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The last day of riding is ahead of me and I have mixed feelings. I am anxious to get home but at the same time, this has been a blast! I opt for the continental breakfast at my motel and luckily I'm not very hungry because they don't have much to offer!
Reload the bike and off we go. I know I am fairly close to Seattle from here so this should be a fairly leisurely ride. I get into tiny Echo, OR and I see this really odd looking multi-story metal building. I grew up in Texas so I know what a grain elevator looks like and this is one I have never seen before but I still surmise that it must be a grain elevator.
Now, I know how I went on and on about how ugly Eastern Oregon is on my way down so I guess I owe them an apology because this part of Eastern Oregon is actually pretty nice. Still pretty brown but at least they have cattle roaming around. They also grow some huge mushroom here. I almost stepped on one thinking it was a rock!
As I cross into Washington State, I am riding across a bridge and the Welcome sign is dead center on this bridge. Who in the hell thought it would be wise to put a sign I want a picture of on a bridge with no place for me to pull over? Come on Washington! At least I found the state line sign a little ways down the road so I forgive you, Washington. Well, we are in Washington, so let's get the green on! I mean, this state should be green, right?
Washington and its' famous wines! I pass a couple of vineyards and the thought of stopping at a vineyard comes across my mind. Just as quickly the thought "I don't drink wine" passes through as well. Guess I'm not stopping for a wine tasting after all. The vineyards are still pretty cool though. Last year, my wife and I went to California to visit our older son who was teaching at a school there for Teach for America and we went to some vineyards for wine tasting. We had a great time and while I am not a wine drinker I had a great time as a wine taster. We even stopped at one place where they gave us some garlic champagne. I kid you not, garlic champagne and it was darn good. I really liked it and bought a bottle for my son to serve his friends. As I go by the vineyards, I can see that they are all in various stages of growth from what looks like fairly new vines to heaping big vines.
Benton City has got to have one of the more interesting gas stations around. It looks like something out of the 50's. They even have the front end of a 50's Chevy sticking out of the wall over the entrance.
I get into the edge of Yakima and I can't wait for the first fruit stand! I don't have to wait long because there it is! I hit the brakes and get off the highway in a flash. This place is bigger than it looks with all kinds of fruits, honey, and even cool looking antiques. I buy what has got to be described as one of the most beautiful, best smelling peaches ever! I intended to take a picture of it whole but the smell of it got the better of me and I bit into it without thinking of the picture. Desire sated and then I took the picture. To describe this peach as juicy is belittling it. I bit the peach and I do not exaggerate when I say, this thing exploded with juice in my mouth and down my front. I also bought some cool sounding honey here. My bags are pretty full so I had to be careful with what I chose. I chose Orange Blossom, Cinnamon, and Cranberry honeys. My wife likes honey even more then I do so I thought this would be a cool combination. I load up and am getting ready to head out when I see what had to be this fruit stand before they rebuilt. The old fruit stand is still standing but it is in rough shape! It seems they do store junk there though.
I crest a hill and before me lies the valley that is Ellensburg. Beautiful site from where I have pulled over and I am sure the picture I took did it no justice. And then more hay. This bunch is at least covered but since I now know you don't feed brown hay to horses, I am wondering what they need so much brown hay for?
On and on and there we have another fruit stand. This one is in Cle Ellum and is called The Red Sky Orchards. Lots of gravel in their parking lot so, having learned my lesson; I pull in carefully and dismount carefully. If you think falling over at night is embarrassing, I don't want to know what it feels like to fall over in the day! There's a cute couple of kids running this fruit stand. The girl offers me a taste of a white peach and I am hooked. Yet again, the instinct to bite the peach overtakes me before the instinct to get a picture. The peach is absolutely delicious. Right about now I am thinking "Yep, Ketchikan, eat your heart out because we don't have this kind of fruit at home". We may have peaches but they are a far cry from these. I sure am going to miss the fresh fruit!
There is more road ahead and then I see the sign for the actual town of Cle Ellum. This is another town straight out of an old movie. I keep expecting to see a bunch of old cars driving around! This is a pretty small town and I need gas. Now I know for sure this will be my last gas stop because I realize I am about 87 miles from Seattle. A quick refueling and I am off!
