DAY -1 Seattle, Renton & Shoreline, Washington

Left home this morning and headed for Vancouver to make a quick stop before heading to Washington for the weekend. We met this interesting guy sitting outside of Starbucks before we took off. Now, I ask you....have you EVER seen anything like this??

Now, THAT'S a scooter!  hahaha.  He was on his way back to work up the street.....I forgot his name! This is the front view of his scooter.....:-)

I would have done without the skeleton and stuff, but you gotta admit...it's very....ummm...well...."head turning"!  Here's hopeing the poor guy NEVER has to tear it down to get inside.  All of the stickers where covered in wide, clear tape!

We stopped at one of our favorite places called Smokey Point Cycle Barn in Smokey Point, Washington.  Good golly, I'm loving that Morphus! SWEET!!  Everytime we go, we sit on it....haha.  250cc- twist and go! That's what Chris is sitting on below.  It's a bit short for him but fits me perfectly!  ahhhhhhh........:-).  Nice saddle too.....:-)

 I tried out a Yamaha Vstar 250cc too.  My feet were right on the floor.  Good riding position.  But the guy said he would sell to anyone out of the country.  Oh well.....They have them in Canada too.....FOR TWICE THE PRICE!....:-(.....

We stopped and had lunch at Johnny Corino's and I had my jalapeno telapia dish and Christo had Chicken Gorgonzola penne......Yum.  I forgot to take a picture...ha We were starving!  I had to waddle to the car....

Only on the West Coast!  I couldn't believe it that when I got to the West they actually have this kind of celebration.....It's like a throw back to the 60's or something! 

We made it into the city and the traffic was rediculous as usual........

Now for dinner from Domino's Pizza. ...Habernaro chicken wings and cheesy bread stick.  They are stuffed with Feta cheese and spinach.  My consolation is that the spinach is healthy...ha.  They didn't cut the bread, so we had to tear into it like cave people!  No flatware in our hotel room....:-( 

Day 10 - The Final Drive Home

We got up early this morning, 6:00am threw the sheets and towels in the washer and dryer, said our good byes and hit the road!  We wanted to get a good head start before it started cooking outside.  I have found that I do not tolerate heat that well since living in Canada for the past 4 years now. 

 These are Naramatta Road in Penticton...

We traveled on until we got to Yellow Lake between Penticton and Keremeos.....I happen to see this Blue Herren bird sitting on the dock.

  We stared at each other for a few minutes and then I proceeded over to the restrooms; which happened to be CLOSED!  WHAT!??

We continued until we got to Hope, BC where the famous (if I can use that word) Hope Slide took place killing several people.  Some of which are still intombed in the rubble after 40 years.....:-(.  Very sad story that moves me everytime we pass through the area.   The pictures do not do it justice as the whole side of the mountain slide down and pushed its way clear to the other side of the highway.  As a matter of fact where the slide is now there is no more highway.  The one we travelded on had to be built on top of the slide to give travelers access to the neighboring towns... You cannot really see the write up on it from this picture, but I'm sure you can google it and get the information if you want to know more about it.  It's very sobering....   

I decided to use the rest room while we were there since the last one was out of order.

Then we travel on toward home finally arriving at about 2:00pm.  Tired but ready to plan the next trip!

Thanks for coming along!

The Last Two Days of our Trip

I didn't post last night as I was sore and slightly traumatized from what felt like an horrific fall off my bike when going up my mother in law's drive way.  Her drive way is very steep and gravely at one section which I managed to hit and get tossed from my bike.  It was not a long fall or drop, but at my age... I'm certainly feeling it today! 

So, these pics are from the market that I mentioned yesterday and from the scratches that I have managed to put on "Ms Vickey".  She took it like a champ though.  As soon as Scootard got her and I back on our feet, she started up again.  Actually she never stopped running!  I told him to shut her off as I didn't want gasoline to spill out onto me.  I have been told that there are only two kinds of bikers.  Those that have fallen, and those that will!  After 4 bikes, I have finally fullfilled my biker obligation!

It certainly got crowded really fast.  So, we walked the market at its length, but decided not to buy anything since it was so hot and we weren't sure we were going right home.

Scootard was trying to stay out of the sun!  It reached almost 100 degrees in Penticton and it was sweltering too.  It was so dry that I started to have slight nose bleeds.  Nothing serious.  just too dry! 

They had live music....I find the music very strange in Canada...ha.  So does Scootard and he's Canadian! haha

I was tempted to get some of this food until it looked exactly like the food in the Croatian resturant!...:-(.

So, we kept going and at the end of the block, we found a little bistro place that specialized in cup cakes but made specailty crepes!  YUM!!  I had a crepe that was made with Brie cheese, ham and spinach and Scootard's was made with Prosciutto, pesto, cheese and spinach.  We shared a mango, pear, peach slushy...:-). Scootard ate his food like he was mad at it!  haha

Then we went home and I attempted to go up the drive way that I had convinced Scootard to take my bike down that morning.  I knew it was beyond my skill level, but I wanted to give it a good try......

Well.......there you go!

That is what was once a very beautiful, unscratched mirror housing.....:-(.

