Today was a long 65 mile day. A few hills in Washington but much of the riding was along the Columbia River so it was pretty flat. We got on a 3 pm ferry for a short ride across the Columbia River and after disembarking from the ferry we were in Oregon. Although we were again riding along the Columbia River the Oregon side had a lot more hills than the WA side. One hill seemed to go on forever (at least while riding up it). It went uphill for several miles and I was pretty tired by the top. After more hills we ended up on a nice bike path in Astoria that goes along the river. It appears to be an old railroad right of way which eventually continues onto a wharf on the Columbia River in downtown Astoria. It looks like at one time trains drove right onto the wharf to pickup and/or unload goods. The wharf is now used for walkers and cyclists. Some of the old buildings along the wharf are now restaurants. I counted at least 4 ocean going cargo ships in the river adjacent to Astoria. I assume they travel up the river to Portland. The river is extremely wide where it is adjacent to Astoria. Met a young couple in Astoria who are bicycling down the coast to Santa Cruz, CA. We will probably see them on the route because we are both following the Adventure Cycling Pacific Coast route maps. Hopefully, I will sleep well tonight. Last night the campground was close to Interstate 5 which had heavy traffic all night and that made it hard to sleep. I think the traffic noise actually increased during the night. One interesting thing I have noticed in WA is that many stores add a 35 or 50 cent fee for using a credit card to pay for something. Now that we are near the coast the temperature suddenly dropped. It is actually a little cold in Astoria.
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