The 2024 PNW Ride - Days 4-6

September 14-16, 2024

These three days were about visiting family here in Sequim, WA and my motorcycle sat, awaiting its next outing.  I stayed at my mom’s place and visited with her and my sister during my time here.  We did some sightseeing, ate some meals together, and, generally, just caught up.

One of the outings took us to Port Williams County Park.

Protection Island is across the water.

I did get out for a few runs. Here’s some scenery from Sunday morning.

This is where my bike has been hanging out.

We visited a nice brewery in Port Angeles.

They had really nice restrooms.

Monday morning I did a run to the Railroad Bridge.  This area is now a nature preserve and has some nice trails.

On Monday evening my mom and I went through a box of really old family photos.  Lots of history there.  She’s made notes on the backs of most of them and I’ll get them at some point to scan.

And that’s it.  During the day I made a reservation for the ferry that will take me from Port Townsend to Fort Casey.  I scouted out camping locations and though I am too near my arrival times to make reservations it doesn’t look like finding a spot will be an issue.  My plan after the ferry is to ride north to pick up Hwy 20 and take that east across the Cascades.  I rode that highway westward two years ago and it’s worth doing again.  I’ll camp on the east side of the mountains.  It will be a shorter day, about 200 miles, but I won’t be off the ferry until noon so that should work out fine.

On Wednesday I’ll head north into Canada and ride Hwy 3 to the Cranbrook area where I’ll camp in a provincial park.  The next day, Thursday, I go south into Montana and ride as far as Harlowton where I’ll meet my wife at city park campground and we’ll stay there that night and do the last 90 miles to Billings on Friday.

The weather looks reasonable with maybe a few showers today but no big storms that I can see.  It should be a nice few days.

The 2024 PNW Ride - Day 3

September 13, 2024

What a beautiful morning.  After reading a bit and waiting for it to get light, I went out for a long walk, covering the trails along the river before venturing across the highway where I found the visitors center for this part of the forest.  I took a nice walk along an interpretive path that provided information about the history of logging, the various types of trees, and the benefit that natural fires have had in the area.

The highway beckons…

I got breakfast going, my custom oatmeal mix and cocoa, and then got the packing up process started.

Loaded up a ready to roll.

Hwy 410 is terrific.  It’s along a heavily forested route that then climbs to Chinook Pass.

Up on top I pulled over for some photos and saw a VW club.

Looking back.

The road I’d just climbed.

On the way down, I had a good view of Mt. Rainier.

From the bottom of the route it was now just a ride through cities and towns to get to my destination, Sequim, WA.  I wanted to miss Seattle and Tacoma so picked a route that avoided those places but still hit lots of traffic.  I did ride across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge that had sections of steel grating but the type it was didn’t effect the riding.

I was getting hungry for lunch and my plan was to get something healthy by stopping at a grocery store and picking up a salad “kit.”  I stopped in Silverdale for gas and the map app told me that a Safeway was nearby.  Like many places here, it was packed and I was hoping to get a motorcycle parking place near the door rather than leave my bike and gear out in the lot somewhere.  There were no spots like take BUT, wait, there is an empty place on right in front.  Ok, it’s reserved for veterans.  Hey, I even have my VA card on me should I get asked so I parked there.

I got my salad and rode a block to a city park where I could eat while overlooking the water.  It must be a tough neighborhood as the public restrooms were locked and there was a needle disposal box on the outside.

But the lunch was perfect.

I continued on the last leg and about 15 miles from Sequim I pulled over to don the rain gear again and rode the rest of the way in downpour.  

It was a 196 mile day and I’ll be here for a few days.

The 2024 PNW Ride - Day 2

September 12, 2024

The rain continued all night and into the morning.

I took my time getting the day started while hoping that it would let up but it seemed to say it was planning to hang on.  I read for quite a while but then got the process started of getting things packed up inside the tent and then loaded on the bike.  I shot a photo before I took the tent down.

The tent was heavier than usual due to the water trapped in it but once everything was loaded up I headed out.  Yes, it was raining but the ride was still a good one.  I stopped along the way to enjoy the wet scenery.

I arrived in Kamiah, ID in what was still a downpour.  I stopped for gas at a place that was also a store of some kind and noticed some umbrella-covered picnic tables in back and decided to take a break from the raindrops.

I continued on westward and by the time I got to the Slaterville rest stop the rain had finally stopped.

The further I rode, the better the weather became although the wind did pick up a bit as I got into eastern Washington.  I pulled into Pomeroy, WA and spotted their courthouse and wanted to add it to my collection of photos showing my motorcycle parking in front of county courthouses.

It seems like a nice town and I’ve have to remember to look it up later.

I’d set my navigation tool to route me to Palouse Falls so I was on a different course than I’d been on in the past.  I went through miles and miles of rolling hills of what I assume were in wheat production.

I crossed the Snake River and pulled into Lyons Ferry State Park to grab a photo of the bridge I had just crossed.

The next stop was Palouse Falls.  The turn off put me on a 2-mile long gravel road that was heavy with the washboard effect.  I felt like I was doing destruction testing to see what would fall off my bike but I arrived at the parking lot without losing anything.  I took a few photos of the falls and then got back on the road.

The next part of the ride was fantastic.  It’s Hwy 261 and although short, it has some nice twisties.  From there I took Hwy 260 westward before getting on some very minor county roads. I gassed up in Connell and then continued on to an intersection that brought me within a few miles of Othello, WA.  My roommate when I was stationed in Germany was from there.  I should look him up before I come through here again.  

I crossed the Columbia River near Sunnyside and stopped at a rest area for a break to remove rain gear and to have a snack.  I notice that the water in my tent had drained out to one end of it’s bag.

I stopped gas in Yakima before heading up Hwy 410 for a place to camp.  I was originally going to take Hwy 12 but many of the campgrounds were closed due to fires and there was lots a construction along that route.  It turned out to be a good decision as Hwy 410 was a treasure.

Before leaving on this trip I’d looked online and saw a campground called Sawmill Flats that would be about perfect and it had lots of available sites.  However, the day before I left it showed none available to reserve but I figured it was because it was too close to my arrival date.  That turned out to be the case because when I arrived there I looped through the campground and saw only one other camper.  However, there was reservation notices on most of the sites for the upcoming weekend.  

I selected a site far from the other camper (who were in an RV and running a generator) and one that was right on the river.  It was a few steps from the bike to where I wanted to pitch the tent next to the river but it didn’t take long to get things set up.  The tent was wet so I mopped the floor with a microfiber cloth and it didn’t take long for the rest of it to dry out.  I walked back to the registration thing and paid ($22, no discounts here) and then got water boiling for my dinner.  It’s a Pesto Pasta I hadn’t tried before and turned out to be mighty tasty.

Time for a few photos.

Just after dark a pickup pulled in a toured the site.  He picked one near the entrance but discovered the sign that indicated it was for handicapped so moved and took one a few sites from me.  I guess saw my light and decided to move again and I saw him back into a site on the far side of the campground. After a bit he started his truck up again and toured the grounds and eventually took the site right next to me.  Geeezzz, whatever.  He was quiet and slept in his truck so that was OK.

I got settled in, read a while, and then slept, soundly.

It was a 412 mile day.