Got up at O'dark thirty and met my friend Lloyd (LD rider also and we both work at Boeing in different areas).  We are doing the Wing Washington ride which is kinda like the dam tour I've done a few years.  What the deal is, is they divide up the state into 5 sections then have some bonus sites on both the east & west side.  The themes for places to see is Haunted Places, Distillers, Middle Schools, Unusual Museums, & Road Houses.

The last big ride I did was mostly over in the northwest even though I only got 1 museum there.  This time we headed over the mountain to the east and north (I don't know who thought up the areas on the WW site but I think they are screwed up). 

Anyway, temps were in the upper 40's - low 50's as we left the Denny's parking lot.  Overcast looking like rain but NOT so we're happy.  Well it must have been time for every cop, sheriff, security punk and their mother as we found that cops were all over the place.  Most didn't their radars going but some did.  Some had folks pulled over so it was a real crap shoot for making time.  Near the top of Stevens Pass the windshield  got covered in rainy/mist and the fog was so bad we could barely see the road so we had to slow to a darn near crawl.  Of course heading down the canyon towards Leavenworth (a Bavarian themed town) I just had to wick it up and enjoy.  There were a few cars/trucks early that morning that were trying to slow us down but I dispatched them quickly.  The sun was starting to come out and we stopped for a quick breakfast at McD's.

Next stop was our first location Distillers - It's 5:00 somewhere distillery in Cashmere.  Unfortunately the name was changed so we took a shot and kept on to the 2nd location Lake Chealan state park (an East bonus lake).  The sun was out in full force and we had some beautiful blue sky.  As we came over the mountain I wanted to shoot the lake & mountains and of course when I went around the next curve the darn trees were in the way and I was hosed the rest of the way down (I didn't feel like turning around - gelhead).   I tried to take a few shots as I was riding but it was hard to see the camera phone working.  (Later I strapped my regular camera to the handlebars so I could grab it and take some shots.).

 

Next stop was the Bridgeport Middle school (home of the mustangs) and they had Hoof prints for a qtr mile up to the school.  Kinda fun out in the middle of know-where-land.  Finally we had to back track and get some gas in the small town of Brewster.  We both got gas and I noticed an old AF trainer at one of the parks so I went back and read all about it, where it was from, all the bases it trained our kids at, etc. then went back to the gas station where an indian gal was getting $ from Lloyd and telling him all about her teepee business.  We also had to get out of some of our liner type clothes as it was getting hot.  I think I saw 77 or so and we were starting to roast.  (you socal types are probably freezing at those temps).

I kinda rescued him and we were off for our next location up north - Pearrygin lake state park which is just outside of Winthrop (a wild west themed town).  This place is a known tourist trap and a healthy nut place and today was no different.  There were a bazillion bicyclist out ridding all over the place and many were heading west up highway 20 which has some super steep mountains to climb.  We were still quite warm but figured we'd be up in the cool mountains soon so off we went, I don't remember the time but it was around noon or 11 - we were hungry but decided to wait until we got over the mountains to "The Eatery"  which was my next location.

Up the pass I wanted to take a few shots of the beauty and I did but the phone only managed to transmit one???  I'll put more up later.  At the top of Washington Pass there were "feet" of snow on the sides of the road (temps got down only to 61 on my thermometer) but we were saved by the cooler temps.  Ross Lake Dam overlook the wind was really whipping and I was passing cars n trucks like a guy on a mission.  No time to wait for them to find a spot to pull over as they weren't doing it anyway.

A ton of motorcyclist and cars were heading east as we went west.  Over the top and heading down the winds started picking up.  By the time we got to the

We drove through the small town of Marblemount ( a typical spot to put canoes & kayaks in for a trip down river) and stopped at "the Eatery" my next photo op and I thought we'd eat there but Lloyd mentioned something about BBQ back in Marblemount and I won't argue about that at all.  We initially scoffed at the price ~9 for a sandwich but the thing was huge with over 1/2 pound of brisket meat on it and it's the best we've tasted so 4 thumbs up.

He loves BBQ and has eaten everywhere, this time he said he WOULD BE BACK!  I was disappointed I didn't order another to take home - oh well, next time!

Lloyd had gotten some other locations a few months back and since it was still early I said I was going to hit them and we decided to split at the small town of Rockport (where the canoe & kayak folks take out).  We waved at each other as we went our separate ways and I headed towards Baker Lake to get the swift creek campground.  My GPS & Streets n trips obviously got the wrong addy as the GPS drove me straight through the town of Concrete to the Baker Lake road.  grrrr... probably added another 5-10 miles to the route.  I zipped up the road at, well above the limit (maybe 2 or 3 times.... I didn't say that), and after looking high and low decided on the campground.  Took my photo and headed back to hwy 20.

My 7th location of the day was the Cascades Job Corps Center (Haunted places) which I could not find on any map, google didn't have an address and after driving all over town, I finally went 2 a gas station ask a guy who lived there, he didn't know, then I found a fireman who said go to fruitdale rd like Lloyds gps initially said (and he said that's not right because it was only 8 miles from our lunch spot not the 40 like it should have been). then up the road, blah, blah, blah...  oh well, at least I found the place. 

Now head west over to Whidbey Island for the last bonus Deer Lagoon Grange #846.  This was about another 60 miles away and the sun was out, Wind was out and blowing me all over the place and I was tired since I had gotten about 3.5 hrs of sleep the night before and I'd already done over 450 miles (whinner).

I headed west and started to dance my way through the slow traffic heading west to Anacortes and the ferry's to the San Juan Islands and got to the turn off to head south.  On the way south you pass over the Deception Pass bridge which it way above the water and quite a pretty area.  On the island is the Whidbey Naval Air station home of the radar jamming E6 Prowlers that fly around the world working to keep our boys safe.  I managed to only see 2 deer on the island (and there are many) as I got my last stop photo and zipped over to the Ferry.  They were loading up the ferry as I got there.  I paid and the gal said to go over to the HOV lane and wait.  Well I stopped and turned the bike off as they loaded more cars on.  Finally the workers were radio'ing back and forth and the one man started to count off cars and then haulted the rest.  He asked if there was room for a bike and off I went, the last vehicle on the Ferry and I'd be in Mukilteo soon for the last 12 miles home.

A great day, 545 miles and roughly 13 hrs from when I left to when I got home.  No tickets, no rain and my new HJC helmet with the integral sun shield is awesome!  I wish the sun shield was darker but it sure beats the prescription sun glasses.

I'll get some picts up later,