Seattle to Eastern Washington

[markboy]

I had been planning on a weekend at some vacation property in Eastern Wa and I've been wanting to ride the bike over since I got it. Things kind of came together at work on Thursday and I decided to take Friday off to ride over. I'd planned the route a long time ago. Surprisingly enough, the route only requires 35 miles on the freeway (out of the total 150).

I got up Friday, had a nice big breakfast and went out to warm up the bike. What's this! It's raining. Didn't see that in the forecast. I went out and it was more like 'mist'. Couldn't really see any rain falling but it was wet out. I went and got on the PC to look at various web cameras and it looks dry everywhere but I put on my rain pants and head out. Sure enough things dry out within 5 miles of the house. I take familiar back roads for the first 25 miles which lead me out and parallel to the freeway. No more side roads - I've got to get on the freeway now to get over the mountain pass.

I've been able to get my GZ up to about 75 on the flats with the throttle wide open. However, I'm abot to start climbing a mountain pass and I'm wondering if I'll even be able to do 55. It does much better than anticipated and I actually stay on the freeway during my first 'bypass' option. In fact, I had to pass a semi that was doing about 60. Not a quick pass but I had enough to overtake him and the traffic was pretty light.

I opted to take a great (twisty) back road up Snoqualmie Pass that bypasses the steepest part of the climb. Nice and cool in the woods, no traffic and great scenery - much better than the slog up the freeway. The backroad comes out at the ski area where I take my first leg stretch and meet a couple of Harley riders on their way to Sturgis. It's a quick stop and then I'm on the freeway for the next 20 miles or so to Cle Elum. Things go really well with nice traffic flow and no issues keeping up the speed (things are pretty flat).

From Cle Elum I take I-10 which parallels I-90 and has fantastic views of the Yakima River. There is essentially nobody on the road and the cruise is really nice with the temp getting noticeably warmer as I enter the high desert areas. I take I-10 all the way into Ellensburg and stop at a DQ to check in at home and let them know I am safe. It's warm enough where I decide to ditch the riding pants and ride in the jeans instead. After pulling out of the DQ I ride about 5 miles until I realize I've left my wallet sitting back at the DQ! Quick u-turn and the wallet is still there - disaster avoided.

The next 20 miles down to the Columbia river was fantastic! A farmer had recently cut a field and I could smell the fresh cut hay. The descent down felt great as the temp dropped and you could just feel the cool coming off the river. A quick lunch in Vantage and it was on to the cabin for some relaxation for a couple of nights.

The ride home on Sunday was pretty much a replay of the trip over in reverse -with one exception. My GZ easily gets about 150 miles on a tank of gas so I filled up over at the gas station near the cabin. I get on the highway that shoots out to I-90 and the bike won't get over 60 mph. Doesn't seem like there is a headwind. On the climb up out of Vantage it's pushing the bike to stay near 50 by shifting back and forth from 4th to 5th. I'm praying that it's just crappy gas and I push it on through to Cle Elum where I fill up at the Safeway gas station. It takes 1.4 gallons after travelling only 74 miles (50ish on the miles per gallon instead of the usual 70 to 75). I have to get on the freeway here so I'm hoping the fresh mix of gas will help - sure enough! I pop on the freeway and I'm doing 65 to 70 no problem.

You can really feel the marine air after you drop over the pass and start heading down toward Seattle. I took the back road down through Denny Creek and then back onto the freeway - nice and cool. Great ride!