Day 5 - Astoria - Rest Day

I'm not real good at sleeping in so I got up early (5ish) to jump on the church wifi while everyone else was sleeping.  I hit the restroom to wash the sleep out of my eyes and holy cats they were puffed up and irritated.  There must be something around here that I'm allergic to.  Hopefully I can control myself and not rub my eyes to make it worse.  

After my early to rise I laid back down to crash out until seven.  Guess I was tired after all.

Quick granola breakfast and then off to find a good coffee.  Took a stroll with the other cohort I have been riding with.  Colin, the historian for Eddie Bauer brand.  We get along really well and had a great coffee and chat.

That is until Aaron, my old UNLV college buddy, and his wife Angie came to visit.  They happened to be in Portland visiting his new grandson.  

Great to see good friends along the way and they were happy to shuttle me around today for some sightseeing.  We did not have a service project lined up so I had the day to explore.

We went south beyond Cannon Beach to a short beach hike called Hug Point.  

Wagon carriages used to ride along a rocky stretch at low tide.  

Beautiful and amazing.

Next stop was famous Cannon Beach for  some tide pooling.

Next stop was Sunset Beach, an amazingly different beach ravaged by the tsunami in 2007.  The walk to the beach was filled by trees stripped of leaves and branches by 100+ mph winds years ago.  

Grasses taller than I am.  Very cool trail.

As part of the Lewis and Clark national park system we stopped at Fort Clatsup to see the replica.

The coolest part was learning why all the beautiful logs stick up out of the water.  They are designed to sort the logs.  Interesting.

Also the spot where they rolled up in their canoe.

Me and Sakajawea (look at me not doing my normal pose with statues).

It wouldn't be a trip to Astoria without climbing the Astoria column.  164 quad burning steps.

Amazing 360 degree view from the top.  This picture is all 360 degrees.

Back to Astoria for a light dinner and some carb loading.  I may be the first person to bike across America and gain weight.

Finally back to packing and prepare for tommorow.  Back on the road to Tillamook.

Our first sunset of the trip.