Thursday, 20th September. Destination: Anchorage Motel, Pacific City, Oregon

It's getting chilly on the coast, and, despite the splendor of the Pacific, my mind is beginning to wander. I'd intended to make it up to Cannon Beach, but in the end took an early morning bus from Waldport to Newport, had time for a breakfast stop before hopping on another bus to Otis, where I rejoin the last (or first) leg of the TransAmerica Trail. The bus driver took me a bit out of town before dropping me off at the bottom of a picturesque leg over the forrested Old Scenic Highway 101.

Back down to the coast at Neskowin I lunched at an out-doorsey tourist place with a couple of cyclists doing this stretch of the Pacific Coast, before ending the day at the small crossroads town of Pacific City, hidden from view of the ocean by large sand dunes that form Nestucca Spit State Park. A friendly couple owned the Anchorage Motel and it was the end of the season for them: they'll be closing down for winter and heading to Florida in a couple of weeks' time. Still, a nice homely little place with a great Mexican restaurant next door.