Dana and Nancy's Most Excellent Adventures - Day 3 Friday

We got up Friday morning after a great night's sleep and had the "free" continental breakfast near the hotel lobby.  We were ready to start our day!  Nancy had one more idea she wanted to check out.  She had looked at the map and saw a road that paralleled Hwy. 42 between Hwy 101 and Tenmile.  If it worked it would be shorter and we would be able to start at the ocean (Powers is several miles inland from the ocean).  The first thing we noticed about the road is that we quickly came to a very STEEP mountain that would have been very difficult to climb on bikes, and, because the road was also quite narrow and windy, impossible for the RVs to maneuver.  But, we kept going anyway because the road was beautiful and we needed to get to the coast anyway.  We got over the mountain and down into a valley then the road turned to gravel/mud, and it was that way for 15 miles!  But, we both agreed it was one of the most spectacular drives we had ever taken.  Nancy's car and our bikes were filthy, but we now knew for sure which road we would use on the tour (and this one was NOT it!).  We had decided on the Glendale to Powers Bicycle Route, but now just had to figure out if there was a way we could get from Bandon to Myrtle Point where we could be transported by car the few miles south to Powers.  We tried two routes out of Myrtle Point that definitely were not safe for bikes (no shoulder, lots of traffic, windy).  We decided to have lunch in Bandon, as we were about to give up.  Dana asked the hostess in the restaurant if she had any ideas and she told us of a road just north of Bandon across from Bullards Beach State Park (http://www.oregonstateparks.org/park_71.php) that she thought might work.  We drove it; there was little traffic and cyclists on the road - it would work!  It would take us to a safe part of Hwy 42 and leave us with a short ride into Myrtle Point.  We, FINALLY, know how we are going to get from the ocean over the Coast Range!