Landry took a while and the marina cafe was not yet open so I had my breakfast on the deck outside. Since we had the use of a refrigerator last night, I got some yogurt at the store for breakfast. It has been quite a while since I have enjoyed my typical breakfast and it was a nice treat with a nice view.
Boats and breakfast...a good start
Getting out if town took a bit of winding through neighborhoods but eventually we got to the highway to Longview and began cruising along. Even though we were close enough to see Washington this morning, we are still riding another 40+ miles in Oregon. The bridge crossing at I-5 leads to more I-5 and not really any other riding options. Instead we are headed north on the other side of the river so we can stay off the interstate.
Since the riding was along a highway most of the day, there wasn't a lot to inspire photographs. On the plus side, we passed through small towns fairly often and so any worries about water and food supplies are now behind us.
In spite of our late start, we made pretty good time to the bridge at Longview. We were originally targeting somewhere around 60-70 miles for the day so we can reach Seattle in two more good days.
We decided to stop at the town of Castle Rock about 20 miles into Washington. It didn't look like there would be good camping options and with the day getting pretty late, I didn't want to be hunting around when we got there. I reserved a motel room and then we headed across the bridge to Washington.
Just across the bridge (and past the dreaded loggers)
Getting across the bridge was not too big a deal. It is 2 miles long and only took about 10 minutes. There is a reasonable shoulder that normally wouldn't be a bad place to ride. Unfortunately, as the picture shows, there is a large logging operation currently loading/unloading rail cars with lots of trucks headed over the bridge.
Logging trucks are pretty much the worst trucks on the road. They are driven by maniacs who I assume are paid by the load. I assume this as the only reasonable explanation for the horrible way they drive. Additionally, they shed bark and crap from their loads like someone is being paid to dump stuff on the side of the road. Consequently, the shoulder on the bridge (and the road leading to the bridge) were covered quite deeply with logging truck trash. This meant trying to dodge it on the uphill and just giving up on the downhill and taking the lane so traffic had to wait. On my way down, a logging truck was behind me and had to ride his brakes and wait for me. Too bad!
The other downside of a bridge border crossing is that the border is in the middle of the river and there was no "Welcome to Washington" sign in front of which we could take jumping pictures.
I kept thinking there would be one a bit further up but there never was. I started to look around to see if there was anything to indicate we were now back in the home state.
No welcome sign in this state? This was the best I could find.
We finished off the ride and picked up a few groceries before checking into the motel. One benefit of the fully loaded bike is that while you may generally look like a vagrant, folks believe that you are only passing through and consequently are quite helpful.
As we pedaled around the center of Castle Rock looking a bit lost and wondering if there was a market, a friendly fellow driving alongside put down his window and asked if I was looking for something and the gave directions, all as we continued to move down the road.
The motel was a motel but the shower was good and the bed was comfortable. After the shower it was already time for dinner and bed due to the late start. Hopefully with a good night's sleep tomorrow's long day will go well. We have about 140 miles to Seattle. We will try to get it done in 2 days and take a day off on Saturday in seattle before a final 2 days to the border. Saturday is also the solstice which means we will be just in time for the local parade.
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