Day Six – Hood River OR to Lincoln City OR
Miles: 222
We knew we had a relatively short ride for the day, so we didn't bust our tails getting to breakfast. We ate at Egg River Cafe and it was really quite good, and we each had a scramble. We headed south on OR35 and very quickly out of the chute had some nice views of Mt. Hood. The potentially active volcano rises to an elevation of 11,249 ft. It was still a little chilly as we rode up Timberline Highway which would take us to the highest point reachable by road. It was still early, only a quarter past 9:00, so we had plenty of time to scout the best spot for a pic. After doing the loop which took us past the ski area we found the best spot and stopped for pics. We didn't have the place to ourselves for long but that was fine, and we even took some pics for others who had stopped. As we rode back down we stopped for another quick pic that shows how we were actually above the clouds. We were also fairly surprised how many people were skiing in late July. There was ample snow on the mountain despite the relatively warm day. We headed west and south toward Oregon City where we stopped at Willamette Falls which is right in the middle of town. The falls are natural and the largest in the US northwest by volume. The locks that previously existed have been closed since 2011 when the last of the paper mill plants was closed. There is still an operating hydroelectric power plant operating in the falls with the original plant dating back to the 1880s. There have been attempts at rebuilding the area and but little progress has been made. Honestly it really looks quiet run-down at this point. Next we rode to McMinnville where we stopped for lunch at Grain Station Brew Works. The seating was outside and we enjoyed some lunch and a beer before riding through town on our way to the coast. We passed the hotel we had planned to stay and it looked pretty good, but it was also pride week so it was probably good that we had changed our schedule. Anyway we rode OR22 and OR133 to meet up with US101. The ride to US101 was in a forested area and was quite a nice ride. There was no place to stop but it was an enjoyable ride. When we hit US101 we headed north away from Lincoln City as we had a planned stop at Pelican Brewing in Pacific City Beach which was right on the ocean. The brewery was very crowded for a Wednesday afternoon with no seat to be had, so after getting the lay of the land we noticed everyone walking around with a beer so we figured it must be a DORA type situation. We bought a cold six and each had one as we sat on the beach and watched the people. Unfortunately the Pelican Brewing Juicy IPA was not really to our liking and we ended up carrying the remaining four all the way back with us having never gotten around to drinking them. We rode back down US101 and before long we were in Lincoln City. We pulled into our motel, the Sea Echo, around 5:00 and got ready for dinner. We met the owner of the motel at check in and learned he had recently purchased the property and was trying make a go of it. The place was nothing special but it had been updated and was very clean. We would both stay there again. We decided on Schuker's Oyster Bar for dinner as we really had a hankering for some OR oysters. The food was just ok. The service was friendly but the place in general was a bit dated. On the way back to the motel we stopped at Rusty Truck Brewery for our last one. We were back headed for the motel by 7:00 and once we arrived we took the short walk down to the beach and enjoyed the setting sun. It was well past 9:00 before the sun set so we hung out by the bikes for a little while and cleaned them up for the next day.
