What was supposed to be an overnight visit to a small city turned into quite a situation! My partner and I rode over on my Triumph, only for a nail to flat the rear tire. While that was getting resolved (see the blog post for more), we were limited to walking due to rideshare being pretty much unusable out there. And all of that walking really hammered home the sad state the city's old buildings were. Really sad such an old city is in such poor shape.
Past albums from the area:
More after the break…
Day 1
Part 1: To Ferry
My plan for this trip was to start with the 7:55 AM ferry, which my partner wasn't too happy about. As always, I wanted to avoid traffic and long waits as much as possible. We left at about 7 AM and took a bit of a dog leg over to NW 50th Street due to construction all along NW Market Street, especially that around where it hits SR-99. We then took the tunnel to avoid Downtown traffic, then headed over to the ferry waiting area, and ended up being the only motorcycle on the boat. (Several motorcycles disembarked the ferry as it landed in Seattle.)
Heading west! (@ Bainbridge Island Ferry in Bainbridge Island, WA) https://t.co/YiAOve5v4H
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
Part 2: Outbound
As usual, we stopped at the Green Light Diner in Poulsbo. My breakfast was a pancake platter and my partner got a smaller dish since she wasn't too hungry.
I'm at The Green Light Diner in Poulsbo, WA https://t.co/I3mFdSJceq pic.twitter.com/H4n8bQ9GG7
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
After taking a sort of back way to get to the freeway portion of SR-3, we stuck to that highway all the way to Shelton, only stopping once along the way for gas.
By the time we got to Shelton, my partner was very tired, so we pulled off at the tiny Pear Orchard Park so she could nap on the bench while I sat beside her.
Taking a break at a park here (@ City of Shelton in WA) https://t.co/v3g9ucwZtT
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
After leaving Shelton via Matlock–Brady Road, we ended up stuck in a line of cars waiting for construction crews for a good 10 minutes. From what I could tell, they were doing some sort of water main or sewer work, as adjacent streets had a channel of fresh pavement along them. While waiting, I noticed that the old Simpson Railroad tracks in beside the road had been paved over.
The road to Matlock was fast with not much traffic aside from the big, empty logging truck I passed because I was getting tired of not being able to see the road ahead. Ended up getting to over 80 MPH to get around!
When we stopped at the Matlock Store, there were a couple of Harleys parked out front. While we were inside, we saw the folks who were riding them, but didn't start up a chat since we both needed the restroom and some water.
Been a long time! (@ matlock store in Shelton, WA) https://t.co/wI3VmxWpgo
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
Our next stop was Schafer State Park, which I'd seen while planning the route. It was a cute little park, with covered areas, restrooms, and access to the East Fork of the Satsop River. When we rolled in, a guy with a new Ford F-250 asked where we came from and said he loved riding the Olympic Peninsula loop on his own bike. While we rested by the side of the river and enjoyed the sounds and sights of the river rippling over the rocks, that same guy, a woman I assumed was his partner, and his dog played with other folks who were also enjoying the riverside.
I'm at Schafer State Park - @wastatepks in Elma, WA https://t.co/uf1DJVyyLZ
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
From the park, we headed south along East Satsop Road, which provided some nice farming valley and river sights along the way. As we neared Satsop itself, there were a number of speed advisories in the tighter curves, with the last one being 10 MPH!
Our next road was Monte–Elma Road, which I was familiar with because of my past times in the area by bicycle. Familiar sights like the Brady Store brought back fond memories. We even saw a bicycle tourist heading the same way as us!
Our last big leg was along SR-12. As we went over the hills around Lemay, I noticed the bike handling a bit roughly. I thought it needed more oil, so I made a mental note to look for some in Aberdeen, which was only a couple miles further along. When we actually entered Aberdeen, the bike started to wobble and weave, which was very scary when crossing the Wishkah River Bridge!
When we finally arrived at our hotel, I planned to leave my partner there to see if it would help and ride over to the nearby AutoZone. As soon as I started getting going, the handling became very choppy, so I parked the bike and looked over it…only to find a flat rear tire, caused by a shiny nail about an inch long.
I've had better days. #motorcycle pic.twitter.com/wnugRAMH7P
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
Oof. pic.twitter.com/cPimmdSTGD
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 23, 2022
Part 3: Tire Repair
My plan was still to go to the AutoZone, but do it on foot. Since we were both hungry, however, we hoofed it to a bar in town for a late lunch. Didn't want to make the trip any worse with hangry arguing! I ate a French dip sandwich while my partner had a burger, and we split pretzel bites with beer cheese as an appetizer.
I'm at Billy's Bar and Grill in Aberdeen, WA https://t.co/3fz0Ddfye8 pic.twitter.com/COiWEIVRyw
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
On the way back, we stopped at Cut Rate Auto Parts, a local chain I noticed with a location in town. The folks there were very helpful, pointing me straight to the motorcycle oil, oil funnel, and tubeless plug kit with lots of good advice. The oil was API SG despite Triumph recommending SH, which made me worry for quite some time whether it would actually be okay. Oh, and the guy helping us said that the Latino tire shop adjacent to the auto parts store would be able to provide the air compressor I'd need to inflate the tire for the plug, which ended up being the shop I'd noticed earlier kitty corner from our hotel!
