North Vancouver to Clallum Bay/Seiku

17

August 3, 2013 – We got up at our usual weekday work time grabbed showers, cleaned the litterbox, had a coffee and a bite to eat, and headed out the door around 7:15am. We had loaded the bikes the night before, so not much to do downstairs but put the tailbags on and go.

We figured we’d hit the border around 8am, nice and early, before the rush.

That was a pipe dream!

The line for Peace Arch was past the exit for White Rock! We ran the shoulder and another rider hopped out of line and started to follow us. A ways down and we say police lights so we dove back into line, the other rider squeezed in as well. The sign on the highway had indicated a 70-90 minute wait depending on which crossing. This was more like three hours or more now.

We have Nexus passes, but we couldn’t get near to where you could get INTO the Nexus lane! We mulled over it a bit and Kirk asked if I could see if the police were before or after the exit that takes the road over to the Pacific Border crossing. “After.”

Let’s go.

Back down the shoulder and onto the offramp, extra rider in tow behind us. As be crossed the overpass another policeman was setting up for something, perhaps a camera to catch drivers that dart back into line, capture their licence plate perhaps? So when they reach the other officer he can pull them out? Not sure, but the officer below had about 4 cars pulled aside.

So we dodged over to the other crossing, and came to a halt in another nasty line. A momemnt of pause, and then back down the shoulder, at least this Nexus line is easier to get to once past the lights, and we could see that it was empty. It was a squeeze in a couple of places, and then we were through it and in a fabulously empty Nexus lane. So once we were past that mess, the crossing took us about 10 minutes. We were hoping the rider behind us knew he needed a Nexus pass to get through… not our problem though.

Once across the border we fueled up and hit the I5 to Bellingham. Normally we have a nice little route that takes a couple of hours to get there, the I5 took us there in under 30 minutes. From there we warmed up on Chuckanut Drive – warmed up meaning it gave me an opportunity to feel the hard bags on some curves. I have been a bit aprehensive about this ride because I’ve never ridden with that much weight on the bike. It was fine, and it’s not every day that you get Chuckanut to yourself!

In Edison, we stopped for a coffee and a bite to eat. Breadfarm makes the most amazing bread, we bought a loaf of potato sourdough to munch on later, and they make a fantastic little “berry butt cake” (butt being for buttermilk). Tweets makes insanely good coffee, and their food lineup is overwhelming in visual and olfactory beauty. Two other riders were sitting outside and engaged us in conversation. They asked where we were going, and when we asked where they had come from, he smiled and said, same as you, we met in Squamish – you ride a Triumph Sprint, and you ride and SV. (Oops, and well, partly right, I have a new bike now.) We ‘thought’ he looked familiar! Phil on a Speed Triple, and Denise on a Moto Guzi. Have to remember that! They were headed down to Aberdeen along the same route.

Tide’s out, waaay out!

Rest break before crossing the bridge at Deception Pass

From there we wound our way across the flats and over to Anacortes, then out to Deception Pass where we hung out for a bit. Be had a 1:15 reservation for the ferry, just in case, but were probably going to be early, so we had time to waste. Across to Whidbey, through Oak Harbour, and out to Coupeville where we arrived at the ferry line. We weren’t sure how it worked, particularly since we were in time for the earlier boat, so Kirk tucked into line and I rode up front to ask. When the ferry worker tried to shoo me into the booth I told him I had to go back from my husband, he smiled and said “Are you sure?” Today, yes, so far 😉

Waiting for the ferry to Port Townsend – we later met those two guys repeatedly on the road over the length of the trip.

Bit cozy in here, this driver had to shimmy out the passenger side, and even that was a challenge

On the ferry to Port Townsend

Leaving Keystone

Cozied in with a dozen or so other riders

The ferry to the Olympic Penisula showed up and we rode on with about 10 other bikes, two BC sportbikes in front of us, and a bevy of big cruisers behind. All very crammed in and cozy, not organized as on our own ferries. En route a woman in a leather vest covered in patches approached me with the biggest smile and asked where we were going, where we were from, and we got into a great conversation. She and a group of about 12 other lady riders are planning at trip over Vancouver Island and along the Sunshine Coast so I gave her some pointers on a couple of roads, places to eat, etc. One of the sport riders chatted with us for a few moments and asked if we were heading for Hurricane Ridge – nope, hadn’t even heard of it.

He spent a few minutes convincing us that it was one of the best engineered stretches of road he’d ridden, and that it was with the $5 to ride it. And then we docked and we were all off.

