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Lifestyle

Trip Of A Lifetime: Part 4

Article By: Heather Callen

Photos By: Chris & Heather

Originally Published In The June 2016 Issue Of Cycle Source Magazine

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Sunday morning, August 16th, we woke to the sounds of morning traffic rumbling overhead. In case you forgot we were unfortunate enough to spend a night at the worst KOA ever in Ellensburg WA, thankfully it was only for one night. We packed the sled early and jumped on I-90 heading north in hopes of catching up with my long lost friend Tollie in Tacoma for lunch. Thanks to the wonderful world of social media our friends, family and even some readers were able to follow along with us on our adventure, which turned out to work in our favor. Both Roadside Marty & Tollie were familiar with our location and suggested that we make a slight detour to Snoqualmie Falls. Man am I glad we did, not only were the falls breathtaking but we were fortunate enough to venture into the town when they were celebrating their Railroad Days. Old locomotives were rolling down the tracks loaded with delighted kids and exhausted parents. Main Street was filled with vendors, music and one of the coolest car shows I’ve been to. I think at one point I may have been on my knees begging for a 69 Camaro or 38 Ford Pick Up…I didn’t get either but I did get my daily dose of ice cream…so I guess it all worked out. Reluctantly we left the quaint little town and headed south to the waterfront city of Tacoma for lunch.

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Not going to lie, it felt like this was the first time being in civilization…it was weird…weird enough that we kinda decided it was time to chew and screw outta town.. no siteseeing in the city for us. On our way out of town we were lucky enough to catch a glimpse of the snowcapped Mt. Ranier, had we not been in such a rush to get away from the hustle and bustle we probably would have gone in for a closer look. But we decided that we were going to push on to Port Angeles Washington and bed down for the night; we actually had a goal in mind for the following day! We hit the 5 again until the 101 in Olympia and rolled that road alongside the Hood Canal for about 115 miles. This road certainly accomplished our goal of getting away from it all; it was two lanes with water on the right and forests on the left. Every now and then we passed through a small village, small enough that if you blinked you missed it..my kinda towns! We called it a somewhat early night when we found the Port Angeles KOA and set up camp for the night. Holy crap, this place was the bomb! We found a private wooded campsite, a pool, hot tub and cool little grocery store where we bought the fixings for perhaps my favorite meal of the trip… firewood and hot dogs. I whittled the hot dog sticks while Chris got the fire roaring. Before bedding down for the night we took full advantage of the hot tub and boy was that just what our weary bones needed. We slept like newlyweds…

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Monday morning came too quick but we rolled into town for a few supplies where we were blessed to meet George of the Navajo Tribe. He was on his way to Neah Bay, back to the Makah Reservation. After our brief encounter it was clear to both Chris and I where the road was leading us, the most north western point in the continental United States. Despite Neah Bay being an 80 plus mile detour we knew it was a must. This journey took us along the coast where the only land we could see was Canada. The sun was shining, the ocean was glistening and the eagles were soaring. We stopped for a quick break on a rocky beach where we were entertained by a seal playing just off the shore and an eagle catching his lunch. Oh wait… his lunch was a fish, not the seal! We followed the road through the Makah Reservation until it just didn’t go any further and ended in a parking lot. Glad to stretch our legs and see what lay beyond we followed the walkways and little paths through the woods until those went no further, well we could have gone a bit further…if we wanted to step off the cliffs and into the Pacific Ocean. We spent a bit of time wandering about but knew we couldn’t stay long. On our way back to town we stopped at the Tribal Council Offices and gladly paid the $10 recreation fee to the Makah Tribe. Trust me, the ride, the walk through the woods and the wonder all around was more than worth it.

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We backtracked 30 miles so we could head south again and picked up the 101 through the Olympia Forest. Fun Fact: The Olympia Forest is home to the largest Spruce trees in the world. After about 40 miles on 101, around The Forks area the cold and fog rolled in hard and fast as the road weaved in and out from the coast. While not necessarily a picturesque ride it was astounding for a New Englander to see the logging operations that go on in that part of the world. We circled the eastern side of the Quinault Reservation as we continued south. We had wanted to run the Washington coast a little more but unfortunately there was no easy way to get there from here. After a quick fuel up and whiff of our saddle bags we thought it might be in our best interest to find a place to do some laundry, grab a hot meal and a warm bed. A quick look at the map informed us that the closest place would be Aberdeen, WA..stick a pin it hunny, that’s where we’re headed! Thankfully the last 40 miles of the day’s ride seemed to grow warmer. We quickly found a clean, quiet hotel with laundry facilities and bingo we had a winner. We pinched our noses we unloaded the bike and loaded the washer after which we quietly slipped away to Mazatlan for dinner. No flights involved just a quick little trip down the road to some of the best Mexican food I’d ever had! With full bellies and clean pj’s we quickly drifted of to dreamland in our luxury accommodations for the night. I woke the next morning to realize that I had a confession to make…I slept better in the tent and two sleeping bags.

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