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Population: 6,468,000 (ranked 13th of 50 states) Area: 184,800 kmē (ranked 18th of 50 states)
Projected Route Below is my theoretical route Previous state: Oregon Next state: None Go back to home page: Click here
Ride Report Scroll down below the route map for this state's ride report and photos
Ride Report Washington was the finish line. But before the lap came to a close there was a lot of Washington riding to be had, notably the Mt St Helens and Mt Rainier forest parks.
Entering Washington (although this photo was taken on the eastern border)
Columbia River is the border between Washington & Oregon. This is a view towards the CR Gorge.
And the crossing to Washington was the Bridge Of The Gods at Cascade Locks.
Can't get enough of these bridges .... no such thing as too little steel.
And there is a 50c charge for bikes on the Bridge Of The Gods.
But you wouldn't want to drop anything. It would go straight into the river below.
A couple of times my GPS led me up a "shortcut".
This is Washington's definition of e-mail.
This is Mt St Helens, missing its top. Was it 25 years ago it blew? Can't remember.
Around Mt St Helens there are still signs of the massive forest destruction, although this is the eastern flank and it blew out the western side mainly.
The Windy Ridge viewpoint was closed so I pushed on to Randle.
Classic Washington forest scenery.
I must be getting tired. Most states have a silhouette of their map shape when displaying road signs. I couldn't figure out why Washington is shaped so oddly. The answer was staring me in the face.
Entering Mt Rainier NP. No captions for the next sequence - take a virtual ride over the Mt Rainier road. The riders with me for this leg were Keith & Pat Evans from Surrey, BC. They were my invaluable minders in Vancouver who helped with crating logistics and rode 2 days to meet up in Randle to escort me to the finishing line.
This is the famous Hobo Inn at Elbe.
And these Hobo customers are Jessie, Bubba & Elroy.
On the 20 min ferry crossing from Port Townsend to Keyston.
This is the Deception Bridge spanning a deep and swift piece of inlet between 2 islands.
The road wound its way towards Bellingham
But unfortunately not all passengers enjoyed the ride. These are the remains of Elroy, an insect of unknown origin, named after the Hobo Inn customer. Elroy's abdomen and head remained tantalisingly attached to his splattered lower body before disappearing over my helmet.
As a 'welcome home' treat I enjoyed a peanut butter cake in Fairhaven, the last stop before the finishing post.
And my GPs recorded the arrival at the US border with Canada.
This is called the Peace Arch and sits in no-mans land between the US and Canadian Borders. That's Canadian customs in the background. Now here's an interesting development. I had to have my bike's carnet 'stamped out' by US customs to record that I have legitimately taken it out of the US. Then I get it 'stamped in' by Canada to record the import. A carnet is like a vehicle passport. When I rode up to the US border station a guard flagged me down and after I explained what I wanted he told me it would take 3 days and I would have to remain in the US. Not only that the carnet stamping office was closed till tomorrow. I was therefore technically trapped in the US with the bike needing to be shipped out of Canada tomorrow. I then rode back out of no-mans land, went down the road a bit, did a u-turn and waited till a truck came along heading to Canada. I positioned myself in the lane on the side of the truck away from this guard and kept pace with the truck so it shielded me. I went through the US border post unnoticed and reached the Canadian side. The guard there asked a couple of questions, stamped the carnet and wished me a nice stay in Canada.
And thus I made it to the finishing line. 32,000 kms, 50 states and 60 days after starting. I'd like to write more but I need a lie down. I hope you understand. Please buy the book next Sept. That peanut butter cake wasn't cheap.
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Washington
2nd visit
. The map will be overlaid with my actual route
once completed.
