Cannon Beach is a charming seaside town of wooden houses with verandahs and flowery gardens.
Then the one tunnel of the trip, and it is uphill! The Swiss girl goes in front of the tandem as she has no rear light. Mike presses the button to warn the traffic (mostly lorries) that cyclists are in the tunnel (with no hard shoulder). This is ignored by a double length tanker doing at least 60mph, who passes us by inches. We all emerge in a state shock.
Wheeler is a tiny, tidy fishing port on a wide bay. We stare at a large herd of elk on the other bank. They all stare back, I don't think they have seen hi-vis humans before. We stop at a road side shack called Karla's at Rockaway Beach, selling the best ever smoked fish, so we sample the black cod, salmon and tuna. Karla is still there behind the counter, smoking and selling the fish herself, as she has for 40+ years.
At blue Tillamook Bay, brown pelicans dive, and we arrive at Dee and Mark's house in Bay City. Their well behaved 2 standard poodles and 2 Scottie dogs greet us. We are spoilt with 2 lovely rooms for the night.
Two BIG hills next day, both over 800ft. From a viewpoint on the second, we see a flock of Stellar Jays, with their distinctive vibrant blue backs and black headcrests.
Once we have seen the view of crashing surf from the first summit, we whizz down through acres of sand dunes, which look out of place with fir trees growing on them. We reach a wide sunny farmland valley, stuck in a '50s time warp. We join the Sheriff of Tillamook for coffee on the wooden verandah of a tiny, faded general store on a lonely cross road at Sandllake.
Lunch is at Pacific City, eating home-bottled tuna made by Dee, and watching the occasional 4x4 try and drive up the steep dunes onto the beach - not many make it at first attempt.
We camp in a state park at Lincoln City and eat in a massive busy fish restaurant right on the beach. We are a day ahead of our (Lonely Planet) schedule.
Tour miles to date: 1027
Location:Seaside to Lincoln City
