The long holiday weekend (Thanksgiving here in the US) is also the occasion of my love Emee’s birthday. To celebrate another trip around the sun Emee wanted to head to the coast. I can never say no to that!
We decided to rent a car this time, as the Emeemobile wasn’t running so hot. (It needed an engine tuneup and brake work, which we got done after the trip.) We also wanted to bring bikes for the chance we’d take a ride. Thankfully we now have Bromptons, so we easily fit them into the compact car!
We drove out to Seaside on Friday November 26. I’ve passed through Seaside many times in the years I’ve lived here, but only have stayed there a few times in the aughts, when I would get free nights at the Seaside Hostel. Seaside does have a lovely beach, but it’s not my favorite place to go on the coast, as it has a bit of a tacky East Coast Beach Town vibe (think Wildwood NJ, Ocean Beach MD, Myrtle Beach SC, etc.) It’s nowhere near as big as those places, thankfully. There were a lot of people in the town on Friday night, apparently there was a tree lighting.
Saturday we drove south to Newport. It was a stormy day, so we didn’t stop much. Sunday turned out clear. Going to the Coast during the offseason is a crapshoot, but the more days one spends out there, the better the chance for nice weather. We pulled out the Bromptons and rode out on Nye Beach. Small wheeled Bromptons are definitely not the ideal bikes for beach explorations, but they did OK. The trick is to get close enough to the water where the tides pack down the sand.
We headed back home on Monday November 29th. We opted to take the longer scenic route vs. direct US 20 to I-5. This involved using a road just north of US 20 (Logsden Rd) that had a surprise two mile stretch of gravel as it summited a divide. (I will definitely keep a note of that if I bike out this way some time, as it made the road nice and quiet.) We also cruised up OR 223 through Kings Valley and passed the Ritner Creek Covered Bridge.
It was a nice weekend getaway. I hope to get back out to the coast soon!
For photos from the trip, see dynamic flickr album below or click here.
Urban Adventure League 