Two days on the open road through some crazy scenery in Eastern Washington!
More after the break…
Day 1
As I prefer to do, I started at around 5:30 in the morning. It took a bit longer for me to get going because I had to latch on my side cases. First time on one of these longer rides!
My first outbound stop was the Hoot Owl Mart, where I got gas, used the restroom, and ate a slice of pound cake to tide me over until Cole's Corner. I really wanted to get a certain photo while there, but cars kept pulling in, obscuring the shot. One of the passengers was a guy with a tiny dog on a leash, while a couple other folks bought huge bags of ice that they emptied into coolers they had. Thankfully, right as I started to get ready to leave, the cars left, so I was able to get the shot I wanted.
I'm at Hoot Owl Mini Mart in Sultan, WA https://t.co/v2yym8PmEY
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
While making my way over Stevens Pass, I saw a couple of drivers pull some dangerous stunts. No wonder the road is infamous for being dangerous!
Saw two cars pass on no passing sections: one was a sport-trim Civic and the other was a pickup truck. Also saw a couple cars have a close call when one of them was passing. No wonder this highway was its reputation of being dangerous!
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
I made a point of not stopping before Cole's Corner, as I wanted to check out the 59er Diner. Unfortunately, it was closed when I arrived and wouldn't open for an hour.
Looks like it's not open yet, so I guess I'll be eating in town. (@ 59er Diner in Leavenworth, WA) https://t.co/Hn60LE0b4a
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Thankfully, the nearby Squirrel Tree Restaurant was open, so I stopped there for breakfast instead, which consisted of a Denver Omelet and seasoned potatoes. I was surprised when it was served to me on a square plate, more typical of fancier restaurants and contrasting with the restaurant's rustic decor.
I'm at Squirrel Tree Restaurant in Leavenworth, WA https://t.co/KRq6eHwX63 pic.twitter.com/YgWfRt1daE
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
I also tried to avoid stopping around Leavenworth, but the canyon housing Jolanda Lake persuaded me to make a quick photo stop.
As I rode along US 2 through Dryden, the green hills dotted with trees inspired me to pull off and get some photos of them. I first stopped where Main Street crossed the Wenatchee river on a very rutted gravel parking lot that made it very difficult to handle the bike, but that didn't get me much of a view.
After going a little further from the highway, I found more or less the same style of hills, though more brown than green. I also found a park with a restroom, which was very helpful at this point!
Before rejoining the highway, I had to make a quick stop in downtown Dryden for the cute, albeit run-down, shops there. While I got those photos, I saw a guy enter an old building across the street trying to be as discreet as possible.
My next stop was the town of Cashmere, where a bridge across the now wider Wenatchee River inspired me to pull off for some photos. I also noted Milepost Brewing and the quite busy espresso stand attached to it.
A sign mentioning a pioneer museum enticed me further into town, where I found the Aplets & Cotlets factory and some nice brick buildings.
Since I didn't want to go on a wild goose chase, I looked for the museum on Google Maps and started heading that way…only to have to stop to get photos of Cottage Avenue. Not only was it packed with storefronts, the walkways were also covered! Even the crosswalks!
While walking, I noticed that Doane's Valley Pharmacy advertised a soda fountain and wanted to stop in for a refreshing drink. The fountain was in the back and was being operated by who looked like a local teenager. The small-town feel was further pushed when I got a large diet cola for only 75¢!
Only 75¢ for a large soda! (@ Doane's Valley Pharmacy Old Fashioned Soda Fountain in Cashmere, WA) https://t.co/UAr70CQfAM
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Just down the street was the Pioneer Museum, where the humidity made me beg for A/C.
It's way too humid out here.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
When I entered the museum, I was told by an older woman working at it that both I and a couple of older women had to follow her to see a couple of interesting exhibits. The first was one with a very old photo of local Native Americans with the actual beaded bag in the photo beneath it.
The second one consisted of a couple of stones, each one weighing over 200 pounds. The woman told me that, in order to become a warrior of the tribe, teenage boys needed to carry a stone like them a certain distance. Then she said that the stones carried by the women were lighter "because women were smarter!" That got a laugh out of all of us, but she walked over to me a few minutes later to apologize despite my laughing.
After poking around a bit inside, I also checked out the Pioneer Village outside, which consisted of a lot of very old buildings. One thing that I was curious about was how small they were, as I would've had to duck my head to enter any of them. Nonetheless, these were the original buildings.
There were also a couple of Northern Pacific Railroad exhibits among other things.
I have many more photos from the museum in this album, but I wanted to avoid cluttering up this post with them.
I'm at Cashmere Museum in Cashmere, WA https://t.co/Jba3t1L7gF
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Seeing all of the Native American stuff on display here saddens me because it reminds me of all of the cultures that were erased.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
After skipping Wenatchee since it didn't interest me, I headed north for a while along the Columbia River, which presented some very nice scenery. I didn't stop in this direction because I wanted to keep moving, but I did note that I needed to get photos on the return trip.
