Day 11: Cannon Beach to Pacific City

Today I left Cannon Beach alone, but quickly caught up with Michael, Ruth, and Rob for a delicious lunch at Oyster Shack (the fried oysters did not disappoint). After, we headed to the Tillamook cheese factory. “What is Tillamook cheese?”, you may ask. Tillamook cheese is the brand that monopolizes every Safeway, gas station, and roadside stop and shop in Oregon. It is more fondly known to us as the only brand of cheese we could afford.

Unfortunately, the hour long line at the factory scared us away, so we skipped it and used the extra time to cycle to Cape Lookout. Up until our trek to Cape Lookout, it had been easy sailing through flat coastal towns. We expected the entire day to be relatively flat, so we were disillusioned when we saw the climb to Cape Lookout. We all put our headphones in and braved it, stopping at outlook points for pictures and breaks. It really wouldn’t have been that bad if it weren’t for the suffocating heat.

The downhill was steep and awarded us a nice coastal view, spitting us out into dunes. There was so much diversity in the landscape and we were in awe. After we passed through the dunes, we ended in farmland, where we climbed one more hill until our arrival at Pacific City. Upon arrival, we quickly learned that there was nowhere to stay in Pacific City. We even tried the county parks, but they turned us away.

Also, they were a literal breeding ground for domesticated rabbits. Can someone explain this to me?? Please?? I mean to say that there was actual, purposeful breeding of domesticated rabbits that were then allowed to roam the county parks. Welcome to Oregon, I guess?

We gave up and ended up sleeping near a boat launch behind public bathrooms. To close out the day, we had a “Pacific Coast Party” (the name of our cycling group) with our favorite drink local to Oregon, Great White Beer.