Brookings to Port Orford

Today, I'm cycling to Port Orford, OR, past Brushy Bald Mountain (isn't that a contradiction of terms?). The views continue to be outstanding, with massive, rugged, building-sized rocks (sometimes called "sea stacks", such as Whale's Head pictured here) jutting out of the ocean and beaches. It's easy to become blasé about the scenery when you see it all day long, but it doesn't make it any less impressive.

When I ride through some of these towns, particularly some of the smaller towns in northern California, I continue to be struck by the contrast of wealth and poverty unlike anything I remember from my trip in the early 90s. The little towns sport fancy art galleries with dilapidated houses and appalling poverty only blocks away. The middle class seem to be driving by on the highway, but the towns seem to have either the well-off or the run-down, but little in the middle. Perhaps my perspective now is different than it was in my 20s when I last toured like this, but the contrast is striking.