Welcome to Seattle, WA and into the parking lot for AML where this ride will come to an end except for my wrap up when I get home. Checking in is easy and fast. The folks here are pretty helpful and tell me where to go secure my bike. They tell me to come back once I am done and they will call a cab for me to go to the airport. Luckily, my wife knows I have arrived and made my arrangements for the flight home. All I have to do is get to the airport and check in.
I make sure all is secure and then tie my bike onto this metal "pallet" which they will use to transport my bike. This poor bike is filthy and covered in bugs but I'll have to take care of all that when I get home. I managed to strap everything on and took my suitcase off to take to the airport. I strapped her down real good and I doubt anybody can even make it wobbled the way I tied it. I brought my own tie downs with me since they won't provide any. All set and this thin, and I mean thin, woman comes by on a forklift and hauls her away. So now I find myself at the far end of the lot and need to walk over to the office. Sounds simple, huh? The traffic here today is fairly insane and I'm thinking I make a big target. The forklift lady hands me a bright yellow vest to wear for safety. I tell her I think it's fashionable and she suggests I keep it. She says it works great to get a waitress's attention at the bar! I go in and sure enough they call me a cab and say the cabs know exactly where I am and will be there shortly.
I went outside to wait in the shade and am looking around for the cab. Sure enough, the guy comes in the exit and straight over to where I am. As I have done all along, I snap a picture of the cab for this blog. The guy driving, a funny little Middle Eastern guy, gets a worried look on his face as soon as he realizes I took his picture. The first thing out of his mouth is "Why you take me picture?". I explain to him that it's for my blog and this sets his mind at ease. He laughed and said he thought I took the picture to report him for coming in the exit. I told him I didn't care how he got here, just that he did and we both just laughed about it. He's a chatty fellow and we have a pleasant conversation on the road to the airport.
I get to the airport and the experience is smooth. I check in and check my bag. It’s straight over to the security line for me. This is a three day weekend so lots of people heading somewhere today. Again, too many darn people! We are standing there for what seems like forever when it occurs to me that maybe if we all strip down to our skivvies, we could expedite the process but I figure suggesting this could delay my flight! I finally make it through security after being felt up by TSA. For some reason, they enjoy feeling me up! I know it's not my stunning good looks, I wonder what it is? I make it through and decide I am hungry now! And now it’s over to Maki of Japan for some Asian food. They are out of Teriyaki so I opt for Bourbon Chicken and Orange chicken. Now, I am pretty hungry so instinct issue again. At least there's some left to take a picture of! Finish off my lunch and walked the airport for a little while. My flight shows up and they get us on the plane pretty quickly. I'm sitting at my seat and getting a little annoyed. People are milling about instead of sitting. Let's GO people!
I slept part of the flight home and arrive in Ketchikan an hour and a half later. I try to tell my family in Texas how small a town I live in and that we have a small airport. I took a picture of our single luggage carousel as proof of how small the place is. If you can get lost in this airport, you need serious help. You leave and arrive upstairs where the two gates are and then come down for your bags. That's it, no wandering around looking for anything. Got my bag and then down to the airport ferry to carry me over to our island where Ketchikan is. Tammy, met me at the airport and she agrees that I look pretty delirious. I am tired and can barely see straight. I guess all those hours of riding where you have to constantly be watching everything around you and concentrating on what you are doing has taken its toll. I no longer have to keep that level of concentration up so I am crashing about now. We head for home and I hit the couch for a quick nap! Miles for today were 317.2. The total miles will be listed in the wrap up!
Following are some details on the pictures:
Pic 1 - Good Morning Pendleton, OR: Continental breakfast at the Travelers Inn. Not much selection but not hungry so it works out.
Pic 2 -Strange Building: Very strange multi story sheet metal building. I'm thinking grain elevator of some kind. Any ideas? This is in tiny Echo, OR.
Pic 3 - Cattle: My apologies to eastern Oregon. This part of the state does grow some stuff. Seen some crops and curious cows. Not curious enough to approach me though! I guess the livestock of Stanfield, OR is camera shy as well.
Pic 4 - Mushrooms: They also grow these enormous mushrooms!
Pic 5 - Hola Washington State: Hello Washington! This is as close to a welcome sign as I could get since they put the welcome sign in the middle of a bridge where you can't stop! Alright time to green up the scenery. Kennewick, WA ahead!
