I woke up and was was still reeling over that campfire on the beach and the general laissez-faire vibe that permeates everything around the ocean.  Maybe it’s not as laissez-faire for the people who live here, but it sure feels that way.  A lot of restaurants have their hours as “ish” instead of a firm time…ie, open 11ish to 6ish.  The leisurely rides down the famous Oregon Coast were also a welcome departure from the three day riding marathon it took to get to Astoria.  The Goonies bit was the catalyst for coming all the way here, but the real motivator was riding this coastline.  I had never ridden along a coastline except on the West Coast of Vancouver Island, and even there all you see is forest.

I find the ocean hypnotizing…the waves just keep coming and coming…they never stop.  It’s cool to think that people who lived here hundreds or thousands of years ago would have seen the exact same thing as I do today…and some dude a thousand years from now will see the same thing too…the ocean never changes…like an eternal constant…unless the big ones hit and all of the Western Coast goes under water and those volcanoes to the east cover what’s left in lava.

I delayed my departure because it was raining and because I liked it there so much, but at 10:30 I had to get moving so I headed south in the rain.  It was actually refreshing…more of a mist than raindrops…didn’t hurt the face so much.

The ride down the coast today and yesterday is going to bleed into a single memory eventually because it is rather homogeneous the entire way down- there’s forest and rock to the left, and ocean to the right (sometimes there is also forest to the right).  South of Newport is a city called Florence, and that’s where the road goes inland and there are sand dunes

everywhere.  Tonnes of places renting ATVs and Dune Buggies.  I should have done that but I didn’t.  I was digging the ride on its own.  I also stopped to eat in Newport at this place that serves all local and organic food.  I had the fish tacos.

After the highway connect back with the ocean at Port Orford the shoreline gets more rugged.  There is a lot more volcanic inclusions in the rock that withstands the pounding of the waves much better than sedimentary rock.  I even noticed that the sand was darker down south, probably because of there being more volcanic rocks around like basalt.  It also quit raining by that point so I finally got to see the ocean with the sun shining on it.  It was cool to see those millions of little waves all glistening in the sun.

I reached Gold Beach at around 5pm and went for a walk on the beach, which wasn’t far from my motel.  The accommodation was pretty good…I stayed at a place called the Pacific Reef Resort…but there was nowhere to eat within walking distance that would offer local seafood and craft beers…just diners.  I ended up ordering delivery again and watched the ocean.

Here’s a video and map of the day: