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Published: August 28th 2015
Our last day with the group was very relaxed, catching up on maintenance on the bike (and ourselves) and reminiscing with the group. We later had a group dinner together where everyone shared their highlights (and lowlights).
The following day Trev went with everyone else to help load the bikes for those who were going back home and drop our bag off. We then had a very relaxed day while we waited to leave later in the day. Rosco's lovely wife Bones, flew in from New Zealand to join Rosco across Canada to Niagara Falls, it was lovely to see her briefly before we said our goodbyes to everyone and rode off with String and Gerardo.
After a brief stop to change Gerardo's tyres, we made our way through rush hour Vancouver traffic south to the Peace Arch USA border. We were lucky that there was no queue at all and crossed quickly and without event.
Once on US soil the scenery changed noticeably from built up congested roadways to wide open, scarcely populated farmlands with plenty of cultivation and big skies.
We arrived at Seattle Heights where we found accomodation and a Mexican restaurant for a
"muy bueno' meal.
The following day we rode to BMW motorcycles of Seattle where we said goodbye to String and Gerardo; we'll miss their company and good humour but look forward to seeing them again in Niagara Falls and Texas respectively. We arranged to have our bike serviced here and found the service and friendliness exemplary! They took our bike in almost immediately and we were able to change into street clothes and visit the store and showroom upstairs where there was a comfortable space to pore over maps with complimentary tea, coffee, pop etc. We were lucky enough to happen across Dave who is the general manager and spent nearly and hour with us going over recommended routes to ride East on. He was a wealth of information and clearly has done a lot of riding in the area. We then ordered a cab into Seattle where we went to the Space Needle, Kerry Park the waterfront and an art installation. It was great to have a walk for a change but the weather was between 30 and 32 degrees so we were pleased to get back in the cab.
When our bike was ready we received
a 'completion' email from the prompt and efficient service team who then went over a check sheet of what had been done. I can't rate this team high enough, they were just fantastic to deal with!
After picking up the bike we reluctantly put our riding gear back on and headed for Snoqualmie Falls. This was really pretty and the town itself was cute too.
We then made our way to Puyalla which is just outside Mt Ranier NP. We noticed the highway surface was really bad to ride on for some reason; lots of 'steps' and lines in the tar. After riding in stop-start traffic for several hours in the heat we were both dripping in sweat and exhausted so found accomodation, fed and watered ourselves and collapsed into bed. Funny riding alone today, every time I saw bikes I expected to see part of our group. Missing you guys already!
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BMW Motorcycles of Seattle - formerly Ride West
