of town, choosing to stay on 101, rather than take the diversion recommended by ACA along the Seven Devils Rd.. It turned out for the first bit, the shoulder on 101 was a bit narrow, but the road had two traffic lanes, so vehicles could easily give us enough clearance. After the intersection with hwy 42, moreover, the shoulder became broad and smooth, making 101 the rest of the way into Bandon as good as any bit of road we have been on this trip. Thanks to Art Birkmeyer for the tip about staying on 101!
101 also brought us another pleasant surprise. Bryant and Gail, two CGOAB readers who live in Fort Bragg were on their way to Portland when they spotted us along the road. They swung around and stopped, Bryant greeting us in our favourite way: "Grampies Go Coastal?". We had a pleasant chat by the roadside. Encouraging Guestbook entries and encounters like this one have a huge effect in keeping us energized!
The sunshine mentioned before followed and soon enough we were at the outskirts of Bandon. Bandon is called the cranberry capital of Oregon, and we did spot some of the characteristic,Christmasy red bogs.
We found a motel directly across from " Old Town" which is an area of restaurants and small shops. We are finding that the distance between towns is either a little short for us, or if we would attempt a "double jump", a little too far. So we found ourselves walking around Old Town in daylight.
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The first store that caught our attention was one selling almost exclusively cranberry sweets. They had a huge variety of jelly squares, filled chocolates, chocolate dried cranberry candies apples, cranberry preserves, etc. A most remarkable thing was that for each sweet they had a huge pile of tasters. Most of the products were very costly, so you could easily sample $10 worth just casually. Cyclists just in from the road are a bad kind of customer in combination with this marketing approach. Actually we did buy a fair bit too, so I guess it did work for them.
Other shops had some interesting items as well. Myrtle wood, for example, is something found as carved wood knickknacks all along the coast. The tree appears to grow in just a small range here, so it is a regional speciality.
Other shops had decorative tiles that we found very attractive, but other windows again would, we know be of special interest to grandchild Violet. Violet, have a look with us:
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Today's ride: 54 km (34 miles)
Total: 878 km (545 miles)
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