NOTE: This happened April 30, 2016 and I’m just now getting around to posting about it. Oops. This should also be a clue as to how often I actually sit and write.
Bailey’s Bakery & Cafe in Nahcotta, WA is one of the stops on the Rose City Grand Tour. Located on the Long Beach peninsula of southern Washington, Bailey’s is a short 130 miles from my front door. It was a beautiful day out and I was in the mood for lunch, but not tempted by the local fare. What better way to put food in my belly and knock off a spot on the Grand Tour list than find lunch beyond the usual haunts.
So I hit the road along the Columbia, stuck to the Oregon side until Astoria, crossed the Astoria-Megler Bridge (4.1 miles long!) and meandered up the peninsula. Bailey’s was a bit of a challenge for my GPS, but I eventually found it. It’s a tiny little cafe built into what used to be a train terminal. Really neat and super friendly staff. Oh yeah, the food is good as well.
There isn’t really much more to say about the ride itself. It was beautiful (obviously). The Columbia river was involved. The sun was out. The ocean was involved. There was a fort (Fort Columbia). I even had a sandwich.
I could have just ridden the same route back, but what fun would that have been? Instead, I chose to head back across the bridge and stick to the coast down into Seaside to shoot across the 26 towards home. I managed to turn my trip into just shy of 300 miles and had a bonfire when I got home. Just because.
One stop on the Grand Tour down… 19(ish) to go.
-Ryan
Oh yeah, before I go… this ride was also the first with my new Sena 20s bluetooth system. It was fantastic. It took a while to figure it all out, but when I did I couldn’t help but wonder what took me so long to get one. Just having my GPS directions piped into my lid was cool enough, but also having music? SO RAD! I’ve been known to keep myself company on rides, probably bopping my head down the road like a crazy person as I belt out whatever is stuck in my head, but now… now I’m actually rocking out to something other than myself. It is fantastic. I plan on a more in-depth review at some point if I remember I planned on it.
Ryan Cavalier 