Day 89, Wednesday, THE END!!!

Arcada CA to San Francisco CA

13,800 miles
350+ gallons of gas
Stopped by police 3 times for speeding, only 1 ticket for $80
Mechanical problems: oil leak in Texas, gas leak in North Carolina, rear brake failed Idaho. Fork bushing worn out by the time I got back to SF.

The ride down PCH was amazing and then tiring. I wanted to make it to the city before dark but that was not going to happen. Due to fatigue I started to make mistakes. I went wide and drove off the road on a left turn, good thing the turn out was big enough so that I didn’t run into trees. Next mistake was going way over the center line on a right hand turn. If there had been traffic coming the other way I would have been splattered.

 Finally I decided to get off PCH and head over to 101 so that I can get home faster. It was dark by this time. Good decision. I finally got to the Golden Gate Bridge and pulled over to take a picture. I was amazing. View wise and also to be back home after so long. I met another biker at the top of the hill on the north bay side. He was taking pics too.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602077162372/

Day 88, Tuesday

Newport OR to Arcada CA

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602087683905/

Day 87, Monday

Portland OR to Newport OR

Well I didn’t get to see much of Portland but it was time to hit the road again. I headed for the coast to take 101 down to SF. It was 104 in the valley outside of Portland. But as soon as I got into the mountains to get to the coast the temp had dropped 30 to 40 degrees Farenheit! I had to stop to put on the cold weather gear again. Soon there was fog every where. Since I left in the afternoon I got only as far as Newport.

Dinner was at some fancy popular place overlooking the foggy pacific. The food was not memorable. I ate at the bar and had a pleasant time chatting with the folks on either side of me. The rest of the night was spent at a Bar in a Mexican restaurant next to my cheapo motel. That’s where I met Rich, a colorful Vietnam vet around my dad’s age. He told stories about hitchhiking around the for 6 months after getting back from Vietnam. He was really impressed with me taking my trip and kept saying how glad he was to meet me. Then the conversation turned to South East Asia. During the war Rich had been to Thailand and Loas as well as Vietname of course. He told of a girl he fell in love with over there but had to leave to come back to the US. He became very sad and nostalgic and left the bar with teary eyes. The bartender said he never saw Rich upset like that before.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602087617143/

Day 86, Sunday

Portland OR

After recovering from last night, I went to a gathering of people who own Ford Econo vans from the 60′s. Why? Because Dan is an owner of one. It turned out to be pretty cool. Day was mellow. Dinner was at a Thai joint that was highly rated on citysearch.com. Damn good food.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602077006854/

Day 85, Saturday

Hoh Rain Forest WA to Portland OR

After a miserable night in the “rain forest” I packed up my shit and hopped on over to the park office to find out why this is called a rain forest. It certainly didn’t look like any rain forest I was familiar with, South East Asian or South American (TV). There were lots of big trees with moss hanging on them. Well it turns out it’s a rain forest because of the temp (avg 40 F) and the amount of moisture and the symbioses between plants and stuff, you know… um ok.

Let’s get back to a city. BTW it’s been several days since I have bathed. That’s the one thing I discovered on this trip; you don’t need to bathe or change clothes if you are riding by your self! Save the environment from all that laundry water. OK, back to getting to a city. So I get to some part of Portland where Dan’s (my high school class mate) apt is and he doesn’t answer the door or phone. Great. Bastard.

Dan finally lets me in. I took a shower, wow, very nice after so many days. Then it was off to the night life of Portland. It turned out to be interesting and some what flattering. Nuff said.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602076983156/

Day 84, Friday

Port Townsend WA to Hoh Rain Forest WA

Most of the ride around the Olympic Peninsula was mostly views of pine trees. They are everywhere up here. The national forests here are managed and logged so you can see different age trees in different parts of the mountains. With some areas having been recently clear cut.

I finally got to the Pacific at a beach called Beach 2, strange name. The
fog became very intense as I got near. The day had been clear and sunny until now. The fog made for very chilly riding. I parked and hiked about a mile to the beach. Very beautiful. Took some pictures and left. I made the mistake of wearing my riding gear on my hike to the beach. Even though it was cold at first, by the time I got back I was drenched in sweat.

The ride the rest of the day was through pine forests which is not very interesting. By the time I got to the Hoh Rain Forest it was time to start looking for a place to spend the night. I decided to camp out so I headed into the park hoping to find a place to eat before camping. No luck there. All there was was a small store runned by a very kind and friendly mother and daughter. They moved up here from Florida and bought the place earlier this year.

I bought supplies; wine, beef jerky, turkey slices, pickled mushrooms, and carrots sticks. Sounds like another so so dinner huh? It was pretty bad. By the time I drove the 12 miles to the camp ground it was dark already. I got my campsite and was dismayed to find that there was no where I could get firewood. I would have to drive back out to the store to buy some. I didn’t buy any earlier because there was no room on the bike to put it. With the small roads the round trip will take me almost an hour. Oh well…

I made the trip safely even though I was driving a little too fast. There are lots of deer and elk around, hitting one would end my trip immediately. I finally got the fire going with the starter fluids the ladies at the store kindly gave to me for free. There is not much to do when you are camping alone except sit there and stare at the fire. At almost midnight a car pulled into the camp spot across the lane and man, they had the brightest damn camping light. It lit up the whole area.

