Early morning in Winthrop.
Jim's home | Motorcycle home | 10k Home
Well, I'm home now after riding 216 miles from Winthrop, WA to Poulsbo. Total miles for the trip are approx. 10,100. If it'd been a little less I would have had to ride around just to break the 10k mark. Apparently I owe NJ $66 in fines for not paying tolls near the Delaware Water Gap. Guess I should pay it so I can return without fear of who knows what. It rained hard overnight at Perrygin Park. Woke up to rain pelting my tent fly. That's the first time on the whole trip that it rained at night. Packed the tent away wet in the morning because it didn't matter anymore. There was fresh snow in the high mountains, and I wondered if that was going to be a problem. Coming over Washington Pass, my temp indicator got down to 36 degrees, and I swear I saw a few snow flakes falling. The roads were wet from the night's rain and I was afraid of ice on the roads, so took it easy until temps got into the 40s at lower elevations. It seems to rain around Marblemount and Sedro Wooly whenever I return from Winthrop over the North Cascades Hwy. It did this time too. Hated putting on the rain gear again, but things cleared up further west. Rode across beautiful Deception Pass onto Whidbey Island, then on to Coupeville for the ferry to Pt. Townsend. I missed a boat by about 10 minutes and had to wait about an hour. Rode down one of my favorite backroads on the way to the main road back to the Hood Canal Bridge. The last beautiful, lonely road of the trip. Wonderful to see my wife Deb again. Walked up to our local brew pub to reunite with friends. Good to be home. Last picture here is my house. Got some unpacking to do and eventually do some maintenance on my faithful steed. My Norge is a really great, capable, fun, reliable machine.
Early morning in Winthrop.
Heading up to Washington Pass to get over the Cascades.
Up and over the pass in the upper 30s. Brrrr.
My ferry pulling into Coupeville on Whidbey Island. Next stop, Pt. Townsend.
Home at last. Fair skies, high tide.
I'm thankful for the help I received from folks on the Wild Guzzi forum and their relatives (thinking of you Nancy). Also my own friends and relatives. Meeting Guzzi people were some of the best moments of this trip. If any Guzzi people are on a trip and need a place to stay, please contact me. I would love to help others as I've been helped. Not sure if or when I'd attempt another trip like this. Who knows, maybe this is the first of many to come. Certainly worse ways to spend retirement.