We stopped at Fort Worden for a bit, the fort was the site of filming for an Officer and a Gentleman, and I’d stayed in the barracks on an UBC Aquaculture class field trip back in the summer of 1990. It was neat to see it again.

Enjoying the shade at Fort Worden

The barracks at Fort Worden

The Barracks at Fort Worden

The Fort Worden Lighthouse

From there we decided to ride Hurricane Ridge and see what it was like. It was fabulous. The road was stellar, the curves were wonderful. It was clear but cloudy at the base, and as we rode up we entered the cloud zone. The white mists wrapped around us and offered up little vistas that quietly closed around us again. Them on one of the last curves, the road burst into the open sky and the sunshine was dazzling after the gloom.

Heading up through the clouds on Hurricane Ridge, Mount Olympus

At the top of Hurricane Ridge

At the top of Hurricane Ridge

At the top of Hurricane Ridge

At the top of Hurricane Ridge

We pulled off to the side and our jaws dropped at the beauty below. We were on top of the world!

A few minutes later, two sport bikes came around the bend and we laughed, it was our advisor and his friend. We had a longer conversation this time. The Aprilia rider, who had recommended the road, was Noel. His friend was Sylvestre, up from Argentina specifically to ride. They had stopped for lunch and ended up behind us.

Back down and all we wanted to do was go back up and down, and up and down. What a great road.

We rode out to Port Angeles and stopped to get our bearings, and as we rode through I saw a ship leaving harbour and steaming off and I thought “I know that ship!” It was the Coho, on her way to Victoria. It’s strange to see things like this from the other side. Out of Port Angeles we had a short stretch of construction on 101 before dodging off down 112 towards Clallum Bay and Seiku. But on the way, best sign EVER!

Two road signs, the top one said “Kirk Road” The one underneath it said “Kitchen-Dick Rd.”

Kirk didn’t see them, but since Kirk does most of the cooking, you know know what his new nickname at home will be for awhile. . . 😉

Highway 112 was nice, empty, and full of some challenging curves. One got the better of me. Right in the apex the road was chewed up and sent Kirk skittering sideways, same to me, but I didn’t hold it as well. There is that moment when you know you can push it and stay in the lane, but you also read that there is no one coming, lots of room, and safer to just let it go and allow the bike to come back on its own. I opted for that. And pulled over a few moments later. It was stupid. My knees were hurting, I was stiff and needed to stretch. Should have pulled over earlier and done so rather than be tough and keep riding. That’s when things go wrong and that was the nudge I got. Over dinner Kirk and I made a pact that neither of us would try to keep going if we needed a break and the other didn’t seem to. Ride your own ride, even when together. Safer that way.

The rest of the ride was uneventful, and we were in awe of the size of some of the trees that stopped right at the edge of the pavement. The curves were great, and we had some lovely views of the water, mists gently hugging some near shore islands.

Along the water it was COLD, and I was glad to have left my rain liners in my pants, but I could have used another layer up top. But we were close. Into Clallum Bay to find the place we were staying – The Winter Summer Inn. We pulled in and walked around the house to the back where we rang the bell and a young, very tall man, opened the door with a massive smile and said “Who the Hell are you?” We were taken aback for a moment and then realized he was being humourous.

The woman who owns the Inn (Sandy) arrived and had us pull our bikes into the driveway in front of her car, which made it a bit awkward, but also made her happy to have them safely away from the road. Our three roommates were a funny crew – Glen, Alex, and Sam (father and two sons just off a cruise ship and taking three days to drive around before the area flying back to Indiana – and there was much lively banter that we had to interrupt as we were terribly hungry and looking for a place to eat. We were advised that a restaurant called breakwater was about a mile down the road. We were asked what time we wold like breakfast, when we said 7:30am, she suggested 8:30am, another visitor laughed and said he’d started at 10:00 am and she’d worked him backwards. Cute. I love it when someone already knows what the answer will be but lets you get there, sort of on your own. 😉

Perfect, not too far, but long enough to stretch the legs with a good walk. Funny how these roadside restaurants always look like places you wouldn’t want to set foot into, but they often have fabulous food. This place was like that. The grilled halibut was perfect! We sat in the booth and looked out over the water at the West side of Vancouver Island across the way, a fog bank lying in between, and the sky turning a wonderful vibrant pink as the sun settled down over the horizon.

What a great first day on the road. Here is the route so far…