CCMA - Day 17

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We got an early start, it was a little chilly, but the skies were mostly clear, so it looked to be another great day.



We rode up rt. 5 toward Seattle, with a little detour through downtown Portland because I took a wrong turn. Back on the highway, traffic was light and there were very few trucks. We stopped at Mt. St. Helens State Park, but the clouds obscured the mountain, so we didn’t ride the 27 miles up too the lookout point.



We continued up rt. 5, Bill and Rick turned off at Mt. Rainer and I continued on to Seattle. I have been looking forward to seeing Seattle again ever since we decided to take this trip. I was curious to see how much it had changed since Microsoft came to town.



Traffic was brutal coming in to Seattle. It was Saturday morning and there was stop and go traffic on the interstate! I can’t imagine what it is like during a weekday commute.



When I lived in Seattle thirty years ago, it had a population just under 500,000 and had a small town atmosphere. The population is now over 600,000 and it seemed more like a crowded big city.



I rode around for a couple of hours and then headed to the motel located just south of Seattle, near Sea-Tac airport. I arrived around 4 pm, about 10 minutes before Rick and Bill.



Their trip to Mt. Rainer was not as pleasant as mine, about 6 miles from the Paradise visitor center; they had to turn back because of dense fog. Rick did say that he enjoyed what he was able to see, particularly the ride through the forest. He took a lot of photos, some very awesome. I took very few pictures because of traffic, so today I will post Ricks.



We walked down the street to the Bullpen Tavern for dinner. Tomorrow we are going through Olympic National Park to the Pacific and down the coast to Ocean Shores, Washington, about 300 miles.



https://plus.google.com/photos/101506993269424417039/albums/5791358333922882977?authkey=CMzG6aOZy9SQDw

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Comments

[Mike]

THANKS FOR SHARING YOUR TRIP DETAILS
i've been following the blog since day 1. Really enjoy it. Sounds like you are having a great trip. Wish I was with you. Ride Safe.