Trip to Seattle

As I sit here in front of the computer, I am basking in the glow of success after completing my Vespa ride on 50ccs to Seattle and back. Woot!

Monday

Odometer Reading - 8661 km


I left yesterday morning,, taking the Albion Ferry once again. I take a photo almost every time I cross lately because the ferry will stop running when the Golden Ears Bridge is complete in 2009. I’ll miss the ferry, especially since I get to jump to the front of the line on my Vespa!

When I got to the border, I had a good chat with the US border guard who couldn’t quite believe I was headed for Seattle. He was pretty amazed at my mileage and wished me luck. Pretty cool!

As I rode into Bellingham, 2 hours after I left home, the weather was still sunny but wasn’t particularly warm. I stopped in the downtown area and parked at a meter that thankfully had some time still on it as I didn’t have any US change on me. As I looked at a couple of restaurants, I was famished as I hadn’t had any breakfast yet.


The first place that grabbed my attention was the Horseshoe Cafe. Looking closer, it seemed pretty empty and was more a bar than a cafe. Around the corner, though, was a restaurant called Little Cheerful. It was busy and smelled good!


I sat down and the waiter greeted me with a “Howdy”, not something I usually hear in Canada. The breakfast I ordered was the Cyclops (one egg) and was very tasty - especially the hash browns mixed with fried onions. I didn’t feel that the portions were huge - they were just right. The coffee was excellent - heady praise from a guy that usually drinks only lattés.



I left Bellingham and headed down Chuckanut Drive. I stopped near a viewing spot and took a snap of the ocean. Sad thing was, there was a car parked beside me with a person living in it. I’ve heard about people living in their cars but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it happen.


Chuckanut Drive was one of the most beautiful rides I have taken.


Imagine, I’ve lived just a couple hours north of the drive and I’ve never taken this scenic route.


It was delightful!


At Burlington, I took the road - under construction, lots of rocks, “motorcycles use extreme caution” - to connect to SR 20 and headed towards Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Islands.


Just before I crossed onto the island, I went to the Swinomish Northern Lights Casino. I spent my customary $5 and lasted almost a half an hour!


I liked the dedicated motorcycle parking at the casino - I’d love to see more of that sort of thing.

The island road was a nice ride but because it was a main highway, and I didn’t really go off that road, the scenery was just OK.


The photo above was one of the exceptions - Pass Lake just past Desolation Pass. This part of the ride was over 40 miles so it took a while.

Odometer Reading at Deception Pass - 8807 km
Fuel used - 0.879 gallon


At the south end of Whidbey Island I took the ferry to Mukilteo on the mainland. It was a $3 ferry which lasted about 20 minutes.


It was a very enjoyable ride on a mostly empty ferry. I had time to eat a bowl of Ivars clam chowder.


Before I went back t the car deck, I took this photo from above of my Vespa.
After docking, I rode south into Seattle. As the weather warmed up, the traffic increased - something that I’m used to from riding in Vancouver (I actually don’t mind riding in traffic).

Odometer Reading at Seattle - 8925 km


Last night I stayed at the Moore Hotel - downtown, clean, and cheap ($74). It was a pretty small room but fine to sleep in. I dumped my stuff, parked the scooter in a secure parking lot, phoned the family to tell them I had arrived safely, and headed to Pike Market to grab a bite.

I ended up at the Soundview Cafe and had an excellent meal of crab cakes accompanied by a nice glass of zinfandel.

That night I got together with Navin, a university fraternity buddy I hadn’t seen in over 25 years. We had a great time catching up on each others lives and mutual friends.


We went to an area called Fremont (Fremont Troll pictured above) and hoisted a few pints at a bar called the Red Door. The years seemed to disappear as we chatted and laughed about things past and present. We finally ended up at the Whisky Bar, near my hotel, for a final night cap before I retired to the room at about 1 AM.

Tuesday

Feeling a bit fuzzy in the morning, I had a cereal bar and headed out into Seattle.

I like Seattle. I like Vancouver more but seems to be a similar type city - sort of a parallel universe version of Vancouver.

I went to the secure parking which only charged me half price because I was on a scooter. Nice!


I left the garage and rode north up a series of giant hills. Poor Vespa! I made my way past forbidding I-5 signs through different parts of Seattle - Lakeview, Kenmore, Bothell and ended up in Woodinside! This was a surprise because that’s where Navin lives! I didn’t try to find his house but at least I’ll know for next time.


I eventually connected with Highway 9, making my way through traffic and construction, stopping at Snohomish for breakfast/lunch. It’s a great little place with western looking false fronts...


That is, except for the neo classical Roman building!

Stopped at Grilla Bites for a great coffee and and sandwich (turkey, avocado and bacon).

Big Lake - Odometer Reading: 9070 km
Fuel used - 0.952 gallon

I continued on Highway 9 because around Big Lake, the traffic disappeared. It was a great riding highway, nice curves, not too hilly, lots of trees.


I stopped at Sedro Wooley for a pop and, despite the beautiful square downtown and the nice residential streets, the rest of the downtown core looked pretty nasty.


Maybe the fact that it started to rain coloured my impression.

I continued on Highway 9 until the Lynden turnoff and then through the border and home. It was the soggy portion of the ride but I stayed warm and relatively dry as I had expected a lot more rain than I actually got.

At home, I parked the Vespa, hung up all my rainwear to dry and sat back, feeling success at completing what was for me a challenging ride. And only 2 or 3 near death experiences!

Now, where to go next summer.....

Final Odometer Reading - 9183 km

Total Distance - 522 km

Average consumption - 94.5 miles/gallon OR 3.65 L/100km