North Bend to Langlois

Well, I did it again - took the scenic route instead of the highway. You'd think that I'd learn. There were major hills and no traffic, but the scenery wasn't too exciting either. I figured out on my trip last year that alot of the scenic routes are in the trees, or that they at least don't give you as scenic a view as you want. Sometimes you have to put up with a little traffic to get the views. If I ever ride the Oregon Coast again I think I'll stick to the highway between North Bend and Bandon. (And by the way the highway is not what I think of as a highway. It's still a 2-lane road!)

I took the scenic route out of Bandon too - but that one was a good choice, running right next to the water with several state parks along the way.

Stopping in North Bend last night was a good idea. It turns out that the two campgrounds that I was aiming for were totally off the route - and for some reason I didn't realize that. I would have ended up riding all the way to Bandon, which would have been a 75 mile day. And I don't think that would have made me too happy.

It was a nice ride today once I finished the monster hills. They were short steep hills, and I find the longer gradual hills easier to deal with. One of these days I'm going to turn into a good hill climber. I'm getting better as I continue to ride, but I'm still a slow climber. Sometimes I think I'm crawling up the hills.

Bandon was a nice little town. I found a bakery/deli, restocked on bagels, and had soup and fresh bread for lunch. Yum. One of my lunch neighbors told me that Bandon is in the sun belt. It's situated in such a way on the coast that it has sun when towns north and south are still in the fog. I considered just hanging out here today but decided to push on so I have a chance of hitting the redwoods too. My destination for tomorrow is somewhat up in the air. Gold Beach is really too close. It may just be a long day. There's a state park in Brookings, which is only 30 miles from Crescent City. I'm thinking maybe I could overshoot Crescent City by 20 to 25 miles, get into Redwoods National Park, then ride back on Tuesday. I'll have to see how I feel tomorrow. Brookings is 65 miles from here, and there's what looks to be a major climb between here and Gold Beach. I would like to get to Brookings though - I'd like to have one more night camping in a beach park.

The campground I'm in tonight - a KOA - is in the middle of no where, but I don't really care since the sun is out, and has been since about noon. And I've got a sunny spot to sit in for a while. Nice, after a gloomy and drizzly start to the day.



Message from Cathy (my real estate agent) - she's waiting for an offer on the condo from another broker. I'll try to reach her once more tonight, then again in the morning. She didn't know what the offer would be when she left the message. I hope it's workable. As much as I've tried not to think about it, the condo sale has been in the back of my mind. It would be great to have it settled.