I got up early and after a phone call to check in at home, I repacked my stuff and got the bike loaded up. After my dealing with the “check engine light” the other day, I hadn’t returned the tools back under my seat so I did that.
It was time to get on the road again so after a waffle for breakfast, I said goodbye to my sister, her partner, and my mom and got rolling a little after 9 am. The ride today will take me to a friend’s place in Oregon City, OR and I’ve charted an easy route: just follow Hwy 101 for the first half of the day.
It was cool out so I was layered up as I headed toward Port Angeles. Traffic was light and the road was pretty nice as it followed the terrain. After passing through that city, Hwy 101 heads off into forested areas and eventually enters the Olympic National Park. The road gets twisty, quite fun, and scenic, but, of course, checking out the scenery while riding a curvy road is not advised so I make some frequent stops. The first ones were around Lake Crescent.
It had rained earlier, evidenced by the damp streets and at one point, the was a beautiful and very bright rainbow across the lake. Alas, no place to pull over and grab a photo of it. I did stop to get a few of the road itself: a motorcyclist’s favorite type.
I came to the turn off to Hwy 110 and decided to take it. This travels 20 miles to the coast and a small place named La Push. I’ve had several people tell me that it’s worth a visit. In fact, one friend and his wife went here for many years on their annual vacation until his health made that trek too difficult.
The road is a bit rough in parts and travels through a reservation. On several occasions the forest opens up into a clear cut area with hundreds of tree stumps sticking up through the rubble of small branches from a harvesting that obviously took place some years ago. I arrived in the town and all I can say is that it’s a dump. However, I think there are places to stay nearby that might be nicer but the real draw are the beaches: First Beach and Second Beach. I parked the bike and walk out to First beach for some photos.
Before taking off, I talked to a guy in a Sprinter-type van who was parked next to my bike. This is his home and he works remotely using the StarLink antenna mounted on top. He follows his whims and stays in interesting places and likes the van life.
I headed back out to Hwy 101 and quickly arrived in the town of Forks. I gassed up and got back on the road which wove through the forest before tracing the coastline for a ways. Another photo opportunity.
I checked the map and it was time to decide if I was going to continue on 101 or head east and pick up Interstate 5 to take me to Oregon City. Time was a bit of a factor as I wanted to arrive before 7 pm and staying on the 2-lane route would drop me into the Portland area after that. Another consideration was that once I’d get to Vancouver, WA, I would be traveling all city streets from there, all the way through Portland, and then Oregon City on a Friday. I opted for the Interstate and put that desire into the Google navigator.
Somewhere along the way it told me to turn left on a road I’d seen on the map that headed east through the mountains. I made the turn but stopped right away when I saw the “No Outlet” sign. Do I believe the computer or the sign? I opted for the latter and continued on 101 until it was closed and a detour routed me around a ways before bringing me on to it in the the city of Hoquiam. I wasn’t familiar with this place but it was obvious that it was part of the loggng industry. Business names made many references to that. I crossed over a steel grated bridge that spanned a river and found myself in the neighboring town of Aberdeen where I stopped for a break and sandwich.
Refreshed, I continued on Hwy 101 until it split and I stayed on Hwy 12 to Grand Mound where I gassed up again. This is where I get on I-5. After traveling on 2-lane roads and doing 55-60 mph, I had to ramp up my speed to stay with the flow of traffic, deal with getting around semi-trucks, and stay out of the way of drivers who desired traveling 15 mph over the 70 mph speed limit. I got settled in and just relied on the skills I’d acquired as a regular commuter on the freeways of Los Angeles many decades ago.
Somewhere along the way, it clouded up and started sprinkling. A rest stop appeared and I pulled in to get my rain pants on. My rain liner was already in my jacket so it was a quick stop and then back on the road. While the rain would intensify and come and go, the bike handled just fine. Traffic backed up a bit now and then and just outside of Vancouver I switched to I-205 which avoids central Portland and continues south through the east side of that metro area, taking me across the Columbia River into Portland and Oregon.
I exited I-205 and got onto Hwy 213 but missed the turn onto Prairie Schooner Way. No problem. I grabbed the next right and took Abernathy to Washington which took me right into Oregon City. From there I pretty remembered the way to my friend's house and arrived within 5 minutes of the time Google told me I would 80 miles ago.
It was a 379.7 mile day.
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