~BunceMan's TranzAmerican Bike Ride~
Log Entry #6: June 13, 2005
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Day 1: Newport, Oregon to Sweet Home on Highway 20. Woke up at 6am. Rain. Actually, it was more of a steady drizzle. At that moment, however, it might as well have been a bloody thunderstorm. It was an auspicious start to the TranzAmerican Bike Ride on the west coast of Oregon. Fortunately, it (rain/drizzle) stopped. Peggy and I (and Fletch, the Wonder Dog) dipped the rear wheel of the bike in the Pacific Ocean, and I was on the road by 9:30am on wet, but drying roads.
Not much to see really. Heading inland on Highway 20, there are xmas tree farms, grazing cattle, blooming blackberry bushes lining the road, and, speaking of farms.. what are referred to as 'tree' farms. Logging is huge in this area. Acres of hillsides are clearcut (every tree) in sections, like taking a single swipe of a razor to a whiskered face and then stopping. The strategy: clear cut, plant, and then come back and clear cut again in 40 or 50 years. Having 50 different clear cutting years yields a harvest every year. Affects my sense of landscape, but my house is made of wood, so...
Peggy found Sunnyside County Park off the main road just east of Sweet Home next to the Santiam River. Hardly anybody here on a Monday. Quiet.. have the whole place to ourselves.. except for the crows, chipmunks and squirrels that raided some snacks left on the picnic table while we walked along the river's edge...
Day 1 mileage: 94 miles | Peggy Pics