//location:

Cannon Beach, Ore.

//time: 405 pm

//mile: 214

//from where I write:

Dinner at Sweet Basil's in Cannon Beach, where the waitress poured me not a glass of wine, but a bucket. So I accidentally got a little drunk and whatever, but s'cool 'cause I was just going to go sprawl out on the beach afterwards anyway. #whalelife

Posted up on the beach: windy but pleasant.

(so, although I'm writing this on DAY 05, it's actually about DAY 04)

It always feels so good to start a new journal, like taking a shower. (My other journal turned jnto more of a log/itinerary/tip catalog.)

But speaking of shower, man have I had a cool past 24 hours. Quite luxurious actually. Where'd I leave off...I think the diner. Ok right -- diner, breakfast, good. Pedal pedal pedal. Washington forever hills. Signs for astoria begin to appear and I get excited.

But WOW that bridge over the Columbia River. Five miles, tiny shoulder. 55 mph traffic on my left, hard raised edge for ped traffic on my right.

And then there was a giant enormous incline at the very end. Holy crap. Approaching it in the otherwise entirely flat bridge was like, oh dang what is thatonstrosity in the distance. No way. Nah, there's no way if have ok climb that. Maybe thy have a special little pedestrian/cyclist walkway under the bridge or something.

This is my experiential diagram of the Washington-Astoria bridge. Join me and my thoughts as we travel the bridge from right to left.

And I'm not sure how in their four miles I convincedhself that that was true but I let myself believe that till I was practically at the foot of the climb. The last mile was hell.

Sheer incline with absolutely no mercy to stop. If I did, there's no way is have been able to start back up again. Plus, slowing down, I'd be all wobbly w/ my bike and the shoulder afforded me no room for such wobble.

I mean ok it wasn't that bad I guess 'cause I did do it after all, but it was damn work. For sure.

Astoria, though, was well well worth it. At first, I was planning to just stop in astoria for food+groceries then head over to Fort Steven's State Oark for he night. It was only another hour's ride NW of astoria. I posted up in Blue Scorcher's Bakery with a -- ok get ready for this -- cardamom roll + lemon ginger cayenne kombucha. Ate, drank, peed, blogged. Walked out to my bike to saddle up + head out when I looked down the street to see an illuminated sign: NORBLAD HOSTEL•HOTEL.

Ok ok this could totally be a thing. Yeah. And I started mentally rattling off a list of why I should stay in a hostel tonight. Oh, let me count thy ways:

-bed would be so cool

-misty morning sucked, would be wonderful to dry things out a bit

-laundry + this is my last pair of socks

- unlimited shower (!!!)

- it's next to a brewery, so beeeer

- bed

okay done. yes. so I strolled over + asked about their rates. $29 for the night. I've paid $12 for a campsite before, so this is just really 2x that plus, like, a really fancy latte -- if I were the type to get really fancy lattes, which I'm not. So wow think of all the money I'm saving in life by not being the Fancy Latte Type. Yeah this hostel is definitely a go.

Sanity restored by showers + real beds + clean socks. All the good things.

Man I love myself for making that decision. Fresh laundry is awesome. The beer I had with my artichoke pizza at Fort George Brewery -- awesome. Pillow top mattress + plushy towels. I felt like a queen. I still feel like a queen.

Commodore Hotel. (Ate a great bfast at the hostel's Street 14 Coffee.)

Hm I think Becca is meeting me here in cannon beach tonight... Not sure when. I lost her back a couple days ago when I was camping in Bruceport + she had to stop for the night in Raymond. Whatever, I'm just doin' me right now at the beach so if she comes around, cool. If not, I hope she's doing all right. Waiting for her to text me back.

I almost wiped out really bad going down an exit ramp into cannon beach today. God that was really bad. I think I found myself going like 40 mph down it, and I felt that it was too fast so I was like YO GIRL SLOW DOWN. So I was gradually applying pressure to the brakes, and then it began to curve and I was like shitshitshit slow down. And then I saw gravel on the shoulder around the curve and I was like DOOOOM. And somehow -- I have no idea how -- my bike was leaning at like 60 degrees and physics and gravity and stuff definitely should have just thrown me to the ground but somehow I defied it (HA!). & as I was braking, trying to shift my weight carefully but quickly to offset the curve, my bike didn't even fall! It was one of those moments where you're so happy you escaped something so terrible, that you almost get caught up in the victorious moment and end up wrecking anyway. You know? Anyway, so that didn't even happen and I calmy just pulled over once I was off the ramp and sat down and promised myself I would never let myself go that fast ever again ever.

Anyway, I'm just so happy nothing happened. Very lucky. in the picoseconds I was skidding, I imagined my face not on my face anymore. It was not a good thing and I would like to keep my face on my face and my bones inside my body as long as possible.

The sunset and breeze are extra enjoyable this evening. Probably because of the restorative Astoria stay, probably because of the wine, probably because of my evaded crash.

And I'll leave you with my slightly tipsy self on the beach. #whalelife