WA-20 &The Cascades NP

September 5, 2012
Tacoma WA
(Cascade Pics)

Bob, Marty and I departed Nelson around 9am after a light breakfast at a restaurant associated with Best Western….located more in the west of Nelson away from the Prestige Hotel.  It was a good breakfast, exactly what I needed to continue on the planed route that Bob and Marty have in mind.

We will take Canadian Hwy 3 towards Castlegear then head south to the border and pick up WA-21 to WA-20 into Omak.  The plan is to continue on WA-20 through the Cascade National Park towards Concrete so Bob can get credit for riding this road for the 15 Best Challenge.  I’m heading to Tacoma to visit my friend for a few days then head south to Tigard (Portland) and visit my brother and Sister in law for a few more days.  All I want to do is veg somewhere off the saddle!

It was a very nice ride through Canada on the 3 to the border…lots of climbs, descents and good curves in the road.  Upon reaching the border we only had a brief wait.  Bob was first and he got through after a cursory inspection of one of his bags.  Then Marty…same thing.  Then me.  The Border agent was very polite but took about 10 minutes on each of us.  In my case, asking why the CA Drivers license and the OR plates…easily explained.  Then she decided to inspect the left
saddlebag.  Prior to that I provided her with my retired military ID…she looked at it and exclaimed, “Wow, look at you now!”  Handing it back to me she said, “Really, you’re ok, I just need to look in one of the bags.”

Once through that we were off on the narrow country road WA-21 which was a nice ride through some pretty country.  Not much traffic on the road and there weren’t many towns to go through.  We finally reached Omak and caught this photo before having a greasy lunch at McD’s.  Then off on a gorgeous ride through the Cascades!

I was able to keep up with Bob and Marty but was getting a little frustrated that there wasn’t anything to take photo’s of….then the first of the many photo ops arrived.

Further on in the ride the curves, twisty turnies, started showing up and I began working on my technique and confidence.  Although Bob and Marty would get well ahead of me, I was able to increase my speed in the turns and keep my foot off the brake.  Until one point where I went into the turn waaaayyyy too fast and scared the crap outa meself again!  The adrenalin wasn’t as strong this time….but I decided to stop anyhow and catch a vista.  And it turned out to be a good stop as I met Roger and Mareli Ward vacationing from Cape Town, South Africa.

Later, a mile or so up the road, I found Bob and Marty patiently waiting for me.  So off we continued and eventually arrived at the visitor’s center for Bob’s photograph that he wanted to take at the sign.  This was the beginning of Snoopy insisting that photo's should really be about him!

I don’t recall how much further we had to go to finally arrive at Concrete but Bob spotted this photo op that clearly said we were there!!

Out of Concrete it took us awhile to find the I-5 and the Garmin kept telling me to make a right turn to get on it.  I told Bob what the Garmin was saying but he suggested we continue straight ahead per the map.  It seemed to me that we were somewhat paralleling the Interstate.  We had to stop for a traffic light at a T-bone intersection and once again Garmin said turn right to get on the 5, but Bob and Marty were going to make a left to continue on the highway.  So I pulled up ahead of them and signaled them to follow me.  And this is where we got separated!  A few blocks later I still didn’t see them in the mirrors so I pulled over and waited expecting them to turn around and follow me.  Well, seems they did the same thing after making their left.  Neither of us turned back. 

I found the I-5 ramp one block later and headed south expecting to catch them somewhere along the way.  They in turn found an on ramp a while later and were expecting to find me also….we never did find each other.  Except for an unusual event about an hour later.

I decided to split from the I-5 and take the 405 circumventing the Seattle Slush.  It added a little more distance but also gave me a nicer ride with a lot less congestion.  Miles later as I was merging back onto I-5  I could believe my eyes!  There was Marty on his BMW!  He saw me and waved and then took off down the road….that guy sure flies!

The Tacoma exit finally showed up and I gladly got off the Idiot Interstate.  Dusk was definitely upon me and I was wearing the sunglasses under the goggles…so my vision was certainly dimmer than what it actually was without the sunglasses.

Wait a minute!  What was Marty doing on I-5 that far south?  He was supposed to exit I-5 within a few off ramps from the 405 split??

I do hope he found his way

C ya mañana,
Gonzo
Twitter: @GonzoCrossUSA
Email: GonzoCrossUSA@gmail.com
Cell: 949-433-0761