Nice day at the coast?

In true Oregon style, it was cold and rainy for our motorcycle ride to the (coast. We planned to leave early Saturday morning, ride a scenic loop, then spend the day at the beach before heading home to have dinner with our neighbors down the street. In reality, it was almost noon by the time we fired up the Harley and roared out of the neighborhood.

I had mapped out a route that would take us out Hwy. 26 toward Seaside with a detour loop through Vernonia, Mist and Jewell in the Coast Range. Sporting my new Switchback jacket with the leather zipped ON (I had envisioned wearing the mesh option on a midsummer's ride), we left town and eventually turned off the highway toward Vernonia.

Vernonia became famous last November when heavy rains flooded the entire town and put it on the national news. Luckily, we were there for it's annual summer festival (all small towns in Oregon have a summer festival) and it took us 20 minutes to get through the 5-minute town.

From here, the scenery alternated between clearcuts and farmland, with some nice sections of forest remaining. A few houses and some trailers make up what remains of the nearly-defunct timber camps of Mist and Jewell. I traveled a portion of this route when I ran the Hood to Coast Relay a few years back. In the wee hours of the morning, Mist earns its name.

Half-frozen by the time we arrived in Cannon Beach, I cheered at the warm sun breaking through the clouds. But by the time we finished our mediocre chowder and crab melts at Mo's (an Oregon tradition but I'm not sure why) the clouds were back and the beach was no longer inviting. We continued our journey south on Highway 101 (the coast highway) to Tillamook where it finally was warm and sunny. But alas, we had no more time to spend if we were to make it to dinner on time.

All in all we had a good day, but wished a few things had been different.