Pic 6 - Vineyards: Vineyards as far as the eye can see. Pretty tempting, huh? I never would have thought Benton City, WA was a haven for wine growers!
Pic 7 - A Real Gas Station: Now that's an entrance for a gas station!
Pic 8 - Wine on the Vine: Interesting vineyard at various stages of growth and different kinda of grapes.
Pic 9 - Peaches: Just had to stop for a Yakima peach!
Pic 10 - Yummy: And here's said peach. Awesome juicy and perfect ripeness. I would've taken a picture of it before I bit it but my instincts said "EAT IT!" I bit into it and the juice burst out everywhere.
Pic 11 - Bee Works: Guess what I'm bringing home. Had to try some different varieties. Hope they fit in my bag! All this at the same fruit stand in Yakima, WA.
Pic 12 - Alternative Fruit Stand: Thought of this fruit stand but the other one looked just a bit better.
Pic 13 - The Valley: And there you have it. The Ellensburg valley in all its glory!
Pic 14 - Hay: What's with all the damn hay I keep seeing? These people are serious hoarders! Just how many horses can Ellensburg have?
Pic 15 - More Fruit: More fruit! Man, I can't get enough fresh fruit. Gonna miss it when I get home! Thank you Cle Ellum, WA.
Pic 16 - Naw: Yeah.....not a chance!
Pic 17 - White Peach: White flesh peach and honey sticks this time! Awesome flavor. Sorry Ketchikan, but your fruit sucks by comparison.
Pic 18 - The Real Cle Ellum.: Pulled into Cle Elum, WA for gas and found this cool mural.
Pic 19 - Last Gas: My last gas stop of this adventure, I think. Cle Elum, WA. At this point, I am only 87 miles from Seattle.
Pic 20 - Almost Home: Welcome to Seattle, WA! The ride comes to a close! Alaska Marine Lines where they make you bring your own tie downs and secure your own bike. Other than that, very helpful and friendly.
Pic 21 - Loading up the Girl: There she be! Ready for transport on Tuesday. Notice the abundance of bugs from the 700 mile day.
Pic 22 - Ready to go: Dirty girl! Wait till I get you home. Nothing a few days of waxing won't fix!
Pic 23 - Fully Loaded: Left as much stuff on her as I could and still managed to walk away with a suitcase and a bag!
Pic 24 - Secured: All secure. I was in such a hurry, I neglected to get the days miles and the overall mileage number to see how many miles travelled. Will do when bike arrives. In the meantime, tomorrow or next day will post tips and observations.
Pic 25 - Goodbye Girl: So, this little lady shows up with a forklift, lifts my bike, and away she goes to storage till shipping day. Boy, they won't touch anything till you tell them it is secured.
Pic 26 - The Port: This is a busy port. Trucks coming and going constantly and containers going to and fro nonstop. I had to wear this really fashionable yellow vest as I walked around. The fork lift driver said it helps to get the waitress's attention in the bar?!'
Pic 27 - My Cab: Funny little Middle East taxi driver shows up to whisk me to the airport and immediately asks "Why you take me picture?" He was worried I was reporting him for coming in the exit. I explained and he laughed it off.
Pic 28 - Working my Way Through the Airport: Slow security at SeaTac. They said everybody is headed out or home for the three day weekend. I don't think they appreciated when I ordered everyone to strip down to expedite the process. Who knew? Geez some people don't appreciate a little help.
Pic 29 - A SeaTac Airport Lunch: Airport dinner from Maki of Japan. Fried rice with orange chicken and bourbon chicken. (There was more but I was too hungry to take the picture first). It'll do in a pinch!
Pic 30 - My Chariot Home Arrives: Hey, my rides here. It's about time! Now to just survive all the pre-boarding stuff and then home!
Pic 31 - Let's GO: Everybody sit down...NOW! Let's get this bird in the air.
Pic 32 - At Home Airport: Waiting for luggage at the carousel of our very own Ketchikan airport. Just in case my Texas friends think I was kidding about the size of our town and airport, this is not carousel A or anything like that, it is the only carousel!
Pic 33 - End of Day Miles: Mileage for the last day of riding. This is from Pendleton, OR to Seattle, WA and then barged to Ketchikan, AK.
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