Day Twenty One - Three Weeks Out - Mt St Helens

Today was a real mixed bag. We got a later start - part by design and part not . The part by design was two fold - We knew that the visitor Center at Mt St Helens didn't open until 10:00 AM and we are only an hour away. Also, the mountains are typically socked in clouds/fog early in the morning so no sense rushing up there early to see fog. As a result, we slept in a bit later than normal (6:30 AM) and then after packing and breakfast, we started out at 7:46 AM. Its 68 degrees and cloudy which makes it cool enough to wear one extra layer. We didn't get 1/4 mile from the hotel when Larry radios me that he thinks his headlight is out - and sure enough it is. Now, I didn't mention it, but he had to replace it on Day 03. Also, this bike seems to "eat" headlights as I've seen him replace them on at least 3 other occasions! At any rate, we immediately turned around and headed for the local Wal Mart where he bought TWO bulbs - one replacement and one spare, and we managed to change the bulb in the parking lot in record time (less than 10 minutes). We get re-rolling again at 8:15 AM.

Day 21 Track

It's 8:43 AM when we get off the highway and re-fuel at Castle Rock, WA. Larry is having problems with his electronics - audio from his GPS isn't working correctly. He tries to re-seat all the connectors at the gas station, but it doesn't seem to help. We get another 5 miles up the road when he radios we need to pull over. The temp has dropped into the mid to high 50's now and his liner isn't enough to keep him warm under his mesh jacket. I have my rain jacket on over my mesh so am a bit more comfortable, but I decide to add my liner since we're stopping. We get going once more and this time we manage to run 31.5 miles to where we make our first stop for photos of Mt St Helens.

Mt St Helens - from 15 miles out

By now the day is looking up with the clouds breaking up but you can still see the fog hanging low in the valley. The ride in on Spirit Lake Rd has been nice with virtually no traffic and nice sweeping twists and turns as we climb in elevation towards the Mountain top.

We would stop twice more - once at another vista point and then at the visitors center. I will post one more photo here in the blog, but I posted all of them at full size on my flickr account. Click HERE to view them.

Mt St Helens - Up close (from Visitors center)

We spent about an hour here, taking in one of the videos and looking at the floor exhibits. It is surely a very impressive story and to be here to see it in person 34 years later is awesome. But, we have a ways to go yet today so we head out once again. We ride for a bit out the way we came in but decide that its late enough to sop for some lunch so we do so right along Spirit Lake Highway. After a satisfying bowl of soup for Larry and Chili for me we shed our extra clothing layers and  hit the road again. Just a bit more than half way back to the highway, we branch off north on WA-505.This isn't near as twisty as Spirit Lake Hwy, but enjoyable none the less and will be the last of our fun riding for the day.

It's now 12:40 PM when we get onto I-5 northbound. The first 55 miles aren't too bad - traffic is moderate but moving well and the temps are still comfortable. We are averaging 67 mph for this stretch. But that will soon change. When we get to Ft Lewis (about half way between Olympia and Tacoma) we start hitting much heavier traffic and spots where it is nearly stop and go for minutes on end. For the next 75 miles as we traverse Tacoma and Seattle, the traffic is horrendous. We manage to average 53 mph of this stretch, but that is ONLY because we are able to take advantage of the car pool lanes which run for this entire length of road. In many spots its stop and go for the non-carpool lanes. Even after we get out of the carpool lane area we still hit construction that slows the traffic yet again. I don't know who people who live here deal with it day in and day out - and we're not even IN the true rush hour! By the time we get up to the exit off the interstate we have just 20 miles to go and are anxious to get off the road soon.
We snake our way up secondary roads to our next waypoint for the I've Been Everywhere Tour - Padilla Bay.

I've Been Everywhere - Padilla Bay

It's now just a few miles out to Burlington, WA where we found a hotel for the night. Tomorrow promises a real treat - WA-20 over the Cascade Mountains!

Today's Stats: 305.5 miles in 8:24 elapsed time, 5:46 saddle time.

Three Week Running Stats:  7,568 miles in 141:43 saddle time