2026 PNW Trip 1 - Days 4-6

May 25, 2026

The three days here in Sequim have gone by pretty fast and have been quite low-key, with most of the time spent visiting my mother.  I’ve been staying at her apartment and a very nice independent living facility.

Saturday was pretty much a layabout day, doing some reading, fiddling with some technology and having meals in the dining room with the other residents, many who I have gotten to know over my many visits here.

That evening I went to the pool room and played some games against Marge.  She’s 92 and told me to not hold back due to her age.  We played 5 hames.  I won 3 and lost 2 by scratching on the 8 ball.  It was lots of fun.

Sunday morning I went out for a 7 mile run.  It was an out and back and took me to the beach at Port Williams.  It’s a straight shot from where I am staying and has a few hills and curves along the way.  For most of the distance there is no sidewalk and only a very narrow shoulder but there wasn’t much traffic and people were pretty good about moving over when the saw me.  Here’s some photos from along the way.

The turnaround is at the water’s edge.

Here’s a few from the return.

And the stats:

Midday my mom has church in her apartment so I went to the pool room and practice for about an hour.

Sunday evening we went to my sister’s place and had a nice visit and a delicious dinner.  When we left, my mom driving, we encountered some wildlife on the road.

Monday started with an another run, this time to the old railroad bridge.  It’s been converted to a pedestrian way and, I think, is part of the Olympic Discovery Trail system.  I shot some photos along the way.

When I got there I headed south for a ways exploring the trail system.

The run back was pretty quiet as this is a holiday and not many people are out and about yet.  

Some more wildflowers and the stats from the run.

I showered and finished off the banana bread I’d brought from Billings.  I spent some time reading and after lunch (salad bar) my sister picked me up and we went to a local tap room for a couple beers and some conversation.  We went back to my mom’s and picked her up and met my sister’s partner at a local Mexican restaurant for a decent dinner.  Her partner is taking off for a fishing trip tomorrow and so we said our goodbyes and went back to my mom’s.  My sister and I said our goodbyes as I plan to leave early in the morning.

The rest of the evening was writing this, reading a magazine article I’d brought, and doing some preliminary packing.  I also scoped out tomorrow’s route which involves taking a ferry to Seattle.  I haven’t gone this way before so it should be an adventurer.

2026 PNW Trip 1 - Day 3

May 22, 2026

It was a bit chilly when I woke up this morning but not like yesterday when I was in the mountains.  I lounged for a bit, reading, before getting up, getting dresses, and going out for a walk.  Yes, I know that the morning stiffness is somewhat age related and I know that a good walk will completely loosing me up so that's what I like to do.  At home I head right to the gym 3 days a week, sometimes running there.

This morning's walk took me back to the far end of the site, an area they are developing but not yet done.  The campsites are defined with an umber, a picnic table, and a fire rind but there are not what we would call roads in the area.  This is why they call these sites the walk-ins.  They are free but one has the pay the $5 day use fee to leave a vehicle in the parking lots.  On a bicycle it would be completely free.  I pay half price with my military interagency card, $7.50, so for the extra $2.50 I don't have to carry in my gear.  But if the campsites were full, I could do that.

The train goes by every few hours.

I did the rest of the morning routine, broke camp, loaded up and hit the road by 8:25.  I rode straight into Ellensburg and topped off my tank while I took advantage of having cell service again and looked at the map.   There was motorcycle club at the station.  I noticed that several were armed.

Gas was pricey.

For a route, I really only have 3 options from here.  One is the long way by heading south and working my way around Mt. Ranier and coming in from the south.  It’s a nice ride but make a very long day.  The shorter option is to ride the freeway directly into Seattle and take the ferry across.  That sounds intense.  The remaining option is the one I usually take and took today.  It starts with 90 miles on I-90 before getting on Hwy 18 to Auburn and Tacoma, crossing the Tacoma Narrows bridge and then riding north.  One has to be highly alert on this route but I still have that skillset from all my years of driving/riding in Los Angeles.

