Wednesday, July 2, 2014

Leg 29 - Seattle, WA to Eugene, OR

Left Seattle at 6:40 am, Tuesday July 1st after spending five great days visiting with my elder daughter Katie and site seeing the Seattle, WA area. It was 62 degrees with the predicted weather clear, sunny and hot.

Katie threw a 'USA Four Corners' celebration party. She invited her 'peeps' to come over for a Sunday BBQ. We cooked burgers, sausages and fresh salmon, drank a few beers and had a fun time. One of her friends had a 1958 Harley Davidson Panhead chopper. A beautiful bike shown in the photo below:

1958 HD Panhead
Katie loves to ride and we went out on a local excursion. We took a ferry from Edmonds, WA to Kingston, rode to Bainbridge Island where we had lunch and then took a ferry into Seattle, WA.
Katie and I on Seattle Ferry
One thing of interest is when taking a motorcycle on the Washington Ferries, motorcycles go to the front of the passenger cars. When we arrived at the ferry terminal we bought a ticket and were told to ride around the cars to the head of the line where we were the first to board. We were also the first to exit. Nice. Thank you Washington!

Edmonds Ferry
The ride to Eugene, OR was uneventful. I rode Interstate 5 until I was south of Portland, OR. There I decided I had enough of the freeway and rode the backroads to Hwy 99 and Hwy 99 into Eugene. The predicted weather had a high of mid 90's the entire route.

I stopped frequently to drink water and pour some on my neck to keep cool. I stopped in Monroe, OR to eat lunch at a local place named the Longbranch Bar and Grill. It was 'Taco Tuesday' and they served up huge soft tacos for $1.50 each. I could only manage to eat two they were so big. The World Cup game between USA and Belgium was on the TV. I left at halftime.



I arrived in Eugene around 2:45. I will be staying at a friends house for two nights and leaving on Thursday, July 3rd.

Overall, 326 miles and just over 8 hours.

Leg 29 - Seattle, WA to Eugene, OR
I can feel myself getting close to home. I have visited Eugene, OR many times in the last 40 years. It is an easy one day drive by car.

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