Cape Lookout State Park to Beverly Beach State Park

Today started out with a HUGE climb, the first of three. At the top, we saw a sand forest-- something completely new to us! The site of pine trees growing in sand dunes was quite amazing. We were lucky to experience some breathtaking scenery-- the first stop was Cape Kiwanda, a popular recreation place and a cute town. We ate lunch there, as we got started a little late.



We had another HUGE climb up the 101, then we rolled extremely quickly past beautiful shoreline configurations and past Strawberry Hill, where we had to stop and visit the seal colony. Seals are so funny, little marine sausages with fins-- they pretty much just sit all day and sun themselves, although they do dive into the water occasionally to eat. While we were watching, we met a family traveling from Eastern Oregon-- they chatted with us for awhile and gave us lots of encouragement and well wishes. We pedaled on to our last climb of the day, Otter Crest. I was dreading this climb because we had already climbed so much, but it turned out to be my most favorite part of the trip so far. The road was a one-way loop to the top of the crest with a bike lane on the right shoulder, and there was virtually no traffic. The climb was a gentle slope that hugged the cliff, and at the top, we were treated to a stellar view of our campground below.



Also, today was Frank's birthday! Rike told us, so we surprised Frank by buying him three little cheesecakes and some candles for dessert. We ate this at our campground after an amazing pasta dinner with fresh vegetables. Our campsite is again very nice, $4 each including a hot shower. Hike and bike sites are unbeatable! Today's stats are the biggest yet: 55 miles, 11.4 mph average, 3267 ft of climbing. Woo hoo!