After the firewood was all used up I decided to try sleeping on the park bench instead of the tent. By this time it was pretty damn cold. I tried laying there on my mattress on top of the bench for a while staring up at the amazing night sky. At one point I even put on my helmet to try to stay warm. This ain’t working. So I crawled into my tent to prepare for another uncomfortable night fully clothed in riding gear. Why do I can’t out again??? And oh, my lap top died tonight. Damn thing.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157602076894794/

Day 83, Thursday

Orcas Island WA to Port Townsend WA

Ok, I’m done with the islands here. I thought about taking the ferry over to Victoria BC but didn’t because customs advised me against it since I didn’t have my passport and they might not let me back in. I guess I’ll start heading south down the coast. The next ferry is at 4pm so I had lots of time to kill. I just ended up sitting at the cafe by the docs.

My next stop is somewhere along the Olympic Penisula. I had to take 2 different ferries before getting into Port Townsend right after sunset. It was a beautiful ride watching the sunset from the ferry. Port Townsend is a cute little town. I found a room at the Belmont Saloon. This place has been around since the 1890s! I spent the evening at a really neat roof top bar that over looks the harbor. The musician for the night was Howlie Slim, a hippie from the 60s. Very fun music. I even bought his CD.

Photos: COMING SOMETIME (lap top died)

Day 82, Wednesday

Orcas Island WA

Today is whale watching day. I went out on a boat with around 16 other people. Puget sound is amazingly beautiful. The weather was perfect for a boat trip with clear skies and calm waters. We left port at 1:30 and will return at 5:00. It was about an hour before we came up on the resident group of orcas. It was pretty cool to watch them swim by quite close. There was even a baby that was born this year. The whole area was full of whale watching boats. On the way back we saw some sea lions, seals, and a bald eagle. It was a very pleasant way to spend the afternoon.

Tonight I decided to camp out on Moran State Park on Orcas Island. I found a nice little spot next to the lake. There was a store just outside the park so that I could drop my stuff off at the campsite to make room for supplies for the night. Dinner was beef jerky, chocolate and veggie sticks. I sat up for a while staring at the fire. Later that night when all the other campers where a sleep I went for a midnight swim. It was not as scary as I thought it would be, but I didn’t stay in the water that long either.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157601898085031/

Day 81, Tuesday

Seattle WA to Eastsound, Orcas Island WA: miles 109

Today I decided to drive north to go whale watching or something. I heard about San Juan islands, don’t really know what that is. Unsure of where I was going, I got a little dishearten about my journey today. Wanted to turn back and keep going south to go home. But I kept motoring on, stopped at a visitor center and got some info. San Juan islands is about 50 miles north of Seattle. Damn. I didn’t know where or what I wanted to do/go so I just kept on going towards Anacotes where you get the ferry to the islands.

I got to the ferry ticket booth and the guy asked me where I wanted to go. Uh… you mean I have a choice?? How about that boat that is leaving right now? Where does that go? Orcas Island he told me. Ok, so that is where I’m going. The boat ride was amazing! Water, fog, islands, wow!

I got the Orcas late after noon and stopped at a store to ask for info on the island. Eastsound is the main town on the island so that is where I headed off too. After riding around I pulled into a pub to ask them about places to stay. I figure better ask locals rather than picking a place out of my GPS. They recommended Outlook Inn down the road. Turns out the have a room for $89/night. That’s cheep for around here. So I booked it out of the pub to get my room. It turned out to be the cutest freaking place to stay at. Full of history too!!

The Inn has been around since late 1800’s! I stayed in the building where you share the bathroom. Way back when, this was considered a fancy place to come to for the Seattle elite. Why? Because the bathroom was down the hall and not out side! This is definitely one of the coolest places I have been too. Mima mentioned something about a place out here that Donnie found for a family gathering, I def rec the WA area! Come out here and get away from the old world shadow.

I had a great dinner at a place called Lu Lu’s. The best salad I have had since Montreal. I met the owners Dave and Jessi, very nice and friendly people.

 Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157601897984419/

Route Map

Day 80, Monday

Seattle WA

The goal for today was to check out downtown Seattle. I was here before a couple of years ago for work but did not get a chance to see anything due to the fact that my shit hole company, PUBLICIS DIALOG, worked me to death while I was here.

I spent the day walking around, saw the Public Market, got a hair cut at a barbershop that turned out to be the oldest one in Seattle, 100 years! The barber gave me tips on where to go for happy hour. Went out later for drinks and met a group of fun girls.

Photos: http://www.flickr.com/photos/knappn/sets/72157601890990648/