After eleven hours on the road we arrived at Scott and Marion's home in Seattle. Iwas dog tired, hot and of poor disposition and everyone knew it! Nothing that wasn't solved by a cold adult beverage and good company.
We left Lincoln City sufficiently close to 7AM to be considered prompt. We decided that we wouldn't chance another two-hour delay by breadfasting at that little out-of-the-way place that looks kinda "down home" from the road. That worked well when it was just Craig and Mark but now that there were fifteen of us....
It was just shy of 50 degrees when we left so I was happy to be wearing the rainsuit. As with yesterday's ride, we were on and off the coast, up and down, right and left. This section reminded me very much of upstate New York and areas of New Hampshire and Vermont. Quite a few small dairy farms; the terrain and vegetation looked and felt very familiar. We breakfasted at a brand new Denny's in Tillamook, OR.
As it was brand new, we were worried that we'd have the same problem as yesterday. When we were getting off the bikes and out of our rainsuits you could see the staff looking out with that "Oh &^%$" expression. Breakfast was good with timely services. Making it better was the birthday cake Martha and Joe had walked down the street to get for Hayden, it being his 24th birthday. Unfortunately, we didn't get icecream with the cake. Our waitress, Chrystal (with the "h") noted she'd be celebrating her 21st birthday this Thursday having some family take care of the kids, her oldest being five years old. Wow!
Tillamook is home to the Tillamook Air Museum. Tillamook was a Naval Air Station (there remains one nearby) for blimps, monitoring the skies of the Pacific Coast, just like our little bit of blimp history in Chatham.
From Tillamook it was back along the coast practically all the way to Astoria and across the Columbia River to Washington State. Along the way we took a break in Cannon Beach, an upscale vacation town with lots of shopping, dining and miles of beach; a great place to have parked the bikes for the day and taken an extra overnight.
We crossed in to Washington after gassing up in Astoria. The bridge was huge; first part was very high to allow large ships under and the second part was seemingly just above the river.
The first thing you notice about Washington is the large amount of land that is being timbered by either Weyerhauser of others. Large swaths of land are cut down, timber removed, then replanted. It creates a checkerboard effect with each section having a particular age and growth. One area had been hit by hurricane force winds (120mph) which knocked down all the trees, they all falling in the same direction. Quite a sight.
Somewhere around Elma or MMcCleary our group split. The Vokey clan with Stephen and Astro in the M3 headed up route 101 to connect with 106 near Union which runs along the Hood Canal. 106 was in the process of being re-paved using the old oil and gravel technique. Mark gave me cause for pause as he slalomed around the center-line markings. In Port Orchard we picked up highway 3 among commuting traffic. We stayed on 3 up to Poulsbo and then took the 13-mile ride down route 305 to catch the Seattle ferry from Bainbridge Island.
Everyone was tired and I, particularly, was in a foul mood. Enough traffic, heat, missteps and antics to put me on edge. Rules to live by: there is a left side and a right side of the handlebars, they are meant to be held on to at practically all times. Road motorcycles are meant to be sat on, not stood on. If you need to stand frequently, its time to get off the road and take a rest. Crash bars are to protect the engine, not a great place to hang your legs when the pipes are hot. There is a two-second rule for a reason. Probably to prevent one accident from becoming many. Without sufficient space, everyone is in danger.
The ferry ride provided a much-needed break and a wonderful view of Seattle. Bikes get on and off first which was very convenient; I need to pay Scott for the fares. We got off in downtown Seattle, and Reid came along in a few minutes to ride with us (some of the way) back to Scott's.
We reached our destination about 630PM. It being Hayden's birthday, a number of his pals stopped over including his oldest friend, Joel, who is a deepsea diver down in the Gulf.
Joel had helped Marion all afternoon get the appetizers and meals prepared.
Emmie and her mom were also here to greet us.
A long day, the Myers on the rocks hit the spot.
George, Jane and Elroy.
Sounds like you guys have had some pretty chilly rides for mid-July. Hope those leather gloves are keeping Martha's hands warm!
ReplyDeleteSee you in a few hours!
Ari