Milestones

[RaYzerman19]

Andy,
I'm not getting any photos here in Reykjavik. Either photobucket says you exceeded your bandwitdth and you blew up the internet or there is volcanic ash plugging up the internet pipeline here.

Bill

OMG, it was OK yesterday..... The internet blew up? Hokey Cow, Batman!!! Musta been Bill beaming in from the north!!

 

[dcarver]

Get off that wallet of yours Mr. BG and let some Photobucket Pro money loose! LOL, I had to do the same route over a year ago... <_<

 

[BikerGeek99]

Get off that wallet of yours Mr. BG and let some Photobucket Pro money loose! LOL, I had to do the same route over a year ago... <_<

Well, crapola....

 

[BikerGeek99]

Andy,
I'm not getting any photos here in Reykjavik. Either photobucket says you exceeded your bandwitdth and you blew up the internet or there is volcanic ash plugging up the internet pipeline here.

Bill

Yep. We blew the bandwidth limit.

Should be fixt now, though...

 

[BikerGeek99]

Forgot to add: we rode 450 miles on our ride into Yakima. And they were some warm, windy miles.

Next: July 17, 2010. Yakima, Washington, to Seattle.

Time to see the the left coast.

We awoke to yet another beautiful morning. Temperatures were in the upper 50's or so, and the sky was clear. Perfect, once again, for riding.

By this time in the ride, Sooze and I were pretty much in A Groove. Get up in the morning, get ready to roll (including grabbing a bit to eat, coffee, cleaning up if we didn't the night before, etc...), repack all our crap, grab a cart to get said crap to the bike, reload the bike, ride, check in to the hotel de jour, unload the bike, unpack our crap, chill and grab a 6-pack, figure out dinner, sleep, lather, rinse, repeat.

This is the crap to load on the bike. Yes, it all fit.

Figuring out how to load the Tour Pack took the most trial-and-error, but we got it all figgered out. Eventually.

So long, Yakima. Would I go back there? Yes. Definitely.

We headed towards Seattle, a city I've been wanting to see for a long time. I can't really explain why, but I just did. I was really looking forward to it!

The scenery on the way wasn't too shabby, either.

I love riding in scenery like this: ruggedly beautiful terrain, a damn nice road, and a river. Oh, yes, friends. I love this stuff.

'Nuther tunnel.

Sorry to keep boring you with all this scenery, but for this guy from the flat-lands of the mid-west, this stuff is just awesome to witness in person.

OK, I lied. I'm really not sorry.

The temperatures had dropped and I was just starting to feel a wee little bit of a chill, so I figured Sooze had to be damn near freezing, so we stopped to adjust our layers. What a spot to stop...

Gotta love being at an altitude where you can see snow in July.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Remember the guy who was writing this report back at the beginning? The guy that was all worried about crap out of his control, the guy who was a bundle of nerves?

That guy isn't here. The guy that's here now is a guy who is in The Groove of a road trip.

As we continued towards Seattle, we started seeing this distinctive peak reaching into the sky.

Kinda hard to miss, ya know?

I saw a scenic pull-off and took it.

There were educational thingamabobs there.

Ah-HA! We've been seeing Mt. Rainier!

The Geeks with Mr. Rainier in the background.

The pull-off parking area was nicely deserted, although when we got there, there was a family in a minivan, but they left. Musta been skeered by a couple of Geeks on a Harley. Wimps.

Looking the other direction.

 

[BikerGeek99]

We had the time, and I saw the signs, so what the hell... We headed into Mount Rainier National Park.

It's purty back in here.

The visitor's center was moderately busy, but man what a setting...

We went in and got ourselves some trash 'N trinkets, and moseyed along on our way...

I wish these damn power lines weren't in the way.

Let me just say that the temperatures were definitely NOT getting warmer! We were both a bit chilly and I had been looking for a spot to pull off and grab a cup of coffee and a bite to eat.

Our route to Seattle was simple: US12 from Yakima to I-5, and north to Seattle. I saw signs for a town called Mosseyrock (population 486!) and we headed in. There ain't much in Mosseyrock, but we wound up in a place called the Pioneer Bar & Grill.

We got there around 11:00 or 11:30 in the morning. While not busy, the Pioneer had some patrons: one gal doing whatever and drinking coffee, and 3 young whippersnappers drinking beer and playing pool. Yes, pool – they had some tables & chairs, a cafe-style seating area (where we sat), a couple of pool tables, and a DJ area / karaoke area.

One thing Sooze and I both found interesting: the coffee and tea were self-serve. Just go and grab a mug amongst the gaggle of mugs and pour your own damn coffee / tea water. My kinda place.

FOOD ****!!

I had the patty melt (and coffee in a mug that said, “Sensational At 60”, which made Sooze laugh).

Sooze had the Dam Burger.

If you're in the 'hood, stop in the Pioneer. Whattaya got to lose?

 

[yamafitter]

...I wish these damn power lines weren't in the way.

One word... "Photoshop"

 

[BikerGeek99]

After our pretty durn tasty lunch in Mossyrock, we continued towards Seattle. Yep, Mossyrock, Washington, is a small town.

I saw signs for this town and asked Sooze to try to get a picture. I was amused and reminded of my niece, whose nickname is Ethel because she had a phase where she liked to streak, so my brother and sister-in-law started calling her Ethel, after the Ray Stevens song “The Streak.”

Not long after, we were off of U.S. 12 and onto I-5. I-5 sucked. Later, we found out why traffic was so heavy for an early Saturday afternoon: first of all, an event called A Bite Of Seattle was going on downtown, so people who otherwise wouldn't be heading into the city were; and there were one or two air shows going on (we rode right by Boeing's sprawling facility on our way into the city), so combine these and you wind up with heavy traffic, which I wasn't anticipating. I-5 still sucked.

Traffic was a bit nuts and the road condition was in less than ideal shape, but we did make progress towards Seattle.

Where the Mariners and the Seahawks play...

This is a helluva lot different from the wide open, sparsely-populated areas we rode through in Montana, THAT'S for damn sure.

This would become a familiar sight over the next couple of days.

Let me go on record right now: Sooze and I are two lucky mo-fo's. You see, as this trip was nearing and Sooze was posting up on one of those 'social-networking' sites about this trip, an old friend of hers, who Sooze hadn't seen in YEARS, let her know that she and her husband have a condo in downtown Seattle that we were welcome to stay in.

Wow! REALLY?!?

Sho 'nuf!

We found our way to the condo, unloaded all our crap, and I parked the bike in a private, secure, underground parking garage.

We were on the 9th story. Looking from the balcony, if we looked left, we saw Puget Sound.

Looking right we had the Space Needle.

The general view, looking out over the city with the hillside rising up in what I presume to be the 'burbs.

One thing I always find interesting in big cities, for some reason, is roof-top swimming pools. What can I say? I'm a geek!

We spent several hours with our kind and gracious hosts, Sooze catching up with her friend, and me talking geeky stuff with the husband. (He's a former Microsoft guy.) Out of respect for their privacy, I'm omitting their names and their pictures, but holy cow! Talk about being trusting, kind and gracious....

They'd had other visitors who didn't spend any time with them or make any kind of reciprocation efforts. Sooze and I don't operate like that, so we did take our hosts and their kids out to dinner at a little Italian restaurant a couple of block away. After riding for days and days, and finally making it to Seattle, it was nice to walk about a bit and start to get the feel of the city I'd been wanting to visit for so long.

OK, OK... FOOD ****!!! I had the veal and it was purty tasty.

Sooze had some pasta.

So, after 248 miles through the scenery provided by Mt. Rainier, the chill which took us to Mossyrock, and finally to the big city of Seattle, we settled in for the night.

 

[BikerGeek99]

One word... "Photoshop"

Two words: Too Lazy.

Besides, I don't know if the netbook has the computing horsepower to run PhtoChop.

 

[Geezer]

One word... "Photoshop"

Two words: Too Lazy.

Besides, I don't know if the netbook has the computing horsepower to run PhtoChop.

Photo chopping would be cheating.

I am enjoying this report Geek. Thanks for sharing.

 

[BikerGeek99]

OK, gang, let's do a quick review here.

We left home on July 10, 2010. We have ridden out of our home state of Ohio, through Indiana, Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota, North Dakota, Montana, Idaho, and are now in Washington. We have seen the Paul Bunyan and Babe statues in Bemidji, MN; spent some times with the fine folks at Fargo Harley-Davison; rode the Going To The Sun Road in Glacier National Park; I turned 40 in Kalispell, MT; now we're in Seattle and still won't be home for 2 more weeks.

Dang.

And now, July 18, 2010. Seattle, Washington.

This would be our only day during this trip that we do not ride. When we were putting this trip together, we'd kinda planned on heading up into Vancouver. Now that we were in Seattle, though, we reconsidered this. Considering that we had spent 8 days straight on the bike, and what the traffic was like on I-5 getting here, and looking at the mileage to get to Vancouver and back, and the horror stories around the border crossings.... We decided that we would rather spend our time exploring Seattle for a day. If we were to go to Vancouver, we really wouldn't be able to see much of either city. We woulda been like Clark W. Griswold when the Griswolds visited the Grand Canyon: “Yup.” Not really worth it.

So, for today, consider this a Walk Report rather than a ride report.

Deal with it, mm-kay?

Before going to bed the night before, we had several good chuckles. The condo where we stayed was kinda close to the Seattle bar area. From the balcony, we could watch the drunk young'ns staggering their way from wherever they were coming from to the bars. Drunks are not capable of using their Inside Voice. Sooze and I were both kind of amazed at how well we could hear people down on the street while we were 9 stories up (the condo didn't have air conditioning, so we had the windows open). Cheap entertainment, my friends. Very cheap.

After sleeping in just a wee bit, we were greeted with a PNW morning: a bit cool and overcast. We headed down the street to a little coffee shop that our kind and gracious guests had suggested for some morning chow.

After a quick regroup at the condo, I witnessed this aircraft doing its thing.

We headed out and walked down by the Sound. Just a bit down was a cruise ship which was docked. While we were walking by, the ship was disembarking passengers. Based on the sweat shirts, tee-shirts and trash 'N trinket bags, they'd been in Alaska.

That's the closest I've been to cruise ship and that sum'beetch was BIG!

We found a little uncomfortable chair thingy and had to do a couple of pics.

Along the Sound, there are quite a few of these Historical Points Of Interest.

Besides the cruise ship, there are also some more industrial docks. I guess Manson is an Earnhardt fan. Who'da thunk?

Geeks. Modern art. Trees. Big city skyline.

I'm not an experienced Big City guy. I mean, c'mon – I grew up here in Columbus, OH, and even though there are people around here who think this is a Big City, it isn't. I've spent some time around Manhattan, Denver, Chicago.... Those are much more Big City than Cow Town. So I find the big cities to be interesting. The little places on city corners.

Buildings which still show the remnants of their heritage.

Seattle does have some nautical references along the Sound.

And we continued our exploration of the city.

 

[Bustanut joker]

Ya know this would be a hellofa lot easier if you'd stay home and invite me and the missus to the slide show ya thistledik...

Dry humps to yer leg..

:jester:

 

[BikerGeek99]

Ya know this would be a hellofa lot easier if you'd stay home and invite me and the missus to the slide show ya thistledik...
Dry humps to yer leg..

:jester:

Whatsa matter, fart-knocker? Got insomnia or sumthin'? Got tons more to come yet. Hell, I've still gotta get around to setting up the Garage / Tech Day at Casa de Bust that I threatened you with at CFR!

 

[beemerdons]

Ya know this would be a hellofa lot easier if you'd stay home and invite me and the missus to the slide show ya thistledik...
Dry humps to yer leg..

:jester:

Whatsa matter, fart-knocker? Got insomnia or sumthin'? Got tons more to come yet. Hell, I've still gotta get around to setting up the Garage / Tech Day at Casa de Bust that I threatened you with at CFR!

Hi Andy, please tell Bust to take a flying **** at a rolling donut hole. He is PWI, PWS and probably PMS right about now! Queer as a three dollar bill and Gen II Spider Connections!!!

 

[Bustanut joker]

Put that Doughnut on yer *** an I'm in ya burro fornicator.. Since Scooty went legit I know you've been lookin' fer love..

:jester:

 

[BikerGeek99]

There are Native American references in Seattle, too.

Which are contrasted with my favorite: Irish pubs!

One tid-bit about Seattle that I was not expecting at all: it's a very hilly city! From what I've been told, not quite as extreme as San Francisco, but still pretty hilly. If you've never been to Seattle, hopefully this will help to convey how hilly the city is.

I think the city planners did a good job of mixing in some common areas with available spots to sit and take a load off.

Our wanderings took us by this place and, of course, we had to stop in for a purchase. Or two.

Modern art. Outside of the Art Museum.

Now, if you're any kind of a food geek like Sooze and I both are, you should know what this place is. It's kinda famous.

Any ideas yet?

If you haven't figured it out yet, or are perhaps a budding food geek, this is the Pike Place Market. Keep an eye out on the food / travel channels on cable or satellite TV – this is the place where they throw fish.

For a Sunday late-morning / early-afternoon, the place was busy with locals getting their provisions and tourists taking pictures and taking up space.

 

[Old Michael]

Loving every installment, Geek.

Lots of stuff I've never seen, and you're doing a great job of noticing and describing and that sort of thing.

(Was hoping to see you catching a fish - at the Pike's Place Market.)

I'll bet it's good to be home, though.

 

[BikerGeek99]

Loving every installment, Geek.Lots of stuff I've never seen, and you're doing a great job of noticing and describing and that sort of thing.

(Was hoping to see you catching a fish - at the Pike's Place Market.)

I'll bet it's good to be home, though.

Thanks, OM. I appreciate it.

Nah, no fish-catching for me. The place was wall-to-wall people, 95% with cameras out, just standing around. One of the guys that worked there was really good with the crowd, telling everyone to come on up, describing what it is they do, talking about their products and whatnot. It was pretty cool.

And, yes, it IS good to be home, but it's also fun to go back through the pictures and have the memories of the events come back, ya know?

 

[BikerGeek99]

Dog Alley. A cool little area.

These guys were making cheese. Mmm... Cheese...

Now, this next sight was really cool. There is definitely a mix of people in the area. There are your tourists, your city-living locals, homeless / pan-handlers, working stiffs, and performers.

This guy put on the most entertaining show ever.

He was playing the guitar, singing, playing the harmonica, keeping a hula-hoop going around his waist, and another around his feet, with a maracci-shaker thing on his right hand and another attached to his right boot-laces, playing the guitar behind his head, and he made it work.

He was good. There was a pretty decent crowd gathered watching his schtick. It was worth stopping for.

We gave him some earnest applause, and tossed a few bucks his way. He earned it.

He was an absolute riot to watch. If you're in the area (or where-ever he happens to be), and you see him, watch his schtick. It's entertaining, and give the guy a couple of bucks.

Another shot to try to give perspective into the hills in Seattle.

By now, we had been walking quite a bit and decided to swing back to the condo to just chill for a bit.