OK- again it's been a few days so here is a summary:

Met up with Kathy in Seattle and spent a day with Kathy's cousins... they live 6 blocks from where I had to work on Thursday which was super handy. Went by the BMW shop also to do a quick check-up on the bike and passed with a clean bill of health.














Thursday night was catching up with Kim and Chris and the kids in Issaquah and getting ready for Dave Matthews at the Gorge. Was great to catch up and see the kids again.



Snoqualmie Pass from Western to Eastern WA was a fun and pretty ride. But you can see immediately the different climate between the two sides of WA. Gone are the tons of green trees and mountains and here are the plains and grasslands.




The Columbia River gorge is super cool. A great windy ride with lots of great views.











The concert was awesome... but I realized how old I am! The venue was amazing. I think I am 15 years older than the median age there but it was still fun.

The kids next to us were funny... they showed up with a case of bud light and paid $75 to park for the weekend and had nothing else. No food, no ice, no tickets, no camping gear... NOTHING. So when we got back from the concert they had finished the case of beer and were looking for handouts of water, blankets... anything.
When we finally tried to pass out ourselves, one of them spent the next two hours puking. Good times. Kathy insists that it's because they were WSU students and that UW grads are WAY smarter than that!!! I told her she should probably keep that information to herself as we were WAY outnumbered.
It really is an epic venue though and I would love to see another concert here.












Art pic from Kathy- it was a full moon but threatening to rain. I learned from a mistake in Seattle to cover the seat with the jackets(sheepskin cover purchased in Portland) if it look like it is going to rain!

The forecast for Sat and Sunday was for rain in Western WA so instead of going back west (and getting soaked) we headed to Spokane to visit Shawn and the family. It was a long day (over 400 miles) and it was made harder as apparently I did some damage to the bottle of run at the concert but it was a pretty ride... very different from the last few weeks of mountains and trees.





Followed the Columbia River for probably 100 miles down a great curvy road. No traffic and scenic vistas.


















Another 250 miles on the Interstate (boring) and we are in Idaho!!!!

The plan for today is to visit a winery and see the sights of Boise with Shawn and Brian and then leave the bike here for a few weeks so I can get some work done in CA. I'll come back and ride the bike back to nor cal in a few weeks.

It's been a great two weeks riding all over the north west and catching up with friends and thanks to everyone who could join me for the various legs and especially for those who put me up in their homes!

Made it back to America...

Finally got back on the road. It was surprizing how antsy I got being in a hotel for three days.

Took the Ferry from Sidney to Anacortez today... the San Juan Islands are amazing. Really miss my boat!!!















There are some amazing houses out here too... I could get used to this one...


















Dinner with Kathy Rachael and Jason in Seattle... found a new partner in crime... I am not sure that this is a DOT helmet though!!!!

Ok- what's been up... let's see.

We spent 2 days in Pender Island. Gorgeous place and Jackie has a great cabin there. Picked up Dad at Poets Cove Resort after his float plane ride in from Seattle. Spent the day relaxing and had a great seaside lunch then went to dinner at "the" local bar (there is only one on the island).

It also happend to be a "pimps and ho's" party so Jax and her friend Natasha dressed up accordingly. Also managed to get Old Man Nelson on the stage which I guess is not hard when the skirts get short. It was a major Saturday night on the island and few can remember such a party at the pub in a long time.



Jackie's neighbors are boat people. They lived on their boat for years on the coast at Pender, then, deciding to settle down, they bought property inland and had the boat trucked to the property and they lived IN the boat while they built their house and barn. The boat is still in the front yard and they are living in the house(with their son) while they get the boat ready to put back on the water.

Sunday we went to the bluffs and had a picnic which included some lively political debate and got ready to head back to Victoria so we could go fishing.

Monday was gorgeous again here. Caught two 9lb Chinook Salmon in the middle of windy and choppy Straight of Juan de Fuca. We then managed to find an awesome Irish pub and proceeded to close it down after yet more political debates with a local.... If they were not so liberal up here, it would be boring!

Yesterday dad and I took a motorcycle ride to the other side of the island... Sooke, for lunch. Then met up with Tasha who returned my camera and we ended up doing an impromptu pub crawl through the Inner Harbour. Ow, my head hurts.

Am currently packing for stage #3... leaving Canadia and headed to SEA to meet up with Kathy, Chris and Kim.

Also wishing Elliott the best... he broke down in Montana and is having to modify his plans slightly. www.rader-rider.blogspot.com. Good luck man!!!

First update

OK- so Elliott took care of the trip posts for the firsts four days and in the last three days I have received several requests for updates so I will follow his lead and start my first blog. Damn... I feel almost techie!

So... from day four in Portland, we all went in separate directions... Elliott continued east towards Chicago (www.rader-rider.blogspot.com), Kevin and Kickstand (Peter) went south to Bend (last I heard they made it) and after picking up Jax from Portland airport we went north to Olympic Natl Park. The ride up was awesome... tons of lush green forest and great views of the ocean. Stopped in Cannon Beach, OR for lunch and then headed north again up the 101.

In typical fashion for this trip, we made no arrangements for accommodation (camping) and just showed up at the park and got lucky to get a great spot next to Quinalt Lake. Great Natl Park!!!

Up again and packed relatively early, we had to get moving for one of the few deadlines on this trip- the ferrys to Pender Island starting at 1230 (it takes two ferry's to get here from Port Angeles).

Trying to keep good pace was hard with the road const on Hwy 101- and some rain fell as well to get the dust to stick to everything! Got pulled over(AGAIN!) about 30mi outside of Port Angeles by the most polite Trooper ever. He said I was doing 70 or 71 (I saw 68 on the GPS) and asked me very nicly to please slow down and be safe (the limit is 60). Gave me complements on Kiki the hula girl mounted to the bike and after I told him we were trying to make a 1230 ferry said go ahead and leave but be safe and if it turned out that the bike was stolen, he'd come track me down. Didn't even make me wait the typical 10 minutes normal to do the DMV check. So, at a reduced rate of speed we went off to catch our boat.

When we arrived, there were about 10 other bikes, most of them dual sport BMW's of various types and all ADV Rider readers so we had a lot to chat about on the 90 minute ferry ride. Jax opted out of dealing with the motorcycle geeks with a cosmo magazine... good times!


On the ferry you sign a waiver that if your MC tips over you can't sue the ferry company. Their solution to the problem is to provide ropes you can tie you bike ot the side of the boat with.

Customs in Canada was a nightmare as we got pulled into secondary. Apparently they didn't find it normal that someone would fly from Calgary to Portland to ride on a MC with a guy from SD to Victoria. So three high-school aged female customs agents took their time dismantling the 900lb motorcle and quizzing us repeatedly... all the while making us later and later for our next ferry, leaving from the other side of the island 30 miles away.

So now on this trip I have been involved with the law in OR, WA and Canada. Great... but no tickets so far (knocking on wood).

We somehow made the next (smaller ferry) after a rediculous Friday afternoon traffic jam in Victoris alptly named "The Crawl" and are finally in Pender Island.

So it's Sat morning and we are off to meet Jax and pick up dad from his float plane ride up here... more pics later.