The weather started out with clouds, then became rainy later in the morning as I approached the coast. The rain continued for the rest of the day’s ride. The temperatures ranged from 43 to 50 degrees.
Day’s distance: 256 miles
I departed the house just before 8:30am. My route out of Washington took me south on I-5 to Olympia, then west towards Aberdeen on Hwy 101. When 101 turns north, I continued traveling west on Hwy 8.
Just before reaching Elma, I saw a deer crossing the highway. It was maybe 100 yards in front of me, but I slowed way down. This is a best practice as deer often travel in numbers. This time it appeared to be alone and quickly jumped over the guardrail and off the highway.
At Elma, Hwy 8 turns into Hwy 12 and continues west. I turned off Hwy 12 and took Hwy 107 south to avoid Aberdeen traffic. One thing sucks worse than riding in a cold rain. That is being stuck in traffic in cold rain. 🙂 Hwy 107 is a two lane road in good condition with little traffic. This is the type of road I like to travel on my motorcycle, but it is short and I soon found myself on Hwy 101 headed south.
I stopped at the McDonalds in Raymond to take a bathroom break and stopped again at Fort Columbia. I guess it was a combination of two cups of coffee and riding in the rain. 🙂
The Columbia River divides Washington and Oregon and the fort guarded the mouth of the river just to the south of this promontory.
At this point, I was still largely dry, but the rains picked up near Gearhart. Along with the rain coming down, trucks were kicking up mass quantities of water and I started feeling it. So I stopped for lunch at a Subway in Gearhart.
The manager, who was working the register, asked if I was heading north or south. I replied south and he told me about Hwy 53, also known as the Necanicum Highway. It is a short, two-lane road through forest lands and he thought I would enjoy it. I was planning on taking Hwy 26 east to Banks and then take Hwy 6 through the Tillamook State Forest, so put Hwy 53 in the back of my mind.
After I finished lunch, I thanked him and went on my way. The rain continued as I turned inland on Hwy 26. A few miles later, I started thinking I needed to shorten today’s ride – it isn’t all that much fun riding in the rain if you’re wet and getting wetter and I was having to work to keep my visor from fogging up. I saw the sign for Hwy 53 and decided to use it and shorten the ride by about 50 miles.
It was fortuitous that I spoke with the Subway manager.
Hwy 53 rejoins Hwy 101 north of Rockaway Beach. I turned south and finished the day just south of Rockaway in Tillamook. I hoped for nicer weather and with it a chance to stay at Cape Lookout State Park, just outside of town. I camped there on Day 2 of my Western States Tour. It was a nice campground and I remember setting up my tent on well maintained grass and taking some really nice sunset photos.
Alas, I needed a hot shower and a heater to dry my gear so I am staying at the Western Royal Inn motel. The room is big, with a sofa, desk, and dining table along with a large queen bed. It isn’t fancy but it’s clean, has good water pressure, and a really good heater.
Not many pictures today. I generally don’t feel like stopping as often in the rain. Future posts will likely have fewer words and more pictures.
Happy start to your trip! Looking forward to seeing you end of the week.
Safe journey Keith. Warm and dry weather awaits in Santa Cruz
It was good to catch up. I’m super happy I stopped by on Friday. The weekend was full of activities and very fun. Best of luck on the rest of the remodel. I’ll want to see pics!