Washington State

Well I'm back in the saddle again.  Slowly but surely making my list of states visited smaller.  After this last week, I can finally cross Washington state off my list.  I still have the all elusive Oregon and then of course Alaska and Hawaii, but I am slowly whittling down the list.

Washington didn't disappoint me.  I've heard many stories of how beautiful the scenery is in Washington, regardless if they are frequently dogged with rain. As I was flying over the mountains, the view already had me in awe.  The captain pointed out the "needle" unfortunately we were under 10,000ft and I couldn't use my camera.  When I did see it from the ground I couldn't get a clear shot.  Definitely a reason for a return visit.

I was fortunate when it came to the weather, it rained only slightly the first day I arrived.  I must say I was surprised at the cooler temperature.  I left the hot summer heat of Wisconsin (100 degrees) to land in Seattle with a crisp 64 degrees.  Cool, comfortable but overcast I was about to see my first sights of Washington state.  I flew into Seattle and arrived late in the evening due once again to overbooked flights by the airline and equipment failures.  There's definitely something about Monday's when it comes to flying, its the ultimate Murphy's law.  If something is going to go wrong it'll be on a Monday!  Nonetheless, I picked up my rental at the Sea Tac airport and headed out.

Five seat Harley in the lobby at Sea-Tac

 I have to mention the airport first off.  Sea-Tac as its called is a huge airport!  I've seen many a large airport but this one was quite the mammoth.  Buses charter you to the car rental facility, which isn't uncommon in many airports but Seattle's seemed quite far off site to me.  A clean and modern airport it could be tough to navigate.

I picked up my car and started on my two hour trek to Bellingham, Washington.  Flying into Seattle was my best option when booking my flight, but not so much when driving.  I certainly wasn't prepared for the traffic!  I've driven in Los Angeles in rush hour and it didn't compare to the nightmare in Seattle.  Since it is a mountain state they apparently can't expand the highways to accommodate the population and boy can you tell!  It was nearly seven in the evening and I was quite surprised by how much traffic there still was on the roads.  The view while driving was really inspiring.  Lush greenery, trees and sloped mountain sides had me enjoying the ride.  My ears popped from time to time with the altitude thing but I didn't mind too much.

Mt. Baker Bellingham, Washington

The most awe inspiring thing I saw while in Bellingham was Mt. Baker.  Folks kept telling me that I was lucky to have a clear day to see it.  One of the youngest volcanoes, I had to pull over to the side of the road to get a shot.  It was so cool to see the smoke coming from it.  Really, truly a beautiful sight.  Travel has it's inconveniences, but the experiences I have and the things I get to see far outweigh the long security lines and the delayed flights.  Don't get me wrong, I'll still rant and rave about the travel woes, but seeing sights like this make it worth my while.

I went to a fun little place for lunch in Lynden, the Nuthouse Grill.  Interestingly enough, they too had peanuts on the table where you could shuck your shells on the floor.  Must be a comeback of sorts. I had a steak wrap that was delicious. It was funny because the cook is in plain view through a large picture window, you can watch him prepare your food.  Oddly enough it made me feel a bit awkward. Another great little place to try if in Bellingham is Bob's Burgers and Brew.  Really great menu.  I dined with some clients and everyone was really happy with their food.  On the order of Red Robin without the franchise flair, they had some interesting burger combinations.

As always, I had to find the nearest Harley Davidson Dealer.  I actually saw three different dealerships on my ride through.  I managed to hit two of them while heading back to the airport.  The first was in downtown Bellingham, Mt. Baker Harley Davidson.  I found this dealer to be pretty cool.  It's not often you see a Harley Dealer right in the middle of a residential block like you would a hardware store.  I liked the feel, really small town flavor, bikes parked out front and really friendly staff.  I moseyed around a bit picked up my dealer patch and a t-shirt for my mister.    The other was Skagit Harley Davidson in Burlington, Washington.  A much larger dealer off the highway as they usually are, it also had some really friendly folks and lots of cool stuff.  Unfortunately the thing I wanted most, the emerald green Dyna wasn't going to fit in my carry on. Oh well.

This was a pretty short trip for me, I opted for a red eye flight back to save on expenses.  That is another story in itself!  Never again. Never. Never. Ever.

Catch you all on my next trip :)