Day 24 July 11, 2001

Yachats, OR to Coos Bay, OR

76.17 Miles
Average Speed 14.51
Travel Time 5:14:50
Departure Time 8:30 AM
Arrival 5:00 PM

            The lobby of Benetti's, the local Italian restaurant in downtown Coos Bay, Oregon was packed like a sardine tin, even though the smell was quite a bit more appealing. Joey did NOT want to wait 25 minutes to eat and Andrew did NOT want to eat another quick quality-on-par-with-garbage dinner. It was a potential fierce battle of wills that was narrowly avoided when Joey conceded the point (I usually don't) and waited out the agonizing half hour of hunger. As they drew to a close and the hostess uttered those sweet words, "Dan, party of 5...", a groan went up from the other members of the lobby mob. They had most certainly been waiting longer than we had and felt quite snubbed. Joey, not in the best of moods at this point and certainly not afraid to let people know it, retorted as he passed the murmurers still waiting for a table, "Yeah, well, you didn't bike 75 miles today." 75 miles through some of the most beautiful coastline in the world, by the way.

            Earlier in the day we climbed up out of Yachats to the Sea Lion Caves along the Oregon coast. Apparently, some wise individual has had the foresight to purchase both the sea lions AND their caves and charge those wanting to see them a nice little fee. Luckily, we found a free viewpoint from which we could see a few sea lions sunbathing on the rocky shore. Hope that wasn't some sort of copyright infringement. Turning away from the sea lions back towards the the north presented us with what is my favorite vista of the trip. A gleaming white lighthouse stood on the jagged beach and the land rose up sharply into an old growth evergreen forest. The Oregon coast may not always be sunny, warm, and crawling with scantily clad Baywatch types, but it has inspired more than one rendition of "For the Beauty of the Earth" by Rocky.