Cannon Beach > Tillamook: 40.2 miles
View Bicycling directions to Mar Clair Inn, Main Avenue, Tillamook, OR in a larger map
On to Tillamook! That can only mean one thing... cheese! But I'll get to that later.
Back at camp, I started hearing my new neighbors rustling around about 8am. I rolled over again and eventually got up around 9:30. We chatted a little as I woke up and started getting my stuff together. Turned out they were another couple doing the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) route as well. I finally got everything packed and such and left around 11a. I rolled back down to the beach to bag some sand for mom's sand collection and to take one final look at this magnificent coast...
Back at camp, I started hearing my new neighbors rustling around about 8am. I rolled over again and eventually got up around 9:30. We chatted a little as I woke up and started getting my stuff together. Turned out they were another couple doing the Pacific Coast Highway (PCH) route as well. I finally got everything packed and such and left around 11a. I rolled back down to the beach to bag some sand for mom's sand collection and to take one final look at this magnificent coast...
It took me a long time to actually make much progress because there was a photo opp about every mile that was better than the last one. The most amazing one was probably the overlook above a town called Manzanita (or Little Apple in Spanish). I met a older gentleman named Mark who was also doing the PCH route, but only to San Fran. Apparently he's done several different versions of the same route and this time he was taking it slower to see all the sights he never saw before.
Because the outlook was so good, that meant I had to climb to get there and climb I did. It wasn't all that steep, but it was long enough to have a truck passing lane on the road. I hate seeing the signs that say "Passing Lane Ahead" because I know it's going to be nothing but decently uphill for more than mile. I'm kind of (masochistically) excited for the Rockies just to see what a "real" climb is. I will probably regret saying this once I get there…
Because the outlook was so good, that meant I had to climb to get there and climb I did. It wasn't all that steep, but it was long enough to have a truck passing lane on the road. I hate seeing the signs that say "Passing Lane Ahead" because I know it's going to be nothing but decently uphill for more than mile. I'm kind of (masochistically) excited for the Rockies just to see what a "real" climb is. I will probably regret saying this once I get there…
Manzanita Overlook
A little ways farther, I entered Nehalem, another tiny town somewhat inland form the coast, but still on a sizable river that fed into a bay just behind a spit of land from the ocean. I passed a sign that said "Wine Tasting Ahead 2mi." I forgot about it almost as fast as I passed it and continued on my merry way. That is, until I saw another sign closer to the turn and on a whim, I turned to check out. I surmised after the fact that I was feeling decidedly European at this particular point on my cycling tour and wanted some wine. Nehalem Bay Winery is located in an old stone building that used to be a Tillamook County creamery. I parked my bike outside the entrance and walked in to a room littered with all kinds of wine related trinkets and memorabilia of the place. There was a single staff member manning a giant wooden bar that had at least dozen different wine bottles spread out in front of him. My first impression of this man was that he wasn't very friendly because he didn't really say "hi" and when I asked how it all worked, he said, "You try, you buy, you leave." Oh.
Turns out he was from Belfast though and I suddenly didn't feel put off anymore (my mom's side of the family is from Ireland and I've been around a lot of Irish people growing up). We wound up chatting about what I was doing as I tried a few of the wines. I bought 9 bottles for friends and family and he gave me three more for free. BONUS! Plus he also has some kind of connection to the NASCAR/Indy Car Series all over the country and when I asked if he could ship the bottles to TN, he said he could deliver them personally since he'd be heading towards Bristol in August. I couldn't believe it. He also offered his cell # in case I got stuck somewhere. This guy, John, was pretty awesome. He asked if I could review the place on TripAdvisor and I said sure. I took a picture of him at his bar and when I was leaving, he gave me an extra bottle of my favorite wine and a corkscrew to take with me as a parting gift! Needless to say I was very surprised and I almost wasn't sure what to do. I found a spot for it on my bike though and couldn't wait to get to Tillamook to pair it up with some cheese and crackers.
I did finally arrive in Tillamook around 6p, checked into my cheap but tidy motel, showered and headed back out towards the famed cheese factory here. They offer tours of the place free of charge which is pretty cool. By "offer tours" I mean they have an observation deck built into the upstairs of the factory and you're free to walk around at your leisure. Even better! It was fascinating seeing the processes at work. And man, they crank out a TON of cheese. Probably many, many tons actually, daily. They've got a taste-testing area and a store with, as you might guess, the biggest dairy section you've ever seen. And it's only their products! Since the Tillamook co. is in fact a creamery, not just a cheese factory, they had an ice-cream shop there too and so I got a scoop of caramel toffee chip on a waffle cone. It was excellent.
By this time it was close to 8p and closing time so I rolled on back to my motel. I stopped though at the local Kroger equivalent called Fred Meyer and picked up my cheese, crackers, and ham to have with my free bottle of wine. I did a little more off-line blogging since the wifi was actually pretty bad and called it a night.
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