July 16, 2007: Ride to Long Beach, WA

See route
I said my goodbyes to Gil early
the next morning and took this picture
of my great host & hostess.
Del led me into Duncan so I could
avoid construction on 18. Do you think
she'd look good ON the bike?
I drove straight to the American ferry
in Victoria and was the last motorcycle
to be sold a ticket. The Coho is small
and can only accept so many vehicles.
You can reserve in advance... good to
know in future. All the motorcycles are
mustered under the white tent.
I chatted with fellow bikers.
This couple is going to the Moto GP,too.
(Cheering for Casey Stoner)
Going to Moto GP...
(Cheering for Miguel Duhamel)
Isn't this a great paint job?
I saw the rider of this bike much
later in the day in Long Beach.
We actually had to tie down our
bikes to the side of the ship.
Then we HAD to go to the passenger
decks for the crossing. The view from
"up top" was great.
The harbour was full of all kinds
of boats, ships, and even airplanes
with hydrofoils.
The traffic in and out of the harbour
was as bad as any road I've been on.
But... it was finally our turn to say
goodbye to Victoria...
and off we were to Port Angeles.
Plenty of interesting things to see...
...as we left port.
This seagull accompanied the boat
almost all the way across the
Strait.
Here I am on the bough below the
bridge.
Since we all pre-cleared Customs in
Victoria, I was on my way west on 101
in no time.
Lake Crescent was a beautiful
colour of blue.
Lucky for me, the 101 followed the
lakeshore for quite a while.
After travelling inland for quite
a while, I finally experienced the
Washington coastline just south of Forks.
Sometimes the Pacific was on the
other side of a lot of vegetation.
Sometimes the road was right
above the ocean.
For some of the drive, the road
was right beside the ocean.
No matter what...
...the views were luscious.
I arrived in Long Beach at dinnertime.
First stop: Boardwalk Cottages.
My cottage was the Sea Perch.
(middle door)
The room was very pretty.
I went for dinner at this seafood
restaurant (the place I ran into the
Coho traveller with the "flame bike").
Then I took a walk around the town.
All the buildings on the main strip
were similar in style.
There were lots of flower boxes
and planters.
Motor sports seemed to be a big
recreational draw. Here was a go cart
track.
This store rented out scooters...
they were all over town.
I took a walk on the town's boardwalk.
Ocean and beach on one side, hotels
on the other.
One of the sights along the boardwalk
was the skelton of a whale.
A very good looking marker
explained that the skeleton was
that of a whale that had beached itself.
At sunset, I was one of the only
people on the beach but there were
THOUSANDS of sea birds... pelicans,
seagulls, etc.
The tide goes WAY back exposing
several 100's of meters of solid sand.
Several trucks were driving along the
hard sand.
This wooden sculpture was very cool.
It was the last thing I photographed
that night... time for sleep!!!
Next Day

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