My route then headed up the Corbaley Canyon, which forced me to stop with the views of the rugged hills that the highway wound up, complete with several advisory speed limits.
Once out of the canyon, the plateau really opened up. Grassy hills and farms as far as the eyes could see! I stopped for both gas and photos at the Exxon west of Waterville, noting a lot of painted advertisements for "Doctor Pierce's Anuric Tablets".
When I arrived in downtown Waterville, I was surrounded by brick buildings like back home in Seattle! Before going on a photo walk, however, I had to get lunch, and the Coyote Pass Cafe was one of the few places open when I showed up.
The cafe had a nice atmosphere, but the staff seemed a bit overworked, as it took a long time for my food to come out. While I waited, a large group said grace before eating, which I'd never seen in public before. Eventually, I ended up with the last glass of lemonade and the last barbecue pull pork sandwich before they ran out, but they were plenty tasty.
I'm at Coyote Pass Cafe in Waterville, WA https://t.co/avsP1WAsl3 pic.twitter.com/1UBlhXcv6b
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Once done eating, I walked around town to take photos.
As I was getting ready to leave, an older guy came up to me and admired my Bonneville. He knew about the recent Triumph models, and was more than happy to mention that his Harley trike parked at the nearby Pioneer Park had 116,000 miles on the clock.
The plateau east of Waterville was comprised of low rolling hills, which the highway went straight over. Pretty much the only things of note for a long time were the dust devils, which were difficult to distinguish from smoke rising from fire. Oh, and there was the small settlement of Douglas, which was located where the old BNSF branch line crossed the highway.
Saw a number of dust devils in the fields east of Waterville.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Then the highway dove into Moses Coulee, whose scale forced me to stop as I had to get photos!
After another ascent and descent, the highway crossed the Dry Falls Dam, the creator of Banks Lake. By the way, Banks Lake provides both pumped storage power generation and irrigation storage for Grand Coulee Dam, my ultimate destination. I pulled off in a parking lot intended to serve the dam's power plant, then walked around for a bit to take photos.
I finally left US 2 in Coulee City and followed the eastern shore of Banks Lake along SR-155. There were a number of points where I would've liked to get photos of the lake and Grand Coulee housing it, but it was getting late in the afternoon and I didn't want to waste too much time. However, I did pull off the highway to check out Steamboat Rock State Park…where both I and a few cars were stuck behind an old RV that slowed to a near-stop for every culvert. Did the driver think the different pavement was speed bumps?
There was a line of cars at the park entrance, whose drivers were apparently simply buying Discover Passes. Since I already had one and wasn't planning on camping, I used the bypass lane to avoid the line. Unfortunately, the parking lot was pretty full, so I ended up parking on the side of the travel area of the lot as I saw some other people do.
While I was getting one panorama, a shirtless guy saw what I was doing and gave a double thumbs-up. He thought it was hilarious, but I wasn't bothered much by it.
My last stop before Grand Coulee Dam was Coulee City, as I wanted to get some food at the local Safeway since my day was nearly done. I spent quite a bit of time looking for a package of muffins, but after coming up empty-handed, I asked an employee. They said that they didn't have a bakery, but there was a table of baked goods on the other side of the store, which I'd missed. What I did not miss was the 99¢ per pound price on Cosmic Crisp apples!
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Once done at Safeway, I had to get some photos of the cute town before leaving.
I'm at @Safeway in Grand Coulee, WA https://t.co/Cb5rkWBfOT
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
After climbing over one last hill, I finally reached it: Grand Coulee Dam! I spent quite a bit of time in both the upper parking lot and the lower picnic area getting photos since I could finally relax.
Someone took it too literally when someone said "dammit." #motorcycle #washington #washingtonstate #grandcoulee #grandcouleedam #damn (@ Grand Coulee Dam in Coulee Dam, WA) https://t.co/J97LoDCDUd pic.twitter.com/HYdGT7zQ5o
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 2, 2022
Unfortunately, as I was wrapping things up in the lower picnic area, an announcement came over the PA that the visitor center was closing in 10 minutes. Rushing up to the visitor center only gave me enough time to get a few photos inside of it; the gift shop had already closed nearly an hour ago.
They closed when I showed up, and the gift shop had been closed for an hour. (@ Grand Coulee Dam Visitor Center in Grand Coulee, WA) https://t.co/UqMAo9z1Z1
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
I'm not sad about it, though. I still got to see the dam itself from multiple angles.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
I've also been to the visitor center before, many years ago.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
Before leaving, I noticed a huge wildfire on the other side of Electric City.
There's a HUGE fire just outside of town.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
Just before leaving the visitor center for the last time, a young woman saw me taking photos of it and seemed like she wanted to start a conversation, but my one-word answers weren't really conducive to that.
I wasn't quite done with the dam, however, and snapped a few photos of Lake Roosevelt, which it impounds.
