Bridges, Tunnels and the 10,000 Mile Mark

Day 4--Cape Disappointment to Nehalem Bay
We are now in Oregon! We left Cape Disappointment this morning at a little after 8:00. We rode back to Ilwaco then headed south on 101. We went through our first tunnel and made it to the Astoria Bridge sometime after 9:30ish. Riding over the bridge was not too bad. I was even able to take pictures (not stopping of course). The hill on the other end of the bridge was pretty long and steep, but we made it up and over. After the bridge, Julie was starving and the only thing that would satisfy her hunger was McDonalds. So we rode to the McDonalds in Astoria where we each ate a second breakfast (it was only 10:00). Then it was back on the road and over the Youngs Bay bridge. We were officially on the Oregon Coast Bike Route!
We stopped at a roadside cherry stand and each got a small bag of cherries which I ate as I was riding spitting the pits out along the road. So now there will be a whole line of cherry trees growing from Warrenton to Seaside!
We rode through the main street of Seaside amongst the many tourists. We got stuck behind one of those rental bikes for two. Two little kids were sitting in the front with mom and dad pedalling.
We continued on back to 101. After climbing a decent hill, we came down into Cannon Beach. As I was waiting for Julie, this old guy asked me if I wanted to be sprayed (he was watering some flowers). I declined, then he told me about the "gurgle" pots. He insisted Jilie and I go have the shop owner demonstrate them. He was disappointed we didn't buy one. We told him, although they were fabulous, we didn't want to add more weight to our bikes. He ended up spraying me anyway (lightly--and it felt good).
Next we stopped and ate some lunch then went on to find A quilt shop owned by a former schoolmate. We chatted with her for about an hour then took a picture of Haystack Rock and headed out of town (it was very busy with tourists). After returning to 101 we went up a long hill. As we approached the Arch Cape Tunnel Stella clocked over 10,000 miles! Now her odometer is back to zero as there isn't enough room to add a digit.
Another couple of big hills after the tunnel and we finally made it to Nehalem Bay. There are a large number of cyclists here (I counted 10 tents). The guys we camped with last night are here too and some are planning on taking a rest day tomorrow like we are. It is quite the community AND we are not the only women (there are 2 others). People are from all over the country. This is a very popular route.
Julie did great today, but she is one tired puppy. It's good we are stating here tomorrow.
That's all from the road today!