So, off I went.  Somewhere along the line I got an alert from the navigation software that there was an object in the road.  I don't know how it knows there things but it walks to me in my helmet speakers.  Sure enough, I saw it and it looked like a roll of barbed wire.  I can only imagine what hitting something like that on a bike would be like.

The traffic on Hwy 18 going the other way, out of town, was backed up and stop and go for over 12 miles.  I saw this last year too and I think it’s people getting out of town for the holiday although I didn’t notice that many RVs.  When I took that route a few days later the crowds were gone.

I navigated my way, heading into stopped up traffic as I transitioned to I-5 but it got better as I left Tacoma behind and crosses some bridges.

The ride north is a 4-lane for most of the way moves along pretty well.  Somewhere between Gig Harbor and Bremerton I pulled off and stopped in a hotel parking lot for lunch, banana bread and an apple.  I also called home and got an update on things there.

Back on the road I made good time rode directly to my mom's place, a very nice independent living facility.  She came out to greet me and my sister pulled up right after.  I got the bike unloaded and took a shower before making a beer run.  My mom only has box wine in here fridge.  

We settled in for some visiting before my sister took off and my mom and went down to the chow hall for dinner.

The food here is pretty good, with a good variety and a special every night.  As it is rarely vegetarian I opt for their salad bar which is well stocked.  Her usual table was full so we sat at an adjacent one but I said hello to all as I have gotten to know most of them on my frequent visits here.  One of them had her 100th birthday a few years ago.

After dinner we went out to the lobby area where they have a big fireplace for Friday night chats.  It's a regular social thing and I enjoy talking to one of her friends who is an avid reader, particularly science fiction.

Back in my mom's apartment we went through process of making sure she could turn on her TV which we had turned off earlier.  Long gone are the days when TVs just had an On/Off/Volume control and channel selector.  Now, when one picks up the correct remote control, a challenge there, and hits the on button, the TV wakes/boots up, a logo is displayed, followed by a progress bar while it makes some kind of connection.  One would think that after that it would just be a matter of selection a channel, but no, you then have to work through a menu of input choices.  The correct choice is HDMI which means nothing to non-technical people, and it eventually settles in on some channel.

She watched TV a bit while we chatted some and I cleared out the email on my phone.  I got out my iPad and saw that it was on low battery so looked around for a place to plug it in.  Next to where I was sitting is an outlet that is servicing a lamp and, it turns out, one of her two oxygen concentrators.  She tells me that this one no longer works.  I asked why and she said that it doesn’t charge anymore.  I tried the On button and it was dead.  OK, I moved to the hallway and plugged it in there and it sprung to life.  I tried my iPad in that outlet and got noting.  I looked for switch on the wall that might control it but found nothing.  OK, a problem for another day.

I plugged to iPad in over in the kitchen and we wound the day down.

Riding, it was a 228 miles day.

2026 PNW Trip 1 - Day 2

May 21, 2026

It rained overnight but I stayed dry in my tent.  I slept pretty well too and woke up around 5:30, Montana time, and read from my Kindle for a while.  I did finally get up and started the day’s doings.  I heated up some water for my cocoa and the overnight oatmeal that I didn’t soak overnight.  It works well when just adding hot water and letting is steep for a bit.  I sorted things in my bags and moved stuff from my tent up the trail to the picnic table.

Little by little I got things ready to load on the bike.  The guy I talked to last night was drying out his tent in the sun and we chatted for a bit.  I took a close look at his bike and it’s really something.  He built it himself and it has lots of features for long distance riding with the ability to carry everything he needs.  He was trying to decided whether to attack Lolo Pass today, about 40 miles away, or to stop in Powell and do it tomorrow morning.  I commend him on his task.

I dried off the bike and got things loaded, changed into my riding gear, and set off about 8:25.  The only change I made in packing is moving a couple things into the right side carrier, including my iPad, to balance the load better and to make it easier to get to the iPad without unpacking.  Since the bike leans to the left on the side stand, this is the way.

