The upper left corner...

I'm going to ride to CONUS's upper left corner, Blaine, Washington.

I think I've discovered how to push Bev's buttons.....  I whined enough about not going on a ride lately that she went into the computer and booked lodging reservations for an 11 day ride! All I have to do is..........go.  (I think that was the point)  :)

I stop for the first two nights in Reno...it seemed like much longer........

Looking out my window in the day light...

.....and same view after dark.

Then I make my way to Bend for a couple nights stay, then back on the road to catch a ferry in Port Townsend, Washington.

A picture of one of Oregon's mountains....not sure which one.  What a beautiful ride it was from Reno to  Bend to Port Townsend.

I'm lined up and waiting to board the ferry from Port Townsend to Whidbey Island, when I meet the owner of this 70s era BMW. He has owned it for 25 years....

What a beauty, eh?

Then onto the ferry..

Arriving on Whidbey I ride the extraordinarily beautiful Chuckanut Drive....maybe the most scenic road in America! Actually while I tarried in Blaine, I rode the Chuckanut three times and thoroughly enjoyed each time!

(This is at the end of Chuckanut Drive going north)

I get to my lodging in Blaine and the next day go to the Peace Park on the border. 

This ummm... Art is at the border crossing...

Peace Park, unfortunately the Peace Arch was completely covered with plastic while they do a face lift...

A garden in the Peace Park

While I was hanging out in Blaine a bunch of classic cars began cruising up and down the road that my lodging is on. Almost all the cars were immaculately done and it was a real treat to see them!

Blaine is where I make a U-turn and head southeast-ish for home. So after three relaxing days at the Upper left corner...  I reverse my route down to Whidbey Isle to catch the ferry to Port Townsend.

As I continue on to the ferry the fog keeps getting a little worse along the way. I stop for this picture, then back on the bike to the ferry place.  

When I arrive, as I slowly ride into the ferry parking lot,  one of the workers runs... RUNS to the entry shack to take my money and tells me the ferry is waiting for me to board. As soon as I ride onto the ferry deck the boat leaves the dock and I look into my mirror and see a LOT of water right behind me as I move farther onto the ferry parking deck. 

I was glad they waited for me as the next one was and hour and a half later....

I haven't had the opportunity to visit a rain forest yet, so I take this opportunity to stop in at the Olympia National Park and see a rain forest with my own peepers....  What an awesome place!

Another check off the list!

And after a restful overnight stay in Seaside, Oregon I make my way to Vale, Oregon for the last overnight stop on this trip.

The next day I kept on moving east when I decided to pull into a Chevron in Nyssa, Oregon for gas and food.  

While getting me a sammich and a cuppa I meet Leo. Leo is 82 years old and - in days gone by - had ridden BMWs and KLRs all over the US. We had a super conversation as he told me some great road stories of his traveling days!

You sure meet some great people while on road trips!

On my way home I decided to stop and see Shoshone Falls, near....you guessed it...... Shoshone, Idaho. 

It was an ordeal to find the falls. I had asked several folks for directions, but I guess I didn't listen well enough and it seemed like I got lost worse each time, then I trusted my GPS and it took me to the wrong side of the canyon, across from the falls and into a private subdivision with no viewpoint. 

Finally I called Bev and stuck my phone between my helmet and my ear so that she could watch my 'blip' on her google map as she  talked me into the Falls Park, and I was at long last able to see the falls! 

Whew!!!!

The obligatory selfie....

 

From the falls I had 232 miles to get home, it was 3:30pm so I just hit "Home" on the GPS, "fastest route" and slabbed it home, arriving around 7:30

So that's it. 3012 miles with a bunch of that along the coast on absolutely spectacular roads. Chuckanut is a MUST see, and the rest of 101 is almost as nice. 

If you go there, plan on twice as much time for Rose Smelling as normal.

"Today I rode from dry lake beds to mountain tops, 

from desert to the shining sea.

And ere I sleep I thank thee Lord

for creating this land for me."