Seaside to Tillamook

Day 2 started with a rather interesting breakfast experience. While everyone else cooked waffles and boiled eggs, Peg had a hankering for a large bowl of oatmeal. She filled her bowl with oatmeal and searched high and low for raisins, finding none, she proceeded to eat the oatmeal plain. Her taste did not quite meet her expectations, but her palate begged for more - so down went the second spoonful. Mulling over the taste, she acknowledged that it was definitely NOT oatmeal. Once she gave up the hope that it was oatmeal, she realized that it was actually a bowl of sausage gravy. YUCK - especially from a near vegetarian.

Today we were treated to a 4 mile hike prior to riding (highest elevation 1659 feet) - arriving at the top just in time to see the fog burn off - revealing spectacular coastal views. During the hike down - the challenge was to stay on a very narrow descent trail. It was almost death defying as many of us encountered close calls by stepping off the trail into the thousand foot drop below. We arrived at the parking lot for lunch - our guides are not only great biking coordinators/leaders but also gourmet cooks.

Now for the 35 mile ride - including parts of Highway 101. Fortunately we got off of 101 which we thought would be a relief from the heavy traffic. However, we soon discovered that logging trucks, trucks with boats and other vehicles frequented the road - and at HIGH speeds. In particular, one truck pulling a boat seemed to make a point of coming very close to all of our group - very unnerving!

The highlight for the day was a visit to the Tillamook Cheese Factory - including cheese tasting. The consensus though was that the ice cream there was superb - especially the Tillamook Mudslide - how can anything beat chocolate on chocolate?

--Sharon