Day 57-58: The Very Serious Southern Oregon Coast
Bandon, OR to Brookings and back, and up to Florence, OR
245.8 Miles | 5:30 Riding Time
It’s Thursday, June 6, 2024, and it’s Day 57 of my cross country motorcycle trip.
It was a beautiful day along the southern Oregon coast today. I started early, and unfortunately, Bob wasn’t able to make it this morning. I rode down to Brookings and stopped at a bunch of scenic overlooks.
The coastline is serious over here. There are tons of what I assume are lava rocks, which makes the beaches a dark gray. The wind coming in from the Pacific was driving the waves hard, and there were hundreds of rock formations sticking out of the water. It’s not a classic beach, but as someone who loves the New England coastline, this left a similar, rugged impression.
When I got to Brookings, I found Matties Pancake House, and thoroughly enjoyed a spinach and swiss omelette with a side of pancakes. Crossed over this cool, art deco bridge over the Rogue river. And continued on the road north again—back through Bandon, and on to Florence, OR.
Florence is another beautiful coastal town with an historic center that has great restaurants and some shops. I checked in to my hotel and walked over through town. I saw a two folks with BMW motorcycle hats on (I was also wearing mine), so after a quick, “nice hats.” We started chatting. They invited me to join them for their bottle of wine, and we talked bikes and traveling and life for a while. I’m sorry gents, that I didn’t write down your names, but it was such a pleasure to meet you.
Dinner at the 1285 Restobar was amazing. I sat at the bar, enjoyed my seafood pasta and chatted with some folks, who gave me several suggestions of places to go and eat along my route for the coming days. I decided I’m going to stay here another day, finish catching up on all my blogs and pictures, and enjoy the town.
