Where was I?

I cycle from Fort STevens to Astoria, to find some breakfast before I head south. Although it is a 15 mile detour, I am happy to do it. Astoria has a nice historic district and I am keen to seen Dutch Bros. What's the story behind this Dutch coffeeshop (different meaning to that in the Netherlands though [link] Apparently, these 2 brothers of Dutch heritage started selling coffee in 1992, from a push cart (story here). Coffee tasts good but the road calls. My plans for today are going to Vernonia and then onwards to the Dutch canyon, 72 miles ahead. Once I leave Astoria, the road follow more or less the Klaskanine River and gradually the road clims. The first uphill is not too bad (only 3% :)) and after that, climbs again to 515 m, with a nasty 11% uphill. I feel a bit rusty after 3 years of not biking, but I manage to get there without having to walk. After 4 hours of constant peddling I reach Vernonia (pop 2151), at the heart of timber country. This community was founded in 1874 by the Parker and van Blaricom families (hmmm, van Blaricum sounds Dutch) and was named after one of the daughters of these families.

[picture source: here] I bike a bit into town, to find a place to have lunch and end up at the Black Bear coffe company. Still have quite a ways to go, if I want to end up in Dutch canyon before dark. When I leave town, I bike past the Vernonia Lake City Park ( former log pond and now a popular fishing pond. Although it looks like great weather for fishing with 56F, no one to be seen.