Seattle and the dreaded ferries begin

Rode the I-5 North for a short distance to meet up with a fellow rider on ADV. Jerry helped me figure out a route and avert disaster as one of the roads I'd planned on taking was closed.

Made it to Mt Rainier after a crappy lunch at a very beautiful lodge.

Then I met a group of guys riding who coincidentally wanted to go the same way I'd originally intended before I found out the road was closed, so I told them, and they promptly ignored my warning and went anyway. 

I was taking a back road out of the park and asked some ladies about the next gas station. I had a half tank, plenty but this nice lady insisted I take some gas from her.

Arrived in Seattle just in time for rush hour traffic and worked out the sore muscles in a 20th floor Jacuzzi.

My sleeping arrangements....16th floor with a great view of the space needle. 

Enjoyed meeting up with some great people who are my boyfriend's closest friends and fast becoming good friends for me too, for cocktails and a huge steak dinner!

Remember that story about the guys that ignored my warning? Well I ran into one of them again, Aaron, who promptly told me that despite his admonishments about my having GPS, a spot satellite tracker, maps and a plan that I should know what the heck I'm talking about, the guys went ahead and rode an extra couple of hours to a dead end. Figures. 

We shared the ferry crossing to Victoria and I met his wife Joanna who just passed her MSR rider course with flying colors and loved sitting on my bike. 

Then he gave me the nickle tour of Victoria....

And got a good eyeful of Jim Clark's Athena mega yacht. 

I found Wyatt and Marlene on ADVrider and they invited me into their home. What a cozy bed this was.

Slept soundly without anxious dreams like I usually have.

When I passed through Portland, 

I dreamed Mt St Helens started smoking again.

When I passed through Seattle, 

I dreamed I missed the ferry.

When I passed through Port Hardy, 

I dreamed I woke up at 5am to a flat tire.

The mind will play tricks on you and all my hidden worries and fears come out when I dream.

The next day after an excellent and filling breakfast, they rode almost 1/3 of Vancouver Island with me as I headed to Port Hardy to make the ferry.

Northern Vancouver island is quite spectacular. The sky was crowded with dark, ominous looking clouds that blocked just about all sunlight but fortunately only sprinkled on me a few times in my 200 miles trek. Arrived at the sleepy Port Hardy early and walked about the waterfront. It was graduation day here and many of them were dressed up and posing with the beautiful scenery all around us.

I'm a bit miffed that I didn't see on critter. Well except for a biblical hoard of mosquitoes when I stopped for about 2 minutes. 

Surprisingly beautiful flowers all over town.

Woke up at 5am the next morning…well actually woke up at 4am because the ding dong sharing the room with me was so disorganized that it took her a whole hour to get herself put together to the music of zippers opening and closing and opening and closing….

Arrived at 5:30 am for the ferry to Prince Rupert. Made some friends with the ladies in charge and was the only motorcycle to load. Al, the deck manager, actually called my Tiger, a 'scooter'. 

Almost ran him over. 

Saw a Disney cruise ship. The horn was that oh, so familiar and possibly sickening tune we all know so well...imagine a week of hearing that all the time at 100 decibels. 

15 hours of gentle rocking on a huge ferry with those same dark fluffy clouds….funny how they look more appealing from the comfort of a leather lounge chair in a climate controlled room.

This ferry sure was much nicer than the crappy ones I took in Europe last year. 

And the chicken wings weren't too shabby.

Arrived past 10 pm and it was still light outside, good thing I brought my eye cover. Found my Hostel before the pedestrian passengers on the same ferry. Showered and settled into my cozy room. Banged my head 7 times now.

The next day, walked the quaint town and found this cool box made out of 3 pieces of wood. They use turning techniques to bend the wood. 

This is the original rail road through town. Prince Rupert accounts for over 75% of all container freight between North America and Asia. The port is rather impressive. 

A beautiful Art Deco town hall. Notice the motifs aren't the usual fountains and sunbursts, rather local native motifs. 

A neat old firehouse where they have an actual REO Speedwagon!

These are the original wood homes built when this town first started. 

Shortly after I took this photo, another bike turned up and he's riding the same ferry as me tomorrow. 