Very helpful folks! (@ Cut Rate Auto Parts in Aberdeen, WA) https://t.co/TtyCRuykTl
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 22, 2022
When we got back to the hotel, we checked in and brought all of our luggage up to our room. My partner decided to stay there for the rest of the afternoon while I figured out the tire mess. When I told an older Australian man who happened to walk by while I assessed the situation, he suggested using the engine to give a little boost while I walked the bike, which ended up being a great tip! It was also a good clutch control test.
When I got to Pacific Tire Company, I saw that only a young child was there, so I walked to an adjacent convenience store to ask if they knew what to do. The guy at the convenience store ended up being the kid's dad, and said to ask the kid for help. The guy's friend ran the tire shop, but didn't have strong English, so the kid would be doing the translation for us. It took a while, and the dad had to come over, but they got the compressor ready and the shop owner even knew exactly what to do: he brought over a spray bottle of soapy water to help narrow down the leak, and snipped the excess tire plug. I was very grateful for all of the help and gave them some cash for the trouble.
I thought I was done at that point, but I still heard a hissing. The shop owner said that one of the machines made a hiss, but the sound was coming from the bike's rear wheel. After spending so much time with the spray bottle that the shop owner went back into the other room, I discovered that the leak was at the valve stem. Nobody knew what to do at that point since they don't work on bikes, but they pointed me to a motorcycle shop a couple blocks away.
After doing the same engine-assisted walking to the shop (D K Performance), I realized that most bike shops wouldn't be open on Mondays. Not sure what to do, I called my dad and he offered advice and even to come out and get us, but in an amazing bit of serendipity, one of the owners of the motorcycle shop rolled up. When I explained it to him, he said (in a voice a little like Bob Dylan) that he'd bring the bike in and the shop would work on it the next day. This was the best luck I've had in recent memory! I was a bit worried, though, since the shop was cluttered and unkempt inside, but I made sure to leave my contact info.
I walked back to the hotel, stopping by the Latino convenience store from earlier to get my partner a Mexican Coke and myself a strawberry Fanta, which was exactly what I needed after walking all day in that hot weather. For the rest of the evening, we watched the TV in bed before going to sleep since we were pretty worn out after the day's events.
Day 2
Part 1: Walking Around Aberdeen
The next morning, we got breakfast at the Denny's a block away from the hotel. After waiting for a long time (not unexpected for early on a Tuesday), I got a French Toast Slam while my partner got a small collection of sides.
I'm at @DennysDiner in Aberdeen, WA https://t.co/pqtWyz5KY0 pic.twitter.com/J0AmLS76hM
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 23, 2022
Since we'd seen a Dutch Bros. Coffee shop on our ride into town the day before, my partner really wanted to get that as her morning coffee. After Uber failed to provide a ride yet again, we ended up walking all of the way to the eastern end of town.
This walk really hammered home how run-down Aberdeen was. Aside from crumbling buildings, we even saw people smoking crack in front of abandoned storefronts.
When we finally got to the Dutch Bros., we found the front door locked, so we walked over to the drive-thru window. At the window, the employee said that they'd forgotten to open the front door and got to it while we were walking around. My partner got her coffee and we told the other employee about our flat tire. They really wanted to help and even suggested another motorcycle shop in Hoquiam. Such nice people!
Still without any Uber luck, we hoofed it over to Kurt Cobain Memorial Park, which I'd hoped to see on this trip.
Along our walk, we saw a number of cats. One of them even responded to meows from a distance and came running when we crossed the street toward them!
The park itself was nothing remarkable, but it was still cute. It was only built back in 2015!
At this point, my partner was done with Uber, so we returned to the hotel on foot. On our way back, we saw more cats, including a little of kittens that were living under one of the houses. When one of them saw us, they all came out!
Just saw these kittens. #cat pic.twitter.com/mlRopSgiK8
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 23, 2022
When we got back to the hotel, we rested in bed since we were both tired after all the walking. My partner even ended up taking a nap for a couple of hours, which prompted me to pay for a late checkout from the hotel.
An hour before the late checkout time came, we packed up and left our luggage with the staff. They couldn't offer any guarantee someone would be watching, but did have an out of the way place for it. We then walked over to Arby's, looking more closely at the strange art installations in town.
Without many options open in town, we opted for the Arby's adjacent to downtown. I got my usual Market Fresh sandwich and mozzarella sticks, while my partner got a chicken sandwich.
I'm at @Arbys in Aberdeen, WA https://t.co/OJjispmgOl
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 23, 2022
Once done with lunch, we moseyed on over to the motorcycle shop, where we saw my bike with its rear wheel off for the repair.