The ride out was great.  Pretty much no traffic and the roads were great, even though it had rained last night.  I am hoping I caught some good video.

About the images and the videos.  They are problematic to post in these write ups without better cell service.  Plus, I am having an issue with Google which runs the blog software.  Since I am probably logged on to several gmail accounts at once, it can’t figure out who own the photos I want to insert.  I need to log out of all the accounts and log back in with just the one I use for the blog.  BUT, on the iPad I can’t figure out how to log out.  It’s an option on the desktop but I can’t find it here.  Oh, well, something for when I am in Sequim with some downtime.

I stopped in Kamiah and got gas and sat at their picnic table and posted yesreday’s blog.  

Then it’s a great ride to Orofino in a VERY curvy 2-lane.  However, I had some idiot tailgating me.  Very close.  I’d have pulled over but the choices are very few.  Finally there was a passing lane and when he passed, he went very close to me to show his displeasure for my going the speed limit.  (Actually, I was going about 10 over).  Up ahead he got stuck behind 2 cars that were going the speed limit and I watched him unsuccessfully try to pass in a couple no pas zones until we got to Orofino and the road went to 4 lanes.  Morons in trucks.

I stopped in the Slaterville rest area as I usually do and shed a couple layers.  This is another reason that I glad to have brought my blue backpack.  As the day went on it took on my heavy gloves, rain liner, and thermal liner.  I also had a big drink of water.

The navigation software did something different regarding Lewiston.  It usually takes me right through the city but this time, it me north toward Pullman.  It looked like an OK route and I would eventually be taking Hwy 26 which I have in the past.  The road out of Lewiston is VERY steep and several miles long.  At the top I saw a sign for a scenic view and pulled over.  It was great, a complete view of the cities.  Photos will tell the story.

From there I continued on wherever it told me to go and enjoyed doing something different although the scenery was similar: huge rolling hills planted with wheat.  Along the way I needed a break and pulled over next to some grain silos and had a snack and some more water.  

I continued on Hwy 26 to Othello where I stopped for gas and picked up a gallon of water.  I’m running low on water and there isn’t any where I will camp toning.  I filled my 1/2  gallon container and the bottle in my tank bag before drinking as much as I could hold.  

One of these times I’m going to have to stop for more than gas in Othello.  It’s the hometown of my roommate from when I was stationed in Germany in 1974-75.  A while back I did a search and found that he had moved back to Othello after the army and became a police officer, eventually becoming chief.  I read an article that he had retired a few years ago.

I’m not really into chasing down old army buddies but there are a few I’d like to.  One I already did and we did a meetup in Maine when I motorcycled there 5 years ago.  My other roommate, Pat, I’ve tried to find but no luck.  We all got to know each other pretty well being roommates and working on the same shift at the missile site, 24 hours on, 24 hours off, rinse and repeat.

From Othello I had to make a choice.  I could head south and pick up the highway that would taker me through Yakima and enter the canyon from the south or continue on Hwy 26.  The latter would be 40 minutes shorter BUT included riding the freeway for 40 miles.  That stretch into Yakima from south of Othello I really don’t like plus riding through Yakima is no joy.  So, riding the slab it was and it wasn’t that bad.

A rest area….

It took me to the northern end of the canyon so it was about 6-8 miles to the campground.  It’s small, with only about 6 pull in sites but there are a dozen walk-in sites.  Some are a long walk.  As I loop through I saw that every post had a reserved note on it.  I got off the bike and looked closer and most were for tomorrow through the holiday weekend.  I grabbed site #3, where I camped in the past, and got the bike unloaded, the tent set up, and changed into shorts.  It was pretty warm and this site has no shade.

After sitting on the bike all day I needed a walk so walked south to the far end of the campground and checked things out.  The river is gorgeous.

When I got back I got dinner going and downloaded the select videos from the dashcam system.  Tonight’s menu is Pad Thai.

A little hike before bedtime…

It was a 347 mile day.