Day 22 - 4 in 1!

Aye, Captain!

Arrr, hoist the sails, ye scurvy dogs! I'll catch this wind and put on a good run to the isle in the sun!

Aye, aye, Captain!

Captain's Log - Day 22 - 4 in 1

It looks like I am going to have trouble posting the pictures this morning, so you might not get to see any of the other sights of the day. Sorry.

As we traveled across Washington, we couldn't help but be very amazed at how diverse this state is in it's various looks and obvious climates. We left Port Angeles and the very lush green area at the base of the mountains in the Olympic Peninsula and headed up to Hurricane Ridge. Now you might be thinking that we ran into the wind on Hurricane Ridge, right? No. The weather there was chilly (we were in the snow again) but beautiful and sunny - no wind at all. The mountains, once again, provided an opportunity to praise God for all he has put in place - they were quite majestic!

Then, after pointing the bike east, we were off to the next adventure. A couple hours of beautiful riding put us right in the middle of the Seattle/Tacoma CRAZY traffic! It was packed and made even worse with the various construction areas... [HOLD ON TIGHT DAWN, HERE WE GO!]

After getting through that area, we began the run through the Cascade Mountain range. Yet another great sight. The mountains begin with a nice, heavy cover of trees that began thinning as we made our way to the other side of the mountain range. By the time we got through the pass, it looked like a radically different place! Few trees and much more brown. In the rain forest they get an average rainfall of 140 inches. Yet, just on the other side of the mountains they only get an average of 20 inches! Crazy!

Thus began our run through the Washington desert. Rolling hills and WIND! The great news - it was a 90mph tailwind! That's when we hoisted the sails and moved. It was like we were sitting still, no noise, we could talk without all the extra noise we normally have and the speed limit was 70mph so we really made some time. NICE. The trees were really something, they were radically wind blown. The prevailing wind had shaped them into two sided trees - facing the wind they had no branches at all and the other side had branches hanging on for dear life!!!

The next part of the state was rolling fields of crops. They use the giant sprinkler systems of pipes and wheels so most of the crops are grown in gigantic circles. Dawn was excited as she got to read signs posted on the fence next to the highway indicating what the crop was. "Ohh, there is potatoes!" "Weee, there is some peas!" "Woo-hoo, look at the sweet corn!" You get the idea.

Finally, as we came to the eastern part of the state, we got into the rolling foothills of the northern Rocky mountains. Trees are actually starting to reappear.

We ran across I-90 for most of the day. Tomorrow, it will be Rt 2 heading for Glacier National Park. More mountain riding! Until then, God bless!