Taking a 2 day ferry to Haines where I am going to meet up with a friend I knew 20 years ago in Phoenix AZ.

Alaska - The Last Frontier

My sabbatical just won't end. I could be somewhat to blame for that...
Hawaii
Quebec
New Zealand
and lastly Alaska, by motorcycle.

It all started here on a site called ADVrider.com where like minded motorcycle adventurers post their ride reports, plan trips and meet.
There is the occasional troll to be found here but overall a great place to start.

34 days
7,000+ miles
4 ferries
Hopefully some bears, elk and moose (at a distance)
and no rain.

I spent all of May training for this and with the help of my friend Paul, did the 12K service myself using the crappy tool set that came with the bike. He also instructed me on how to remove and re-install the front and rear wheel just in case I get a flat.

My first stop Lassen. Met up with Mario, who also rides the sexy Triumph Tiger 800 XC, for breakfast Saturday morning and set off together.

A long day riding through irrigated flat, boring farmland and we finally arrived at Manzanita Lake camp ground.

Mario was a cook in SF at Delfina for a while and well, when I saw him pull out his knife sharpener, I knew I was in for a good meal.

Roasted chicken over an open fire and tons of veggies. It was mouth watering, took long enough to savor and I got some cooking pointers for free.

I had originally planned on riding with someone else. The event I'm trying to make has over 200 riders that come for all over but apparently only a few from California. So, encouraged by the ADV community, my determination to get there and some blind trust that things will work out, I set off on my own.

Except I wasn't alone. Mt Shasta was my constant companion. 

And I saw this adorable colt with it's mom having lunch, which reminded me of my growling stomach.

Every good ride always has some pork product. It's the motorcyclist  mantra. This time BBQ pork ribs. 

Not long after I arrived another bike pulled up. It's a special kind of gravity. We stick together. We wave hello. We stop to help. And we trust each other to know good BBQ.

Made it to Crater Lake, OR

I found tons of snow on the ground. I was vehemently warned about the very active bears at this campsite. I was nearly alone and I was scared.

Even the water didn't look right.

I foraged for wood but didn't need to as my only other neighbor, this nice man Ron who went to Alaska the year before offered me some from his huge pile. 

When the forest patrol pulled up to my camp, I thought, how nice, they are checking up on the ding-dong camping out here alone. 

Nope.

I was read the riot act for stepping away from my fire to pee.

I decided to pitch camp early and ride to Crater Lake the next morning....Wow!

Lots of signs for idiots. "walking near the edge can cause injury or death"

So I sat on one of the edges and admired the view.

Took the road North towards Eugene and just about in the middle of nowhere found this place. There were a lot of cars out front and my stomach grumbled it's opinion and so I stopped.

I knew this was my kind of place when this sign was on the door.

And the chicken...what is broasted chicken? It's cooked in a pressure cooker, then deep friend and served up. This was righteous chicken.

Got to Eugene, where I checked in to a quaint hostel and had the female dorm room all to myself. This place was full of smokers who all hung out in front, hacking and coughing up a storm. 

Danny, his father Dan and myself rode from Bulgaria to Portugal the previous summer together. I blogged about that but if you missed it, you can also see the report I wrote on ADV since it's a slightly different perspective for motorcycle readers.

Danny's got a lot of passion about sustainability, Apple products and his long time girlfriend who lives clear across the US in Rhode Island.

He also knows how important eating well is for me and I must say this is one of the best Americano's I've ever had.

It's amazing how people light up and get chatty when I tell them I'm going to Alaska. 

Yup, on a motorcycle. 

Yup, solo. 

So the kind retired gent at Manley's told me to take the 99 up to Portland (my dad found the same route too). Lovely farmland on both sides and not many cars. Some real impressive farm equipment (which cleverly hid the patrol car checking that people slow to 20 mph in the school zone) 

Made it to Portland in good time to see my USF classmate Brooke with her flirty boy Hayes Sami.

And tomorrow I meet up with Jerry, a fellow ADV member, who offered to ride with me partway to Seattle. 

Beautiful roads.

Great weather.

Mouth watering food.

What could go wrong?