Columbia River Ramblings-Part5

When I last posted, I had just filled up with gas at Grand Coulee and was headed toward Bridgeport, Brewster and on to the North Cascade Highway over Washington Pass.

The road to from Grand Coulee to Bridgeport always seems lonely and long. It runs through fields, range and nothing. There was very few cars. Once again, the temp was rising. At Brewster I stopped and had Mc Breakfast. Then on to the Pateros where I turned right into the Methow Valley. I forgot how nice this road is. A good speed limit and nice sweeping curves made this road a pleasure to ride. I stopped in Winthrop and wandered through some of the shops. There are good outdoor/sporting goods stores there. Winthrop was rebuilt with a cowboy theme and has become a bit of a "destination" with the outdoor activities and lodges there. Lots of motorcyclists were there.

After Winthrop I continued on toward Washington Pass. Again the road is in great shape. And again not a lot of traffic going my way, well that was until I started down the west side. There was a lot of motorcycles heading east. The sky was clear and the mountains were spectacular. Heading down the west side, I got behind some slow trailers. After a while I found a clear section and got around them. That was when the fun started! The road gets winding above Ross Lake. Mr Ulysess does like to corner! I stopped at Newhalem for some ice cream. I was also camping in the national park campground at Newhalem. This was the only day when I felt that I could continue as it was only 1430.

On Sunday I was underway at 0700. Since it had been so hot the day before, I did not put on the leather riding pants. That was OK until I got to Burlington. Then the mist started. It continued until I got to Oak Harbor.

I stopped in Oak Harbor to try to find people I knew at the marina. Whidbey Island Race Week starts monday and I am crewing on a boat. I could not find him, but did talk to others that I know.

I continued on to the Keystone-Port Townsend ferry. While on the ferry, I put on the riding pants. Good thing I did, it started raining as soon as I got off the ferry and most of the way home.

This was the longest ride I had ever made at 1155 miles. I only averaged around 200 miles a day. Except for one day, that seemed to fill the day up. I guess I like to stop and sightsee instead of riding all day.

The "sidewalks" of Winthrop. It has been built with a cowboy theme.


Upper Methow Valley.

Mountains near Washington Pass.

Diablo Lake.

Deception Pass, Whidbey Island.

Port Townsend ferry. All the other bikes are Canadian, eh!

Columbia River Ramblings-Part 4

When you last heard from me, I was using McWIFI to post Part 3. It is still Friday.

From Mc Donalds, I went to the local Harley store to see if they had a oil dipstick for the Uly(don't ask what happened). They did not, so I headed on my way to my destination for the night, Sun Lakes State Park.

I chose to ride out thru Hanford on Hiway 240. It was HOT. The temp was somewhere in the 90's. I don't know if it was the temp, but Ms TomTom (the GPS) locked up and had to be reset to operate again. It was even hotter when I was stopped for 20 minutes in a construction zone. The ride was neat as the terrain is nothing but sand and sagebrush. I continued up the Columbia River on 243 untill I arrived at I 90. I stopped at the rest stop across the river from Vantage and then continued east on I 90. I exited and headed north to Ephrata where I stopped for lunch and some more McWIFI.

I then continued north through Soap Lake and up to Sun Lakes State Park. I had reservations there and I fortunatly had selected a shady campsite as it was very HOT by the time I arrived. That night, the park sponsored a band that played 50's and 60's rock.

I was underway at 0630 Saturday on the way to the North Cascade Highway. I stopped at Dry Falls. Interesting that this falls was 400 feet high and 1500 feet wide, dwarfing Niagra Falls. I continued to Grand Coulee, bought gas and continued on Highway 174 toward Bridgeport and beyond.

The Columbia River where I90 crosses near Vantage.

Wild horses on the bluffs above the Columbia River.*

Sun Lakes. Dry Falls

Grand Coulee Dam

* They are sillouettes on the hill side. But, you probably guessed that!

Columbia River Ramblings-Part3

When you last heard from this travller, he was in Gresham, Or borrowing Mc WIFI. Today, he is also borrowing McWIFI in Kenniwick, WA.

Yesterday on my route up the Gorge, I rode the Historic Old Columbia River Road. This is a winding two lane road than runs along the edge of the Gorge above I84 on the Oregon side. This road is the access for Multnomah Falls and many of the trailheads along this part of the gorge. The drive was slow mainly because of the tourists. I stopped at "Vista House" that had a great view looking up toward Beacon Rock. I also stopped at Multnomah Falls and hiked up to the bridge. Too many people!

From there, I rode upstream to Cascade Locks and crossed the Bridge of the Gods to the Washington side. I camped at Maryhill State Park.

I was up early this morning and got underway. I stopped at "Stonehedge". This was a replica built by the railroad tycoon, Jim Hill. It was built aqs a memorial to the lost troops from the World War(WW1). The rest of the ride to Kenniwick was spectacular, EXCEPT for the bugs. My faceshield is severly splattered.

