My unsolicited motorcycle compliments doubled from 5 to 10 today.  Midnight has now been described as “sharp,” “beautiful,” and “huge.”  One man even talked to me for a half an hour about how good Midnight looked, and then he started talking about oil spills and how the government is hiding what’s really going on in the ocean, and then asked if I was a musician and when I said yes he gave me two handwritten sheets of guitar theory charts.  Nice fella.

There isn’t much I can write that pictures can’t say for me.  I rode the famous Pacific Coast Highway 101 from Seaside to Newport.  It would normally be a 3 hour trip but for me it was more like 6 hours because I stopped to enjoy the view so many times.  Here’s why:

The highway itself it not constant ocean view.  It is heavily forested but there were plenty of ocean views.  There were oodles of little communities along the way, all of them offering seafood and antiques and other arty wares.  Pretty cool vibe actually.  I

stopped in Tillamook where the famous cheese factory is but it looked way too crowded for my taste.  I did find a cool little place across the road that served a killer crab melt.

I actually stopped at a winery toward the end of my journey.  It was called Flying Dutchman Winery.  I bought a bottle that I intended to drink on the beach that night.  There was a place called Mo’s right next to it, and Mo’s is supposed to have the best clam chowder on the coast, so I had some.

The Agate Beach Motel is a special place.  This is no normal hotel, and I intentionally called this night my splurge night because it cost a few bucks, but it was worth every penny.  It sits high atop a cliff overlooking Agate Beach north of Newport.  There is a private staircase leading down to the beach.

After unpacking I went out in search of dinner and found a place that served Yaquina Bay Oysters.  I ordered some as an appetizer but after they came I was blown away by their size.  I did not order an entree.  Tonight’s dinner was a bunch of raw oyster meat and a pint of beer.

After returning to the motel I decided to go check out the beach.  It was getting close to 8pm and the sun would be setting in the next hour.  The motel sells these burlap bags filled with wood that you can throw into a hole on the beach and light up for an instant campfire.  I bought one, and proceeded down the staircase to the beach where I enjoyed the setting of the sun (albeit hidden by cloud cover) with a little fire, a few local beers, and the roar of the waves.  I just sat there for about an hour and a half.  It was incredibly relaxing, except that afterward when the fire was out I realized I was alone in the dark on a rugged beach and couldn’t see a damn thing to get back.  Luckily my phone has a flashlight on it.

Here’s a video and map of the day.  The video is funny.  This day was originally called “The Man in Me”, but youtube muted that because of copywrite so I put Brandy in itstead…but I didn’t edit it.  So the editing sucks but I think the song captures the mood of the day: