Washington July 14-15

Tuesday morning, I lollygaged around the town I was in, I did laundry, shipped some items home and went to an outfitter and picked up a few items. I sent back my heavy motorcycle jacket, as well as some other cold weather gear that I felt I know longer would needed. The little town I was staying in was about 30 miles north of Seattle, rather than going through downtown Seattle I plotted a course which would take me down the Pugent Sound and a quick ferry ride would put me on highway 101 and avoid all of the traffic.

It was a leisurly ride throught some beautiful areas around the sound. I kept seeing a sign indicating the ferry crossing was coming up, I did not pay much attention as everything seemed to be on track. As I came up to the ferry, it was just starting to board and the line was short, and a few minutes later I was on board. It was 4:00pm, the ride seemed very short, the next thing I knew I was dumped off of the boat just north of downtown Seattle! Damn, I was going to turn back and retrace my steps, but the line getting on the ferry streached for over a mile. I thought what the heck, I would just get onto the interstate and drive through the mouth of the beast. Back home in KC, even during the worst of rush hour traffic, you can usaully get through down town in less than 30 mins. Well this was not the case, the towns of Seattle, Tacoma and Olympia, are pretty much merged together, so It was a 2 hour long rush hour fest! I am not concerned about my driving skills in traffic, but in an unfamilure city, with out the benifit of a couple thousand pounds of steel car around you it can be a little unnerving. Not to mention the fact that my little bike is not really designed for high speeds. I made it through ok and when I got to Olympia, I headed over to the coast, I got there about 7:00pm.
I found a nice little sports bar in a small town, I forget the name, and had a few drinks with the Bartender, Tonja and her husband Todd. (they own the bar) Well on thing led to another and the next thing I knew it was last call. Tonja knew that was a few over the legal limit, so she told me just to park my bike in the back of the bar and she let me crash on one of the pool tables. She came by the next morning and let me out around 7:00 and I was on my way. It is amazing the nice people you meet along the way.

The drive down the coast was fairly un eventful, other than the scenery was just out of this world. The transition from the north country to ocean view is fantastic. The weather the last couple of days has been great, in the mid 70s to low 80s with a nice cool breeze, tomorrow I will be in Oregon and plan to do another day of seafood feasting.

Tim