Find me on the Road (or Trail)

July 22, 2010

Next stop: Seattle

When in Seattle... To cope with the traffic, it helps to watch other motorists, how they recklessly change lanes without using their indicator, and successfully ignore pedestrians. Additionally one parks at Pike Market in a spot with the sign 'one hour parking' and extend it to one's liking.

The parking officer was very nice though and I was allowed to park for a little longer. She obviously liked my bike ;-)

The crocs made it to Pike Market too.

Of course there was a reason to endure the torture of city riding: We had the honor to meet Mr Charles Pefley a.k.a. Chuck for coffee (Chai latte for me), who has a booth in the very market.

The famous chuckomobile

I certainly hope to meet him again this summer to pick up a certain picture that I had my name on it.

At noon Bob led us out of the downtown core for a shopping experience at Cycle Barn where I not only discovered the perfect mesh jacket (of course not available in my size...), but also a Tourmaster Kevlar jeans on sales (Bargain! Had to purchase it...)

Here's the dialogue I had with the Sales guy:
SonjaM: I would like this yellow Olympia jacket in Lady's size L
Sales guy: We have S and M on stock
SonjaM: Do I look like an S or M?
Sales guy: Nooo...
SonjaM: Well, sarcastic tone on 'Thank you' sarcastic tone off
Sales Guy: We have the color grey in L and XL, did you try those?
SonjaM: Yeah, but I really would like the jacket in yellow...
Finally sales guy checked stock and came back with new information.
Sales Guy: We just received a delivery of men's jackets...

Long story short... I ordered the YELLOW Olympia for LADIES in MY size, and asked him to email or call me on arrival.

The last leg of our exciting tour was a relaxed meandering along HWY 9. Soon we parted ways, since we live in different parts of Vancouver area, Bob and his Wee were headed to Peace Arch border crossing, while Nella and I re-entered Canada at Sumas.

An epic journey comes to its end. Nella is resting in her usual spot in the parkade, waiting for weekend TLC. The odometer reads 2,145 km or 1,333 mi., and my scale reads... (I'm not telling, but a diet might be in order...)

Thanks to Bob, travel companion and tour guide, for making this tour possible. It has been fun.

July 21, 2010

North 101

It is time to turn around and head North, and we did so by riding the scenic byway which follows the coast line. Here are a few more snapshots from the road.

Head on

Adventure riders

Nella is a beach bum

Breathtaking

Lunchtime

More rocks

Yet another lighthouse

Last break before rush hour

In case one didn't notice: This is a croc-free and food-free post.

It was a long riding day and we were pretty down and out when we arrived at Tumwater, WA.

July 20, 2010

Chillin' on the wild Oregon coast

Today we were (for a change) not on a schedule, so we spent all day riding 'into the blue' as we say in German, when traveling without destination. We headed down south on HWY 101 and stopped many times to take lots of pictures and enjoy the sunny weather.