Day 1 Astoria to Nehalem Bay State Park: 43.5 miles

We left Salem at 6 am today to beat the Portland traffic and drove north to Longview and then took Highway 30 to Astoria.   The GPS routed us through an industrial section of Longview where we got stuck behind a long line of trucks waiting to enter the port.   In Astoria we found a park with space to unload our bikes and were on the road by 10:30 am.   

After riding 2 hours on some windy hilly back roads we finally made it to our lunch spot of Seaside Oregon which is where we first found the beach.  The weight of our bags and the hills make riding quite a bit more challenging than in Texas but we just poke along and make it.   Catalina is doing great for a 10 year old and Grandpa Lind is just cruising along great for a 75 year old.   Our group spans 65 years which is pretty amazing I think.  We see other riders on the road but no other 75 year olds are making this trip.   

The afternoon ride from Seaside to Nehalem Bay was just brutal.   Three big hills to go over with the biggest saved for last before we descended into Manzanita and Nehalem Bay State Park.  We were expecting some rain but we had sun and scattered clouds all day.  However we did get a nice rainstorm At night after we were in bed and the tents did great.  Kept us dry and cozy.   Nehalem Bay is a great park and one to return to with a camper.