Mike sent me an e-mail one day complaining about cabin fever. "I need to get out and ride!" he said. Well... we cooked up a plot to go and see Mt St Helens. Mile lives up around Port Townsend WA and getting from here to there requires crossing the Hood Canal Bridge, or going around the Hood Canal. At the time we planned our tomfoolery, the bridge was being repaired and closed. We had planned to meet on Olympia (thats the going around part). Just before it was time to go (and I mean just hours) the bridge re-opened and that cut about an hour and a half off of his travel time. We met at a gas station in Gig Harbor, then decided to fill our other tanks too. Here we are at the Sunset Grill.
After an omlet and short stack, we took off on Hwy 16 to I-5 then south to Hwy 512 then Spanaway Loop road to Hwy 7. Around these parts, that's pretty much the way most folks head to the mountains to the south of us. We hadn't gone far before Mike announced he had to recycle his coffee.
So we pulled over and I couldn't resist playing with the camera. That is a Sana can in the parking lot of the Texaco station just past Elk Plain.After a brief stop, we continued on S/B on Hwy 7, We went up through the gorge along we found Alder Dam. The next picture used to be a great view. The vegatation has eliminated it.
You can just get a peek at the lake. The Dam has been stolen. Just around another corner or two we got a second chance at seeing it.
Of course you would get an even better view if the guy on the left would have moved over a bit. There were just the two of us on this ride. Don't ask me how I took this picture. You can see that I have a goofy leather thing on my head. I won that one day at a raffle and I wanted to see if those things actually worked, so I tried it out today. I kept my head from getting all sweaty (it was hot--92 degrees) that day. Soon after this stop, that long sleeve shirt made its way into the saddle bag. 
You can just get a peek at the lake. The Dam has been stolen. Just around another corner or two we got a second chance at seeing it.
Of course you would get an even better view if the guy on the left would have moved over a bit. There were just the two of us on this ride. Don't ask me how I took this picture. You can see that I have a goofy leather thing on my head. I won that one day at a raffle and I wanted to see if those things actually worked, so I tried it out today. I kept my head from getting all sweaty (it was hot--92 degrees) that day. Soon after this stop, that long sleeve shirt made its way into the saddle bag. Mike told me he much rather enjoys being retired then working. See how relaxed he is? maybe one day I will figure out when MY last day at work will be.
After a 30 second stop to take pictures, we contunued on along Alder Lake, to Elbe, then we turned south (still on Hwy 7) and headed toward Morton. We made a left turn onto Hwy 12 and went to Randle where we turned uphill and started for St Helens. Then we saw this:
Well, that wasn't really very good news. Needles to say, we didn't make it to the top. We went back down to Randle and had a cold pop. We ran into a couple of guys on bikes that had cameras mounted on them. The camera was about 2 inches square and mounted to the front of the faring with double sided sticky tape. He said it ran for an hour before the chip got full. I may have to look into getting one of those things for my bike.
Well, that wasn't really very good news. Needles to say, we didn't make it to the top. We went back down to Randle and had a cold pop. We ran into a couple of guys on bikes that had cameras mounted on them. The camera was about 2 inches square and mounted to the front of the faring with double sided sticky tape. He said it ran for an hour before the chip got full. I may have to look into getting one of those things for my bike.After leaving Randle we boubled back and passed Morton. We stayed on Hwy 12 until we got to Ethel (a wide spot in the road) and turned left. We made our way to Toledo where we met Ernie the cop. He didn't say much.
We liked Ernie so much we had to take a second picture. There was a lady driving by when we took the first picture. She got such a bang out of watching us, she had to stop and take a shot of us along with Ernie. What can I say. Exciting things can happen in Toledo.
After Toledo we started up St Helens from the West side. We didn't get too far before it started looking like rain. And rain it did, we we turned around and came back down. With the clouds we couldn't see the mountain anyway and we really didn't want to get all wet (or have to wash our bikes) so we came down a few thousand feet where we ran into Sasquatch. That guy is really big. 
Sasquatch is pretty big alright, but it wasn't long before I had him right where I wanted him:
After he said "Uncle" we headed down the hill. Mike was whining about being hungry again we we stopped at Spiffy's Restaurant. Spiffy's is sort of a landmark in those parts. We needed gas by then anyway. When we were in the parking lot, we could see St Helens. The clouds had passed over (figures) and the Mt cleared off a bit.
After having lunch, Mike decided to go home on "the other side" of the Hood Canal Bridge. That would take us over to Hwy 101 just after we made it to Olympia. We took 101 along the West side of the canal. The scenery was great. Once we got to Hwy 104, I turned off and went to the Hood Canal Bridge. Mike continued on to home. Here is a shot of the bridge (there wasn't a very good place to pull off and get a shot of the new bridge):
The bridge was taken out and re-done (maintenance). It has a different look to it now.
We liked Ernie so much we had to take a second picture. There was a lady driving by when we took the first picture. She got such a bang out of watching us, she had to stop and take a shot of us along with Ernie. What can I say. Exciting things can happen in Toledo.After Toledo we started up St Helens from the West side. We didn't get too far before it started looking like rain. And rain it did, we we turned around and came back down. With the clouds we couldn't see the mountain anyway and we really didn't want to get all wet (or have to wash our bikes) so we came down a few thousand feet where we ran into Sasquatch. That guy is really big. Sasquatch is pretty big alright, but it wasn't long before I had him right where I wanted him:
After he said "Uncle" we headed down the hill. Mike was whining about being hungry again we we stopped at Spiffy's Restaurant. Spiffy's is sort of a landmark in those parts. We needed gas by then anyway. When we were in the parking lot, we could see St Helens. The clouds had passed over (figures) and the Mt cleared off a bit. After having lunch, Mike decided to go home on "the other side" of the Hood Canal Bridge. That would take us over to Hwy 101 just after we made it to Olympia. We took 101 along the West side of the canal. The scenery was great. Once we got to Hwy 104, I turned off and went to the Hood Canal Bridge. Mike continued on to home. Here is a shot of the bridge (there wasn't a very good place to pull off and get a shot of the new bridge):The bridge was taken out and re-done (maintenance). It has a different look to it now.After crossing the bridge, I made by home by going down Hwy 3 to Gorst then back onto Hwy 16 to Gig Harbor. I had put 414 miles on the bike and added to my bug collection in doing so. I had to wash the windshield a bit after getting home. It was a pretty fun day. We took two stabs at it, and I hope maybe one day I will actually see Mt St Helens from my bike?
This ride pretty much opens up this years riding season for me. I have plans to ride to Canada, Minnesota, Arizona, all over if I have time. I have over 14,000 miles on my bike now. Maybe I can double that by this fall?
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