Day 61: To the Coast! (Eugene to Yachats)

Miles: 95

This morning began with a fantastic breakfast of eggs, bacon, and smoothies created for us by Kurt and Lorna. Then we got a sweet demonstration of Kurt's "row bike," which happily combined my interests in rowing and cycling! The thing itself was rather complicated and seemed to involved a chain unlike any I have seen before. I hope I run into another of these down the road. I'd love to try it out myself!

It even has a sliding seat!

 I left Alice behind when I left for the morning ride. She was headed to the airport later that day for her flight to see family in Chicago, and it was sad to say goodbye.

Kurt steered me via bike paths to the edge of town, where I headed northwest out of Eugene. I rode on quiet country roads for awhile before running into major construction on one of the bigger roads. Thankfully, the trucks gave me enough space and, after I rode through a smelly, dirty construction zone for a couple of miles, disappeared entirely. The rest of the ride to the intersection with the Eugene-Florence highway was perfectly lovely.

The blackberries in Oregon were unbelievably lush and productive, in the way that only hyper-invasive species can be. For the past week, Alice and I had been riding by patch after patch dripping with ripening fruit. Using all my willpower, I was somehow able to like myself to a single blackberry stop.

I had a daydream in which the blackberry plants to over all the roads, and eventually the entire state of Oregon

I didn't have a lot of time to spend in Florence, but I visited the historic waterfront district (and the grocery store) while I was there. Then I rife the last 20 miles to Yachats, where my aunt was kindly putting me up in a bed and breakfast (thank you, Aunt Karen!).

One of the prettier parts of Florence

A few miles before I arrived at the B&B, I stopped at a roadside pullover and enjoyed a close up view of the beach. Standing on the coastline, I finally realized that I had made it to the other side of the country!

My bike enjoyed the view, too!

 I arrived at Ambrosia Gardens Bed & Breakfast a little before seven. Mary, the owner, was incredibly welcoming and excited about the journey I had made. She even let me choose the breakfast the next morning :) It was nice to totally relax and sleep in a cozy bed that night! It wadone first stay at a bed and breakfast; it turns out that they're a lot like staying with a Warmshowers host, except you don't get dinner, there are other guests, and everyone is surprised by what you've been doing for the past two months. Also you feel less indebted to the world/the people you're staying with and you get to hang out in a jacuzzi. All in all it was a great experience, and I would really recommend this place for anyone visiting the coast! Mary's great, and they have entirely reasonable prices due to being on the beachless side of the highway.

I stayed up too late eating, jacuzziing, reading, and talking to the other guests, a couple who was charmingly curious about my trip. Caught a view of the sunrise along the way!

Even though I had theoretically complete my cross country journey, I had decided to fly out of Portland, so getting to the coast felt rather anticlimactic. I still had about 160 miles to go!

Sunset in Yachats