When I pulled into the Trailwest Motel parking lot, I noticed that the hill's slope made my bike really unstable on its kickstand. The only thing I could think of was parking at more of an angle, which only helped a bit. While checking in, some staff wondered why there were so many sirens, so I told them about the wildfire. One of them said something along the lines of "it's starting again."
Sick of eating out, I ended up getting my dinner from Safeway while on a small photo walk: a corn dog, chicken tenders, and potato triangles, with a Bud Light for later.
A The Simpsons marathon played while I ate, featuring back-to-back episodes of the "Treehouse of Horror" anthology. Once done eating, I took the shower I desperately needed, drank that Bud Light, and went to bed.
And so ends day 1. (@ Trail West Motel in Grand Coulee, WA) https://t.co/9jwwdvcB7w
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
#Beer enthusiasts love to shit on Bud Light, but it's nice not feeling like shit the next morning.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
Day 2
I started day 2 with a breakfast consisting of a muffin and a banana, then headed out when it was just light enough. I was paranoid about the forecast thunderstorms in the area, so I wanted to get as far as possible before they hit. Leaving early also gave me the advantage of empty roads and high speeds.
Even so, I did make one photo stop on Banks Lake to make up for the lack of stops yesterday.
I stopped again in Coulee City for gas, the restroom, and a few quick photos of the area. A couple Harley riders rolled in while I was doing so, but they weren't interested in conversation.
A while later, after making the ascent from Banks Lake, there was a Harley rider on the horizon of the highway, who I thought was going the same speed as me as I was closing the gap very slowly. I did eventually pass him on the descent into Moses Coulee, but he passed me again as I stopped to take the photos of Douglas that I'd skipped out on yesterday.
I'd later pass him again when he stopped in Waterville, and wouldn't see him again.
After the quick descent down Corbaley Canyon, I stopped at a gas station so I could take some photos of the brown hills abutting the Columbia River.
Wanting more photos of the local scenery, I pulled off on Turtle Rock Road…only to not find much of interest.
I'd originally wanted to check out the park I saw on my map and thought Turtle Rock Road was the way to get to it. After actually entering the park into my directions, I found it was a little further down the highway. I was hoping to find water access, only to discover that campsites were the only places with good water access. After making a couple circles, I parked in a dirt lot on the side of the road and got my photos.
That wouldn't be my last photo stop, however: I found a random parking lot on the side of the highway and got the rugged hills I really wanted.
As I approached Wenatchee, the thought of food entered my mind, so I left the highway and tried to look for downtown. Unfortunately, all I found was wide roads and strip malls, but I did eventually find Smitty's and stopped there for breakfast.
The food was pretty good, as were the waitstaff.
Forgot to photograph it before I started eating. (@ Smitty's Pancake House in Wenatchee, WA) https://t.co/QOv5uQSW8j pic.twitter.com/GqbdL9DkOf
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
I really couldn't get my distaste for this style of land use while I was there.
Wenatchee does not spark joy for me.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
My camera's SD card was full at this point, and I forgot to pack extras, but since it was starting to sprinkle anyway, I decided that I probably wouldn't get many more photos on this ride.
By the time I got to Dryden, it started to rain heavily, so I pulled off the highway and parked in a church's parking lot. Luckily, there was a staircase with a roof overhang that allowed me to change without soaking my inner layers!
Rain started falling in earnest when I hit Dryden. Ironic?
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
I did have to make one last stop east of the pass for the restroom at Cole's Corner's rest area. There were some locals selling food from a stand who were clearly having a miserable time with the weather.
From there, I hunkered down and made my way over the Stevens Pass Highway, dealing with rain but not really slowing down much thanks to the generous curves over much of it—I even passed in the left lane in the climb—until I hit thick fog coming down the western slope from Stevens Pass. At that point, I was doing 50 MPH in the right lane since I couldn't see very far!
Foggy descent from Stevens Pass. Took it a bit slow because it was hard to see.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
When I hit Gold Bar, I knew I needed to take a break. I was so worn out! I'd hoped to get some sort of diet cola at the local grocery store, but they were fully out of them thanks to a sale, so I ended up with a 12 ounce sugar free Red Bull. Probably more caffeine than I should've had at that point, but I got what I could. I sat down against the side of the store and drank it.
Need a short break.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
I'm at Gold Bar Family Grocer in Gold Bar, WA https://t.co/1XScogY7K7
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
My butt is sore.
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
Before leaving, an older guy walked up to me, admired my Triumph, and told me about his old Triumph and current Harley. It's nice riding a conversation piece.
As I approached Monroe, the rain let up quite a bit, which made SR-522 back to the Seattle area a bit nicer than my riding the hours previous. I did do some stupid things like passing right before traffic from an on-ramp was merging, but nothing bad came from it.
There was still some sprinkling by the time I got back to the Seattle, but I didn't care: I really wanted to go home! And when I did finally get home, all I felt was the need to take a break from these adventures. Riding motorcycles in itself still appealed to me, but not in mountain rain!
Finally home!
— 竹下憲二 (@takeshita_kenji) July 3, 2022
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