Once again, the sound of the space shuttle prodded me awake. That was after some kind of tarp flapping followed by rain incident before daylight - the general vicinity of Team Tim and Cindie’s tent. The large birds in the trees were beginning to stir, competing for airspace with the pair of owls that had worked the campsite all night long. Elke must have slept well, she bounded out of the tent in full-on play mode, knowing perfectly well that I don’t play for the first five minutes of near consciousness. Being a smart girl, she went after the team instead.

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The threat of rain never really materialized, but the wind was busy flapping tarps all night. Once again, I woke up early, most likely prompted by the space shuttle taking off from Tim’s picnic table. Cindie and I stared at each other with baggy eyes and decided that the three day crossing of the Big Sur coast had taken its toll on us. Fog, rain, mist, big climbs, long stretches between overpriced services. It all adds up to tired.

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Since Monterey, I have been waking up earlier. Today was no different. I got up in time to see the sun paint pink clouds all over the southern sky, and tint the northern coastline with a hint of warm peach light.

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I woke up early, just as the campground was starting to stir. I did my usual brainless stagger in the general direction of the facilities, waiting for my mental hamster wheel to start spinning, which usually happens on the way back to the tent. That’s on a good day. Some days, it never quite spins at all. I took advantage of my last shot at cell data for a while to post a quick note on the blog and check on things that needed checking. While I was doing that, I saw one, then two girls walk by wearing nothing but towels. Ok, that was new.

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My new friend Mike decided to stay in Cannon Beach to shoot some more photos and recover a bit. We took some pictures and parted ways, only to meet up 15 minutes later when we chose the same place for breakfast. We had a quick cinnamon roll, which is an understatement because it was a huge cinnamon roll, roughly the size of a bread plate, and some coffee. I was in a hurry to get going, and Elke was out on the sidewalk throwing a fit at every dog that went by, definitely breaking a peaceful misty morning. Also was the amazing fact that I was all packed and ready before 9 AM and I was anticipating a long day that would take me to Tillamook.

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