Day 1 Vancouver to Centralia WA

Ugh....

Very late start to the day.

The plan:

Hit the road with a destination of Manzanita OR to set up camp at the State park there.

Didn't happen.

Up until 2am last night sorting and packing stuff, set the alarm for 7:30 but didn't get out of bed til just after 9. I had intended on leaving at 8'ish,

but by the time I got the bike loaded up, bought a BCAA membership, stopped at MEC for a last minute gadget(needed to replace my water bladder for the camelbak) it was 1:30 by the time I hit the road from Vancouver.

Of course, due to my distractedness this morning I was cruising down Knight st. and realised that I hadn't had breakfast or lunch yet. Quick stop at Duffin Donuts(damn fine sandwiches there) and I was on the way for the border.

Remarkably I wasn't required to submit a DNA analysis or be strip searched at the border. The border guard was quite pleasant and cleared me quickly. Unlike the several people in front of me who got sent off for secondary inspections. Hmm, he must've gotten it out of his system by the time he got to me. :)

To top off the late start by the time I was approaching Seattle it was full on rush hour. Lovely, 20kph from mid-way between Seattle and Everett to Federal Way. It occasionally sped up to the rip-roaring speed of 60kph, but those hopes were soon dashed.

The caffiene fiend was calling my name pretty strong at that point and I managed to find a Starbucks(a Starbucks! in Seattle! who knew!) It was a needed stop, the weather was starting to change(a light rain had started plus the temperature was dropping quickly) and I needed off the bike after that close to 2 hours of crawling along at low speed. The traffic didn't let up until Olympia, but at least I was enjoying the toasty warmth of the electric vest.

For now, I'm chilling in the Motel 6 in Centralia. Comfy bed, and a dinner of Yak meat at the 'Country Cousin' restaurant. Woah, what a place... totally over done in the country chic decor, gingham everywhere, the requisite old time gas pump in the middle of the room, odd bits of memorabilia, etc. But what stood out as an oddity is a poster embedded in my table for a cruise line done in the European Art Deco style, totally looked out of place. The Yak patty melt was good though.

All told though, it's been a good start to my trip. the night before I dodged a bullet as it were in the form of a ticket. I made an illegal left turn during rush hour in front of three cops who were ticketing people doing just that. Thankfully I saw them just as I initiated the turn, quickly put on the right turn signal light and veered into the gas station on that same corner. Managed to squeeze a whole 5$ of gas into the tank and cheerfully drove off. I was so busted when I made that turn, but they ignored me. Gotta like that.