Reprising an earlier scooter ride, except on my Bonneville.
Albums from previous rides:
We had originally planned a shorter ride up north on Saturday after a climbing class, but decided to wait until Sunday so we'd have time for a longer ride during the good weather.
More after the break…
Part 1: To Ferry
We started at about 7 AM to beat traffic, and didn't have to wait for too long for the ferry.
I'm at Seattle Ferry Terminal in Seattle, WA https://t.co/w6zoP1Evqk
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) October 31, 2021
The galley was still closed, sadly.
Part 2: Kitsap County
It was very cold on Puget Sound, which made the ride to Poulsbo quite chilling. When we stopped at the Green Light Diner for a classic breakfast in a cozy atmosphere, my partner wanted to turn back, but I convinced her to try disposable hand warmers instead. My initial thought was to look for a sporting goods store, but I had the idea to try things like drugstores.
I'm at The Green Light Diner in Poulsbo, WA https://t.co/rhJiCjGUIQ
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) October 31, 2021
Our first stop was the local Rite Aid, with plans to try the Big 5 up the hill as a backup, since the latter hadn't opened yet. We scoured the former for a while before going up to the cashier to ask. She said that she'd just gotten some in, but had yet to put them out, so we bought a couple pairs and my partner tried one set out. Throughout the day, she expressed her enthusiasm for how well they worked, keeping her fingers from going numb.
We left Poulsbo via Big Valley, then took SR-3, SR-104, and SR-20 to Port Townsend. The Bonneville fared far better than my scooter when it came to winds on the Hood Canal Bridge, as well as feeling planted at speed.
After parking in the same stop as last time, we walked around for a while since the ferry wouldn't depart for an hour. We got some hot drinks from Better Living Through Coffee, which was a shop I'd last visited on a bicycle ride back in 2013. She got coffee and I got rooibos so hot that I had to go back in and ask for a small bit of ice, which the barista gave me in an espresso shot cup. We also asked about restrooms, and they said to use the porta-potties a block away (but not the left one since it was nasty).
I'm at Port Townsend, WA in WA https://t.co/tkjVfJjSYY
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) October 31, 2021
I'm at Better Living Through Coffee - @bltcoffee in Port Townsend, WA https://t.co/bs7jW5feTj
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) October 31, 2021
Another stop in town was the Northwest Man shop. My partner said that she'd found the perfect shop for me, but wouldn't tell me what it was until she showed it to me as a surprise. She got a bit turned around, but we eventually found it, discovering it to be quite a nice shop. The women running it said they loved Filson and other local brands, and had dreams to model their shop after Filson's main showroom. From the shop I bought my partner a shirt that had a skeleton riding a chopper motorcycle.
I'm at Northwest Man in Port Townsend, WA https://t.co/H7jlmx1wwz
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) October 31, 2021
Outside the shop, we found a van covered in lots of tiny buildings and map pieces. After snapping some photos, I left a donation as requested by a box attached to the van, which others weren't so kind to do.
I recalled from last time that getting to the ferry from town was a pain because of the disallowed left turn, so we went through uptown to get there. Unfortunately, I still had to go on side streets after rejoining SR-20 to make the turn, but we got to the ferry terminal eventually.
While paying for our passage, the clerk told us where to wait, but I couldn't make it out, so we rode to the end of an empty lane and asked an attendant. Turns out we were supposed to wait past the stop line of lanes one and two, facing sideways.
Part 3: Return Home
Our first stop after disembarking the ferry was Fort Casey, where they had some Halloween music blaring on blown-out speakers. We couldn't make out where it was coming from for a bit, but it eventually became obvious that it was the maintenance shod as we walked around. Prior to this ride, I recalled seeing something about Halloween decorations being up around the park, but we didn't actually go into the fort to get a good look.
I also took this opportunity to finally buy an annual Discover Pass, since we'd obviously go to state parks more than three times (the break-even point) over the coming year.