Rather than pestering them, we set up shop at a picnic table embedded in the sidewalk in front of the local senior center and waited. Once I saw the rear wheel back on, I got a bit impatient and walked over to ask how things were going. Boy was I happy to hear that it was all done! A different guy was doing the work, and asked me why there was a tubeless plug on a tubed motorcycle tire. A bit tired, I fumbled a bit in our conversation, but he said that this bike had tubed tires front and rear and that a tubeless kit wasn't going to do anything useful. (He also said the chain was a little tight.) Oh, and he said the motorcycle oil should be fine when I mentioned API SG versus SH.
After making a note to get a portable pump, bead breakers, and and inner tubes for future trips, I walked the bike over to a park across the street from those picnic tables and told my partner to come over. Since I had a bag and couldn't ride with it, she said she'd watch it at the park while I rode the bike over to the hotel to grab our stuff.
Part 2: Inbound
After I grabbed our stuff at the hotel, emptied the oil bottle into my motorcycle's sump, and took a quick bathroom break, I rode back over to the park, grabbed my partner, and we were off by 1:40 PM!
My original plan was to take the old highway again so we could see McCleary, but my partner had to run a work errand so time was of the essence. She accidentally brought a work device home on Sunday, and when her workplace called on Monday about it, she said she'd bring it back on Tuesday. I thought it was a bit risky, but I understood being a bit flustered in that kind of situation. The urgency also prompted switching our return route from Bainbridge Island to Southworth since it would cut a lot of distance.
For the sake of speed, I stuck to SR-12/SR-8 for much of the way eastward, though ended up going through McCleary to get to SR-108 (no stops to minimize time wasted). Our only stop on the way to Southworth ended up being in Allyn for gas and a restroom break.
Break time! (at @Shell_us in Allyn, WA) https://t.co/5shOBJJQyt
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 23, 2022
Our sailing became less smooth as we passed through Belfair due to heavy afternoon traffic. Our directions said to go via Gorst to get to Southworth, but with that heavy traffic, I decided to use the Lake Flora Road cutoff. Traffic wasn't too bad until we got to Bethel, but became heavy again there which made me worry about a possible line for the ferry. Thankfully, most of that traffic peeled off well before the ferry, heading to Fred Meyer or thereabouts.
We arrived at the Southworth Ferry Terminal at about 4 PM…only to learn from the ticket seller that the next ferry wouldn't be leaving until 6 PM. My partner and I agreed to try Bremerton instead, so I used my familiarity with the area to take the more direct route via SR-166 instead of going through Manchester. We didn't experience much of a slowdown on this section despite the moderate traffic, but the traffic headed the other way on SR-3 was terrible! Something that caught my eye was the large number of coaches on the highway, likely handling the Worker/Driver services.
We finally arrived at the Bremerton Ferry Terminal at about 4:40 PM…and just like before found out that the next ferry wouldn't be leaving for two hours! Resigned to that fate, we went down to the motorcycle waiting area. Since my partner was in a hurry, I told her to take the fast ferry to Seattle. Since she'd never done it before and would be doing it solo, she ended up confused and flustered, and even came back after she nearly got on the fast ferry to Port Orchard. After some convincing and waiting with her at the fast ferry terminal, she boarded the fast ferry to Seattle, leaving me alone in Bremerton for another hour and thirty minutes.
Stuck here for two hours. Getting home late tonight, I guess! (@ Bremerton Ferry Terminal in Bremerton, WA) https://t.co/t764Dgiz7W
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 23, 2022
I started killing time by getting a very messy ice cream cone at the former Cold Stone. Similarly to Cold Stone, it involved mixing add-ins into the ice cream on a chilled countertop. Once I'd finished, I went back in and asked for the restroom, and one of the staff even opened the door for me so I wouldn't get the handle all messy.
I'm at Scoops & Bites in Bremerton, WA https://t.co/GmaylrnGrb pic.twitter.com/uPn2jd7mf9
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 24, 2022
For the rest of the time, I walked around aimlessly and took a few photos here and there. At one point, my partner called me and told me that she got a Gig car to so she wouldn't have to deal with figuring out the bus alone.
Somehow, the time seemed to pass faster than I'd expected, and by the time the ferry pulled in, I was the only motorcycle heading to Seattle. (As before, plenty of bikes disembarked the inbound ferry.)
Finally on the ferry.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 24, 2022
For most of the trip, I sat in the cabin and enjoyed the warm breeze flowing through the open doors. It was a nice change of pace after the hot weather lately. There was a couple who were enthralled with the ferry and the number of cars on it, even though far more people and cars were let off when it docked in Bremerton. (It was their first time.)
Part 3: Return Home
Once back in Seattle, I took the SR-99 tunnel under downtown and continued on my usual route home. Just past the tunnel's northern exit, I saw a guy on a 150cc scooter trying to keep up with traffic in the left lane, then passed him when he moved to the middle lane.
When I was finally off the highway, I noticed that SDOT/WSDOT had made a lot of progress on repaving the formerly ratty off ramps. Looking forward to when that construction is done!
By the time I got home, it was 8 PM. I gave up on the notion of logging into work the next day since it was far too late. Man, that flat tire really messed things up!
As they say, you never tell stories about when things went perfectly well.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) August 24, 2022
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