Getting out of Portland took a bit of doing; it turns out that there are some significant hills out there! From almost sea-level (I've googled it) I climbed to 1500 feet before descending to Tillamook on the coast. I read my friend Chris' advice too late and didn't visit the cheese factory there, but I did stop and have some pizza. The route to Tillamook was somewhat uninspiring, as the scenery was fairly closed in, full of farms and logging, though the road was fine enough, and I was able to follow bike routes to the very edge of the suburbs where proper farms started. Traffic was fine, there's foor every 30km or so, but, except for the forest preserve, it wasn't that inspiring. But then I got about an hour south of Tillamook and the views opened up. First sighting of the ocean is always exciting for this prairie boy, and the route followed pretty close to the ocean most of the way. I also really liked the detour it takes just before Lincoln city through another forest preserve, which had some of the most fun road biking I've ever done - very nice curves, and steep enough to get to speed without being so steep that one is on the brakes all the time. I took advantage of the nice weather to get to Lincoln city, 183 km from where I started. I was planning on camping, but the campground is right in the city and rain was expected, so I treated myself to a hotel. The weather has turned today, with a fair bit of rain all the way down the coast of Oregon. The plan today is to bike to Newport and then see how I feel; this is a perfect opportunity to bus ahead a bit, so if the riding isn't good I'll just skip ahead. The next thing I really want to see is Capo Blanco, which could be very interesting camping in this weather!