On to Sun Lakes State Park today.

Looking up the gorge, Vista House on the right. From Vista House

Multnomah Falls

Stonehedge

Stonehedge

Columbia River Ramblings-Part 2

As promised, here are some pictures.

Oregon coast.
Cape Meares

Evergreen Aviation and Aerospace Museum, McMinnville, OR. The "Spruce Goose" is in this building.

The "Goose" and I.

I will try to catch up with my journey.

Last I posted, I had left Astoria and was in Tillamook. The ride from Astoria was soggy and windy most of the way. It was still a great ride along the ocean. I camped at Cape Lookout State Park. Finally in the evening, the wind stopped blowing but it stayed cold.

This morning I was underway by 0630. The weather is dry today. I rode the back roads through Pacific Beach and then up the Little Nestucca River Road. It was a great route and a lot nicer road then the days I used to bicycle it. I rode to McMinnville to the Aviation museum. They have the Spruce Goose there although the interior tour is very limited. There are lots of airplanes on display and the second museum is all about rockets and space.

Found my way through Portland and using some McWIFI in Gresham on my way to Multnomah Falls and the Gorge. Spending the night at Maryhill State Park tonight and Sun Lakes tomorrow.

More Pics when I get a chance to download them.

Columbia River Ramblings- Part 1

Well, looks like i lost the original post. So I will write it again.

I am on a five day motorcycle trip to the Columbia River, into NW Oregon and then up the Columbia River gorge to Sun Lakes and then home via North Cascades highway.

Stayed at Cape Dissapointment State Park last night. Rainy and windy today. Stopped in Astoria to go to the Maritime Museum.

Sitting in Tillamook stealing WIFI from Mc Donalds.

Well, the worlds longest beach!
North Head Light House

Columbia River Bar, the worst bar in the world.

Cape Disappointment

Maritime Museum

Bremerton's Big Dig.

WARNING: I think this whole project was an unnecessary waste of money!

Bremerton has a ferry terminal downtown where the ferry from Seattle loads and unloads. Obviously the traffic when the ferry unloads is fairly dense for the 10 minutes that it takes to unload the inbound ferry. This occurs every 1-1/2 hours. This has not changed since the ferrys started landing in Bremerton at least 75 years ago.

A few years ago, the mayor decided that he wanted the downtown to be more pedestrian friendly. The real truth is probably that when the new luxury condos were built on the waterfront along Washington Avenue, he did not want the ferry traffic to disrupt the condo dwellers. So a 950 ft tunnel was built from the ferry terminal to near the intersection of Burwell street and Park avenue. This cost the taxpayers a mear $54million of mainly federal funds. It was started two years ago today. I worked near the construction zone and it was miserable putting up with the disruption, route changes and noise. Now when I get off the ferry with one of my motor vehicles, I will exit the tunnel and be diverted many blocks therby increasing my time and distance to get home. I will still drive through town, but not by the condos. And the condos are more than half empty and are not selling. Great progress.

Today the tunnel is finished. The Governor, ex-mayor, US Congressman Dicks(who obtained the federal funds) and a lot of other dignataries cut the ribbon and us citizens got to walk through the tunnel.

The exit on Burwell Street. The dignataries are down in the opening.
The interior of the tunnel. Check out the forest design cast into the concrete walls. Painted too! Pretty nice.

This is at the ferry terminal end. The traffic exiting the ferry enters here. The road to the right is where the traffic exited before the tunnel and it was to allow the traffic that goes to East Bremerton(that's me) to drive up Washington Avenue(and by the "luxury condos"). It was estimated that 35% would go that way. A couple months ago, that descision was reversed and now ALL traffic will go through the tunnel except bicycles(sometimes that is me) and vehicles with flammable or explosive loads.

Poulsbo Fireworks-July 3rd

Poulsbo holds it's fireworks on July 3rd. Even though this seems strange, a lot of people go to this fireworks on the 3rd and then another one elsewhere on the 4th.

My yacht club usually has a cruise for the night of the 3rd and then retreats to Bremerton for the 4th. We had a light turnout with only 6 boats and rafted out in Liberty Bay. The weather was clear and HOT. I had a good sail from Brownsville to Poulsbo. The bay was filled with anchored boats, as normal. I had a little trouble finding our boats that had arrived earlier. We were very close to the "line of death" around the area where the fireworks barge was anchored. This gave us a really good view and the concussion from the bombs was outstanding.

After the show, and the boats not spending the night departed, it was quiet through the night. I motored home on Saturday.

Our small raft of boats. Notice all the anchored boats in the background.
Tom and Bob refilling at the potluck. Crab, salmon and lots of other dishes to devour! Yum!!

Sun going down, where are the fireworks?

Here they are!