Motorcycle Diaries
Memorial Day weekend: I was not on call. It was supposed to be a partly cloudy days, with a high in the mid 60's; maybe some rain here and there. We were getting over some ghastly respiratory infection. (Parainfluenza, I am told-but which one? 1, 2, or 3?) We would have liked to try an overnight trip, but we hadn't planned for any accommodations, and with our general health, would we be able to enjoy it? So we decided on a day trip--but where? We finally decided on a day trip up to Mulkilteo, up Whidbey Island, over to the the Skagit valley, maybe up Chuckanut to Bellingham, and then back to Seattle.
We left around 10 am and went to REI to get a drink tube for the platypus so I could take a sip of water when the coughing jags hit. This turned out to be a very smart idea. So we headed up I-5 to highway 525 W to the Mulkilteo ferry. One thing we noticed was the easy traffic on 1-5 seems like everyone had already headed out of town. Once we got to the ferry, we found loads of cars waiting for the ferry...and we just went around them. There must have been at least 2 hours of waiting cars, but motorcycles are allowed to get on and disembark first on Washington State Ferries. We got to the ferry landing just as one left. We had to wait 20 minutes or so to load (first in line!) for the short crossing.
Got over to Whidbey, and followed WA-525 up the island to Coupeville, where we stopped for lunch at the Tyee Restaurant (http://www.tyeehotel.com/). Lots of locals.
Off on the scoot, and taking WA-20 to Deception pass. We parked on the south end of Deception Pass and walked up the west side to the north end and then back. Although the day was cloudy, Deception Pass was magnificent as usual. We certainly did see lots of motorcycle traffic crossing.
We then headed north on 20 and continued east outside of Anacortes, across the Swinomish Channel, into the Skagit valley. We took a turn north at Whitney to the Bayview-Edison road and traveled up through Bayview to Edison to the Old Edison Inn where we had oysters, calamari, and beer. We had learned about the Old Edison Inn from an article in the Pacific Magazine which described the establishment:
Old Edison Inn
Edison; 360-766-6266
Mosey into this country-corner tavern and set yourself down for oysters just about anywhichway you want. Throw back a shooter or two for starters — a saucy singleton in a shot glass. Move on to the Grilled Oyster Scatter of just-right-battered bivalves fresh from nearby Samish Bay. If oysters ain't your thang, reach for a burger (hali-, ham-, salmon
or chicken) or carve into a juicy steak. Wash it all down with one of the 14 beers on tap or an adult beverage from the full bar. On Sundays and some Saturdays, kick up your heels to live music.
Some day we will go back for the dancin'.
Then on home: Back down the Bayview-Edison road, across WA-20, where it becomes the La Conner-Whitney road. At La Conner round about we went east to Conway (Chilberg road to Best road to Fir Island road). At Conway we went south along Pioneer highway through Stanwood. At this point I had planned on going south along the coast to Tulalip, but being confused we continued on Pioneer highway to Silvana, and to I-5. Then we took I-5 back into Seattle.
See pictures of our adventure here:
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| Motorcycle Diaries 05262007 |
