How many songs can you think of that have the word 'sun' in them? Well, I think I sang a lot of them today! The clouds parted by 9 am for our first day without rain which made +10 pretty comfortable. Even being held up with road work didn't dampen our spirits...it just gave more time to look around. The sun seems to have made leaves on the trees pop, lily pads dot the ponds, and shrubs flower everywhere. I even ventured out of the SUV for 3 short walkabouts to take in the varying landscape. The pictures below illustrate the power of waves in the Devil's Churn, not far from Yachats.
Further down the road, I stopped at the Sea Lion Caves where an elevator takes people down to observe sea lions, 150 of them today. Pretty amazing! The Oregon Sand Dunes Provincial park was next, outside of Florence. Walls of sand dunes were just beyond the forest and sometimes right up to the highway.
In vain hope of catching sight of whales, I took a detour onto the Umpqua Lighthouse loop. I was not very patient but then again, morning is apparently a better time to see them spout. At that point, I thought that I should catch up to Bryan again anyways.
Bryan was having a great day of riding. The dry highway was safer, the traffic was light and the easy climbs were rewarded with nice downhills. He enjoyed quick stops to view the ocean. I met him twice for refueling, a rest, and a short walk so that he could readily complete 130 km. At North Bend, we strolled the boardwalk together as the day cooled off.
Tonight we are staying in Bandon, poised to enter California by tomorrow night. Bryan is really ready to trade the winter clothes for shorts and a t-shirt (or no shirt!). Sunny skies in the forecast Tuesday!
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