Oregon to Washington

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Day 90……30/062012

A slight miscalculation on the days that we have been here, seems its today that we are halfway through the trip as opposed to yesterday, oh well it was an easy mistake to make given that we have lost all track of time anyway. Well today is another pretty much do nothing day, except that is for readying ourselves for a Weasel party that we have been invited to later this evening at Sue’s house. So I sat and finished off last week’s blog, which you may have already read by now, and Lynne got her head stuck into one or two of those “OK” “Hello” type magazines that seem to be worldwide, you know the ones “I lost 300lb just by eating the packaging that my Ryvita comes in” So we get to the party, and it’s a little wet from the light rain that has been on and off all day, but no problem because like most Americans Sue has a huge garage that has been set up to entertain. A large table for all the food that has been brought occupies the middle and we all sit around it. Lynne and I are introduced to a few more Weasels and Weaselettes, and as with most parties the banter soon turned to insulting the one standing, and discussing previous rides and camping trips that had brought forth some kind of hilarity or embarrassment to one or another of the members. The merriment seemed to be helped along no end by a certain tray of “Brownies” that I would say, judging by the smell was definitely not of an Aunt Bessie’s variety.



Day 91……01/07/2012

It was still a little grey this morning with no sign of the weather clearing anytime soon, so the plan was to go for breakfast at a local restaurant which seemed to be a Sunday ritual for some of the diehard weasels, despite any ill effects from the previous night’s partying. With a light drizzle coming down we set off for a ride out to an Air museum, some forty miles away, Lynne had opted to jump on the back with me, to alleviate the need for her to have to clean the Harley, which was a good idea as it would be me that would have to clean it anyway. Now this was no ordinary Air Museum, this one had a special attraction. This was now the permanent home of the “Spruce Goose”, which may not mean anything to most people, but it is the largest airplane ever constructed, and flown only one time, when it achieved the giddy height of two metres above the water. Designed by Howard Hughes it was six times larger than any aircraft of its time, and the Spruce Goose also known as the Flying Boat, is made entirely of wood. The museum had so many aircraft, and also an area dedicated to the US adventures into space, with various rockets and recovered capsules on display. We rode back to Mike’s in the dry, which made a change, and finished off the day with a nice meal with Mike at a local Mexican Restaurant, with a couple of Margarita’s to assist the Latin fare.

Day 92……02/07/2012

The plan today is to leave Salem and Mike’s and his Weasel brother’s kind hospitality, and head to the north Oregon coast. Mike has kindly offered to escort us there taking in some nice scenic woodland on route, we were told that due to the climate and the amount of rainfall here, that this region is officially classified as a tropical rainforest, well it is damp enough for us to believe this. Sixty or so miles later we arrived in the town of Tillamook near the coast. We had some lunch and then said our farewells to Mike another good friend that we have made along the way. The two of us then set off north along the 101 coast road. The weather was still a little mucky which made the views of the ocean a little grey but it had stopped raining at least for a while. We pulled into a small seaside town called Seaside, well that was original thinking on their part. A motel six was found and booked, then a walk to explore. It was just a few hundred yards to the beach so that was the direction we took. We had seen signs on the roadside stating that you were either entering or leaving a Tsunami area, which seemed strange to us, but in actual fact it is a high risk area here, with its shallow beaches, and also the next land mass west is Japan and Russia, we had better keep the engines running then.

Day 93……03/07/2012

The weather was no better this morning, in fact a slight break in the clouds that gave us the signal to move off was soon replaced with light rain, and the spray from the roads got us a little wet.A little way along the Pacific Northwest coastal highway I noticed that something was missing in my mirror, yep Lynne. I turned back to find her at the side of the road, with the gear thingy missing again, this was strange as it had been fitted so tight this time and with super dooper Loctite stuff, oh well I suppose it is a Harley, so it was back in with the bolt. The road took us to Astoria the last city in Oregon before we took an immense bridge into Washington (State number 23) we rode on North through small fishing villages, and through countryside that reminded us very much of Scotland, along with the mist and grey skies. After around 150 miles we arrived in the state capitol of Olympia where we were greeted by the first sunshine of the last few days, which was very welcome as the next leg of our journey tomorrow will take us up the Olympic peninsula, a very pretty ride from what we have been told.



Day 94……04/07/2012

Well the sun was out in full force this morning, and after breakfast we set off north towards the Olympic national park. Now this is what riding is all about, a coastal road that hugs close to the water’s edge sweeping up and down through small villages, with pretty little harbours, superb. We passed many native American Indians selling fireworks from stalls at the side of the road, seems there is some celebrations planned in the US today, it’s even a public holiday here too, I cannot understand what all the fuss is about! We finally arrived at the town of Port Townsend, where we would catch the ferry to Whidbey Island a thirty minute trip across the Puget Sound, the main waterway here that connects all the small islands. Whidbey Island was nice and a great ride in the afternoon sunshine, we crossed another large bridge back onto the mainland just above Seattle. From there we headed north to our final destination of Bellingham, well final for today anyway.

Day 95……05/07/2012

With no particular place to be until Saturday we made the most of the two day wait for our ferry north, starting with just a little lay in for Lynne. We did have plenty to do in preparation for the trip to Alaska, starting with finding a secure spot for Lynne’s trike for three weeks or so. The plan is to put my bike on the ferry along with the two of us, and then it’s four and a half days up the inland waterway off the coast of British Columbia, which given that we have nice weather, should be absolutely spectacular. So today I would look for storage for the trike, the first company I found required pushing the trike through the reception and then into a lift and taking the thing up a few floors to what could only be described as a small garage but inside a huge warehouse. But this was not really suitable as I would not be able to manoeuvre it once out of the lift. Next was a far more suitable venue, lock up units behind a secure fence, so this would do nicely. A good jet wash on both machines, and check over of mine to make sure it has the best chance to survive the rather daunting trip back here once we get off the ferry, this will not be just any ordinary ride, but a little over 3500 miles through much of North Americas designated wilderness, gulp.

Day 96……06/07/2012

So with Lynne’s trike safely locked away, our attention is now drawn to getting some provisions for our boat trip, while there is a restaurant on board it’s no cruise liner, apparently you can pitch small tents on the back deck, no honestly, I will get some pictures. We however have the luxury of a cabinette, an outside one with a porthole no less. Well there is not much more to say really today so I will sign off for now, I do have to say that an internet connection may be a little limited over the next three or four weeks so I hope to be in touch with some of you. But if you don’t happen to hear from us we will be OK, unless we run into some hungry bears waiting for their porridge to cool.

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Photos

So far
Around 11,000 miles hasn't Lynne done well

Weasel party
The "Brownies" were under the tin foil

The Spruce Goose
Hard to get any idea of how big this thing is

Astoria
Bridge to Washington

Olympic Peninsula
Could be Scotland