The weather report could be described as �iffy�, but I decided Friday, I was going riding. My niece wants to borrow my son�s Harry Potter book #3, as good an excuse as any for a ride. Friday night I did a basic tune-up on baby wing, plugs, oil & filter, changed anti-freeze, valve & cam chain adjustment, and a general once over. I took it for a little ride, just to make sure everything was OK, and gathered some stuff together.
Saturday I woke at about 6 or so, showered and finished packing. I was not in any real hurry, as I kept hoping that the cloud cover would burn off a little, so I took my time getting stuff together, and finally left the house around nine. I was going to go over to my office and check an item I had a bid in on e-Bay, but crossing the Sellwood Bridge I changed my mind, and headed for Highway 30. I stopped halfway down the hill towards downtown to let my GPS figure out where we were. I have a Garmin GPS38, which is a least 2 generations behind: it works but is sometimes slow if getting the first fix.
The ride down Front Avenue on a Saturday morning was nice. I have always liked spending time �downtown�, maybe because I have always been a suburbanite. Downtown always seems bustling, even on a Saturday morning. There was some sort of dog show going on in Waterfront Park, with lots of people and pooch�s milling around, and of course the Saturday market was getting started. Further up Front Avenue, the industrial area looked deserted in contrast. I cut over on Kittridge Ave to US30, and thought to set the GPS trip odometer. I don�t have a mount on the bike for the GPS yet, but I do have it in a Body Glove case, and I found that I could clip it to the map case on my tank bag. I tied the lanyard to the left handle bar, just for that little extra piece of mind. At stops, I just dropped it into the camera case I have tied to the side of my tank bag. A nice surprise was finding out that my speedometer almost exactly agrees with the GPS; if anything my speedometer is just a bit pessimistic. An indicated 55 is closer to 56, while an indicated 70 is closer to 72 �. Close enough.
St. Helen�s Honda seemed like a good first stop. My hands were cold, and my right wrist already getting uncomfortable. Naturally, they were out of throttle locks, so I drooled over the new Suzuki V-Strom, used their restroom and was on my way. Friday I bought a balaclava, and the change in comfort was amazing. It really keeps my neck and face warm, and helps with the wind noise. At St. Helens, I put earplugs in, and found this was the one catch. I have silicone plugs, that have a little �handle� that sticks out. The balaclava tends to push them further and further into my ears. I wore the plugs off and on the rest of the trip, depending on how much the wind noise was bothering me.
Crossing the bridge into Longview you have a great view up and down the river. I just wish it had been clearer so I could have seen Mt. St. Helens. I stopped again in Longview at the Honda Dealer (I can�t remember the name) and they did not have the throttle lock I was looking for either. Oh well, by now I�m finding different ways to hold the throttle to relieve the pressure. What I really need to do is bend the bars about 2� back out, so my wrists are not turned in so drastically. I�m going try changing to a set of Bike Master bars I bought, but I�m afraid they may be too low.
I left Longview on Highway 411, towards Castle Rock. I passed a sign �Motorcycle Racing Today� and almost bagged the trip to watch the motor-cross races. I took Highway 504 out of Castle Rock towards Toutle, but stopped to buy a Washington map, and call my son and my Mom. My son was still asleep (it was 11 am!) and Mom not home. As I went in the store, the cashier and a customer were laughing. The customer explained that at first they thought I was a crazy, talking to myself and wandering around the parking lot. Maybe I should not use the earpiece and leave the phone in my jacket pocket? It turned out well though, when he told me a short cut (Tower Road?) to Highway 505. This turned out to be a great motorcycle road, other than the posted 45MPH speed limit. Fortunately, it seems to be un-patrolled, and I tried to wear something other than the center of my tires. Zoom-zoom-zoom.
At Toledo, I finally succumbed to I-5 mania, as there is no good way that I know to get up to Centralia from there, and I was starving. In a cosmic perverseness, the sun comes out for this brief trip up super slab hell. Gassed up at Arco, and tried calling Mom again to no avail. Darn, I was hoping to scam lunch .. er.. have lunch with her an my step Dad. Oh well, Shari�s omelet it is. Has their coffee always been this bad?
Highway 507 takes me out of Centralia through Bucoda, Tenino, Rainer, Yelm and McKenna. My Dad lived in Yelm until last year about this time, so I�ve driven this road lots, but it goes by much quicker and is a lot more fun on two wheels. At McKenna, I take highway 702 due east. I love this part of the trip, as it reminds me of home and trips as a kid. I grew up in Tacoma, and there is nothing like a 2-lane highway through the woods to take me back to the �60�s, and camping trips all over the Puget Sound. The only drawback is that the road is dead straight, but I�ve learned that passing on 2 wheels is much easier than in my underpowered overweight pick up. Downshift, twist and wave as I hit 70 passing farmer Brown. Yea haw, this is fun. Whoops, maybe I better slow down just a little. Zoom-zoom-zoom.
UP 161 to the Kapowsin cutoff and I stop in Kapowsin to try my son again. I talk to his grandfather, who is not doing well, and is barely coherent. I gather my son went somewhere with his Mom, and leave it at that. It suddenly dawns on me that my niece�s baby shower is today, probably right about now. Oh well, it should be at my sister�s house in Sumner. Kapowsin-Orting Highway (162) goes right past my sister�s house, but I�ve never come in from this way, and manage to miss it. Turn around, and coming from the right direction, I find it just fine. It would be easier if all the houses in the development did not look the same!
Sure enough, nobody�s home. Well, I�ll just call the other sister. �hello? Oh, hi. They are all at the niece�s? Do you have her number? No? Do you know where she lives? Auburn. Uh, where in Auburn? Don�t know�� Hey, I have the other brother-in laws cell phone I call him. �Sorry I can�t answer the phone, please leave a message..� all while I am doing the one-legged-I-gotta-go-pee-pee dance in my sister�s driveway, and the neighbors are wondering who this maniac on a motorcycle is. Back on the bike, I ride through Sumner to West Valley Highway and on into Auburn. I make the observation that West Valley could be a fun road, if they would just get all the #*(&!@(# old slowpokes off it. I stopped at the first McDonalds in town and took care of the pee-pee problem. Whew, I needed that. Hey, there is a message on my cell, brother-in-law #2. Call him back, �Yep, they are at the nieces. Nope, don�t know the phone number. In Auburn, somewhere, maybe off Harvey?� Uhh, thanks.
OK, so maybe I will try information. Bingo! Finally got directions from my sister, that started �Take the NW15th exit off 167..� but I�m not on 167. Oh, she does not know how to get there from where I am, even though she grew up in Auburn. Just tell me where it is, OK? She does, and I know exactly where it is, amazing since I�ve NEVER lived in Auburn, and I drive there ignoring the instructions my sister gave. Later, going to sister #2�s house, I turn 200 miles on the GPS odometer, and the sun comes out for the second time today. Not a bad ride, and other than a few sprinkles by St. Helens, no rain. I briefly consider turning around and going home, the Harry Potter book having been delivered, but I really want to visit for awhile. Maybe it won�t rain tomorrow after all.
Part 2