I wake up early and gather my things for an early start. The sun rises so early in Oregon, although the campsite is nestled in the trees and there are clouds in the sky so no view of the sunrise.

As I leave the campsite there is mist hanging in the air, low over the mountains. The morning air is still, although it doesn’t take long for the stiff coastal wind to pick up.

The first half of the day I follow 101 around two large lagoons to the town of Tillamook, where I leave 101 to hug the coast. In the early morning there are fewer cars and the riding is easy with pretty views of rivers, and beaches, and lagoons. The road follows a railway line, and as undulated I look jealously at the flat grade of the tracks.

I was making good time to arrive at Tillamook around 10 am when the Tillamook Cheese Factory opens. Those from America will Tillamook Cheese, I’m not sure if it’s a west coast thing, but it’s very popular in California. I can see why this is a great place for a diary, the climate is seems very similar to Marin, very green, good for pasturing cows.

About 5 miles before I got to Tillamook I heard a loud thud thud thud, and I thought something must have poked into my spokes. I stopped and looked for what it could be but couldn’t see anything, so I carried on, and sure enough my rear tire was deflating. My first flat tire and it’s only day 2! This isn’t a good omen. There was a fairly large and very sharp screw embedded into my tire, I think it would have caused a flat on a car tire too, my Schwables didn’t have a chance.

The cheese factory was heaving with people, but it was neat to see through to the factory floor and the complete cheese making process. I picked up a block for dinner.

The afternoon ride followed a scenic road all the way around to Netarts (which in my head sounds like some web company’s name) and finally down to Whalen Island County Park where I got a campsite for tonight. While the road was scenic it had two steep climbs, the first had a warning on the road signs of 12% grade, and the second right at the end of the day was nearly as steep. I was pretty beat by the time I got into camp.

I’m over 100 miles from Astoria now, down the Oregon coast. Tomorrow starts going a little further down the coast before turning east, and I’ll leave the Pacific Ocean behind.