After leaving Fort Casey, we headed up Whidbey Island, skipping Coupeville since I'd already seen it last time and there wasn't much there to see.
Our next stop was Oak Harbor. I tried to find the park from last time, but instead found Windjammer Park. Since it looked like pretty much any other suburban park, we headed into town instead. For some reason, I had it in my head that downtown was closer to SR-20, so we circled a couple of times along the one-way streets until I though to simply go along SE Pioneer Way.
After walking around a bit in search of food, we gave up and simply went to the Oak Harbor Cafe and Lounge from last time. The vibe was quite a bit different, which I'm pretty sure was simply because we were sat in a different part of the restaurant. For lunch, I got a French dip sandwich, my partner got a salad, and we split mozzarella sticks. During our stay, there was a Seahawks game on the televisions sprinkled throughout. Once done with our food, I was pretty stuffed after the sandwich and mozzarella sticks, so I packed the fries to bring home.
I'm at Oak Harbor Cafe And Bar in Oak Harbor, WA https://t.co/QM9Z0BNvZu pic.twitter.com/K2yyOdd6Vm
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) October 31, 2021
At Deception Pass, I noticed that traffic was a whole lot lighter than last time, likely because it was an Autumn Sunday rather than a Summer Saturday. The east sidewalk was still closed for paint work, but there wasn't a lot of equipment all over as they were doing the finishing touches (such as the railings) rather than the bulk of the work. We walked from one end to the other of the bridge, then back so she could get a good view of the beautiful scenery.
Our original plan was to check out the strip malls in Burlington, but with the day getting long, we decided to skip that and just head home. However, we still went the back way from Burlington, through Sedro–Woolley, to get to Arlington. One thing from that leg that sticks out in my memory was the '50s-era car that was behind us along the length SR-20 of this leg.
SR-9 from Sedro–Woolley to Arlington was a lot of fun! It was fast, but with some engaging twisty sections. My partner didn't like it so much, commenting that it was too fast. Our one stop along the way was in Lake McMurray so I could show my partner the general store run by the older Japanese woman. When coming upon the shop, we discovered that it had shut down, but serendipity struck when the Japanese woman was walking along the road in front of the store to her house. Not only did she recognize me, but she told me the story of how her family had a motorcycle back in Japan, but had to give it up to be able to afford a house. She also mentioned that she shut the store down at the beginning of the pandemic because she didn't want to deal with it.
My hands were quite cold at this point, so we had to stop at the 7 Eleven in Arlington for hand warmers. Thankfully, they had some at the front counter, so we were set for the rest of the ride. A younger guy said that he really liked my bike, saying "you don't really see Bonnevilles that clean." Based on that, I'm pretty sure he thought my bike was a vintage one and not a new one. Another guy said he really liked my bike as well, albeit incoherently, which he said was because he'd just "smoked a lot of weed." He asked if we liked the Seahawks and told us that they'd won the game from earlier.
We headed right for I-5 at this point for a quick trip home. Since I'd finally hit the 500 mile mark, I was hoping to make use of the 5000 RPM I was allowed, but a very slow semi truck in front of us on the on ramp prevented that. After that, we spent the next hour going 70-85 MPH to keep up with the flow of traffic. While the buffeting on my head wasn't fun, the wind noise was so bad that I immediately made a note to buy earplugs for freeway use when I got the chance. There were no slowdowns the whole way, which was a nice change of pace, but my partner kept talking about how I was a racehorse and that she felt like she was going to die, partially because it had already been a long day and we were both worn out.
After leaving the freeway in Northgate, we stopped to get some gas and have a short break. I was in the usual disoriented state, as was my throttle hand, but I'd hoped that the earplugs would help with the former.
For the ride home, I took a new route along a side street to get to 8th, which avoided some traffic lights. I rode conservatively the whole way in case there were any trick-or-treaters jumping out from between parked cars.
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