The First Day on the Road to the Sun.....
We left on a Wednesday. Motorcycles packed with tents,sleeping bags, a few changes of clothes and no laptop.... (OMG can I DO THIS???).
A goal in mind.... Glacier National Park - that was the turn around point. We had been waiting for this all spring and it was finally time to go. The weather was going to be perfect if we could get ahead of a day of rain moving into the Hood canal area. The day is June 23rd 2009.
We were on a tighter budget this year (who isn't?). That meant tenting it for a couple of nights (again - OMG can I do this?).
- Camping was not one of my favorite things to do- guess I'm kind of spoiled
- Do you know what its like packing for a 7 day trip on motorcycle and bring a sleeping bag and a tent?
- And trying to to get that dam tent and sleeping bag back in the little bag it came in??Geesh.... Ok ok .
- The tents and sleeping bags were a feat in themselves for me.
First stop : Lake Roosevelt near Grand Coulee Dam....
The first day is awesome. We scoot out of town first thing in the morning, We want to get across the pass before the rain moves in. We'll be free and clear then. We fuel up, stop for a good breakfast and watch the weather as it starts moving in.
Got to go! The smiles on our faces are big and broad. All of the bikes were itching to go with a purrrrrrr (ok more of a roar) breathing easy in the perfect weather...
We take the Kingston ferry to Edmonds, WA and hit Route 2 East from there. I am excited. This is MY first long trip and the "boys" don't think I can do it on my Dyna Low Rider. They said I would have "Monkey Butt" (not sure what that is but that's what they said) and would probably be WHINING to stop. I was going to prove them wrong....
There are three of us -each on our own bikes. Myself on my Dyna Low Rider, my husband on a Harley Ultra Classic ("Cadillac") and our good friend, Ben on an Indian. We have all ridden together before so we know how the other rides. We each have our own "eccentric" ways as well and it will be interesting to see if we can mesh through the whole trip.
My husband and I shake our heads in amazement and chuckle at Ben, who has his bike so loaded down we're not really sure he does not have the kitchen sink with him. He is the butt of our harassment pretty much throughout the trip...but he still loves us!
The weather turns warmer -okay HOT (102 degrees)- as we come into traffic in Wenatchee.
Here's where we have our first foul up of the trip. When in town, I failed to make a left hand turn when the boys did - sooooo needless to say I was "mis-guided" for a few minutes as I tried to find my way back to them through the one way streets. I knew I was in for some razzing.
I am scanning the roadside wondering where they stopped and hearing in my head their razzing comments -especially my husband's - "What the hell are you doing? And you failed to turn - why??? I knew you wouldn't be able to keep up with us." and much much more. My husband doesn't cut me much slack when it comes to riding- figures if I'm going to ride with the big dogs and all, I gotta keep up with them.
I spy them parked in a gas station, acting as if they've been there for hours -hands raised to me in question. Uh oh-they've already started the razzing as I approach. I got a plan though!
I stop my bike - rip of my leather gloves and coat, throw them down on the ground and.....
start CRYING! YES! Razzing stopped!!! Okay-okay okay-so it was a little unfair,sneaky and snaky but hey a girls got to do what a girls got to do!
After consoling me and gathering my coat and gloves back up, we saddle back up (with me in the lead this time-they aren't losing me again), and find our way out of town....
It's all a memory as we make our way along some of the most awesome rodes to ride in the Pacific Northwest- The Cascade Loop and beyond. The scenery spectacular, very little traffic and just us and the puuuurrrrr of our bikes...
Tears gone and smiles on all of our faces as we pull into our first campsite alongside Lake Roosevelt near Grand Coulee...
It doesn't get much better than this we think.... or does it? The days to come will tell.
We rode 306 miles this leg of the trip. Oh and NO MONKEY BUTT FOR ME!!!!
More razzing and fun during the next leg of our trip!
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