You cannot tell from this picture, but this stretches a good 6-8 feet across.  Scootard rode it like a champ.  Me.....not so much.  I went flying off when I hit the gouge just before the grass.  It is about 3 inches deep....I slowed down and tried not to hit it too hard; which was apparently my mistake.  Also, I am told that I needed to approach it the same way I would have rail road tracks......  I just didn't know that.....:-(.  Poor "Ms Vicky".....

Scootard put the bikes back on the trailer since we were leaving in the morning.  I took this last picture of her once she and I both calmed down a little......

You can see part of the drive way from hell!  haha.....A dirt biker's dream I guess.  I on the other hand can do without all of the dirt!

I went in the house, took an anti-inflamatory...cried and went to sleep for an hour....ha.  Woke up, ate dinner and went back to bed.

The Okanogan! Last leg of the adventure....:-)

We arrived in Oroville, Washington where we felt it best to fill the tank with gas before proceeding into Canada.  You know EVERYTHING is Canada is more expensive whether it needs to be or not.....:-(.

And then, WALLAH!  There we were about to cross the border back into Canada.

So, it was time to head toward Penticton in the Okanogan to visit with Scootard's Mom.  She is 86 and looking forward to our visit.....AND my cooking and pampering her......:-) 

So, we made it to the Okanogan and have literally gone from cold in the Cascades to Very warm here.  We decided that since the tent was last put away damp, we had better get it up so that it could dry out completely before putting it away until ......who knows when!  Sorry, didn't take pics of us putting the tent up AGAIN....but you get the drift by now, I'm sure. 

When it turned to about 8:00pm, I was starting to turn into a pumpkin!  Especially since I was on my second load of laundry and had taken a much needed shower.  We both left Mom quite content in her easy chair and said our goodnights with a kiss on the cheek before we both crawled into bed and slept like logs!

DAY 8

After getting much needed rest from our "vacation", we slept in until about 8:00am.  Had a good breakfast of scrambled eggs, sausage, toast and coffee made in our French Press....:-).  We spend the entire morning showing Scootard's Mom all of the pictures from our Portand adventure and bringing her up to date on this RR as well.  Then we decided to take her to the beach since she had not been in a while.  She gave us both hats to wear to proctect our "delicate heads" from the Okanogan sun.

 We found a nice place under a tree not far from the car and set up our chairs and our bags of snacks.  We ate TownHouse crackers, Brie cheese, roasted red pepper and garlic hummus and non-alchoholic beer and chocolate covered almonds 

The lake was very pretty...the water was clear, but I didn't get in it.  We sat under the tree while Scootard took a swim for us....ha

Scootard looks just like his Mom......:-).  Those unmistakeable Norwegian facial features! 

The water was very pretty and clear.  Scootard took a swim while we sat under a tree and had a jolly old chin wagg.....:-).

  Then I decided I would take a walk and leave Scootard and Mom alone to visit for a while.....:-)

I didn't know that Scootard was stealing shots of me.....:-).  He likes to do that.  Then he came and got me as it was time to get back for dinner.  We had spent a couple of hours there.

But of course we had to steal a kiss before leaving such a beautiful place.......well, I guess any reason is a good one to kiss the one you are in love with,  eh?...:-)

We went back to the house and enjoyed some left overs of Bar-b-Que chicken, cole slaw, potatoe salad and tomatoes and decided to watch some of the Olympics and relax for the rest of the evening.  We plan to ride tomorrow if the weather is not too scortching hot.  It may reach 100 degrees and without cooling vest, that could be a challenge!


We went back to the house and had some left overs, watched the olympics a bit and went to bed. I ate the chicken before I remembered to take a shot of it....sorry...ha 

DAY 9

We got up early this morning (6:00am) and Scootard was rearing to go.  Me on the other hand could have slept in another hour or so.  I was very concerned about the large chunks of gravel on his Mom's drive way long before we arrived.  So, when I got to the end of the drive with a hugh divet in the road and then a 30% slant downward into a "blind spot" on a well and fast traveled road.......I decided to let him take the bike down the hill for me rather than roll into moving traffic that I couldn't see coming.  

Maybe one day I'll be that courageous as to try that, but this ain't the day.  He'll be taking it back up the gravely hill too!

We got going and rode through the countryside....Penticton is known as "Wine Country" in BC.  I guess something like California.  We heard it was going to reach 100 degrees (37c) and decided to get an early start before it was to hot to ride for "pleasure".  The morning is cool  and quiet as we go.

Sorry about the mirror in the shot.  I was trying to do this with one hand while sitting on a hill near a blind corner.....

Scootard still has his gigantic mouse pad for comfort on his seat!  I guess it works for him....:-)

It was still pretty deserted out side. At least that's what it appeared to be until about 30 minutes later.

We rode a while and with my nerves still rattled, we decided to head toward town to get some breakfast and catch up on RR's and e-mail. We found a Starbucks right in the middle of a farmer's market that the town's people were setting up for.  It was about 8:00am.


 

We got a table in the shade, ordered breakfast and coffee and got to work.....on this! ha

We had our Pacsafe thingee with us and was able to take all of our gear off and put on comfortable shoes for walking if we decided to see what the market had to offer.

stay tuned!