30 .04.2010




As it came time to leave the next morning, we all wished we had stayed in this Lodge the last five days instead of Villa West Motel. We had our rain gear on as there was low cloud and drizzle, so we could expect to have another damp day. As it turned out, it wasn't as wet as the previous day, but just as cold.

We hugged the flat coast again for awhile, passing through very low lying areas with the tidal water drained out of them, then headed to Tumwater, near Olympia in Washington. The Highway numbers (we were on Hwy 101) were written inside profiles of George Washington, green background, white profile, and large green highway number in his head, on great big boards over the four lane highways. We definitely knew we were in Washington State.  

The Motel 6 in Tumwater was close to a Fred Meyer store (a popular shopping store here in this part of the US, and of a good size too) . Des and I shopped for the family, and Lynn and I prepared all the food for a slap-up dinner in our room. Mmmm, it was good. The fruit is wonderful here, and there’s lots of choice, so we made a big bowl of mixed berries and chopped fruits for desert.

01.05.2010

The ride into Seattle was fast on the i 5 highway, but at least it wasn’t raining or hailing. We turned off to the BMW dealer, Ride West BMW Motorcycles, one of the largest in USA, we’ve heard, and booked our BMW’s in for a service. We met the owner of the dealership, Keith Thye, who presented us with a signed copy of his book, 'MotoRaid’. Keith has travelled from Oregon in the USA to Pucon, Chile in 1963 on a BMW R-50 motorbike. The riding would have been more challenging in those days, I think, than they are now. We met lots of great people at the motorcycle shop, all bikers with similar interests to ours. Unfortunately our motorbikes could not be serviced until Tuesday, so we looked for accommodation close by . Keith also has a motorcycle shop in Tacoma, which is even bigger than the one in Seattle.

We were no sooner checked into the Days Inn Motel when we decided to see the sights of Seattle. The 358 bus stopped right outside our door and took us into Denny Street close to The Space Needle. When it was built for The World Fair in 1962, it was the tallest building in Seattle, now it’s the sixth. The views from the observation deck 520 feet above the city of Seattle and the harbour, are breathtaking, from inside and out, and we took the opportunity to go back again later and see it at night.

We went to see a one woman play in the local shopping/food mall for an hour and a half, and when we came out of the theatre, all the eateries in the area were closed. As we walked down the street to catch our bus, we stopped at a sports restaurant for dinner, which was OK, but the beer was $7 per glass, (plus tax, which is always a surprise. I’m not sure what the percentages of tax are supposed to be here, but it often varies wildly where accommodation is concerned. Perhaps it’s different from state to state.) It’s funny when I get out the right money for a purchase, and then the cashier rings up more, I have to dig into my wallet again for the tax, (or not funny!) We waited at the bus stop in the evening chill for 30 minutes - then caught a taxi back to the hotel.