Tillamook, OR to Portland, OR: Wagons East 

I wasn’t quite as sore this morning though I did have dreams about bears driving 18-wheelers or something like that… I ended up ignoring my alarm for an hour, as usual but finally got up and made some breakfast. (Ramen noodles with cinnamon and sugar. Delicious.) My shoes still didn’t dry from the ocean so I strapped them to my front rack. They better dry this time. I packed up all my stuff and headed down HWY 6 toward Portland. The road was a lot more gradual since it mostly followed a river through the mountain range. I wasn’t in a big hurry and stopped often to check out the sights and smells of western Oregon.
I ran into construction and for a while I had a lane all to my self. It was nice but didn’t really help me get up the mountain any faster. I saw a nice sign that said “Elevation 1500ft” near the top of the road. I wasn’t very happy with the sign. Eventually I caught up with the traffic that had passed me in the last 5 minutes and passed them. Then right as I got to the front of the line the lead car came to send everyone on the right side down the mountain, so I jumped in line. It was a lot of fun to ride down at the same speed that the cars and trucks were. The race didn’t last long and the cars won in the end. I just can’t go 55, my gears max out at 30, I checked…
HWY 6 turned into HWY 26 and I exited at Hillsbro looking for a Taco Bell. I wouldn’t find one until a few blocks from the place I would be staying for the night. (Thank you around a dollar menu) On my way into Portland I learned that the hill I had so much trouble with the first day, the one right inside Portland, was a 2 mile 8% grade. I had a blast riding down it.