Yesterday was my 31st birthday. With the wife & kids out of town visiting family in Nebraska, I set off on the bike for the peninsula. For those of you not familiar with the topography of Washington, the state is partially divided but Puget Sound, with the Seattle Metro area on the east side, and the Olympic peninsula on the west. After a brief ferry ride from Edmonds to Kingston I was on US 101, which loops around the north end of the peninsula and continues on all the way to Southern California.

Washington is known for its rain, but no part of the state is rainier than the Olympics. I'm told it rains here more than 70% of the year. Yesterday was no exception; at least 160 of the 180 miles I rode I was poured on. I'm pleased to report my gear held up well for the most part. Riding in the rain doesn't bother me, but necessitates a more cautious approach to cornering, which for me takes some of the fun out of it. I wound through the forest, flanked by tall evergreens on one side and panoramic ocean views on the other. My night ended in Forks, a small logging town with a motel and a few restaurants.

This morning I woke up early and took a walk down the main street in Forks. A few buildings in this sleepy little town bear signs with old photographs and stories of Forks in its heyday. I observed that, with the exception of the cars, not much has changed since then. After a quick cup of coffee I pressed on down the 101.

The weather had changed for the better and the road was dry and free of traffic. Cruising at speeds in excess of 95 mph for most of the day I made up for the slow progress yesterday. The GT loves to corner at high speeds and the long straight-stretches gave me an opportunity to open the throttle up. There's nothing more alarming than looking down at the speedometer and realizing you're pushing 120.

I stopped off at Ruby Beach to take a few pictures. I'd been there before with Christy but the weather was nicer today than last time. I chatted with a family for a bit, took a few more shots, and continued south. A few miles later an abandoned mill that had become a dumping ground for old appliances and cars caught my eye. I snapped these shots:

In one of my previous posts I commented that motorcycling brings people together, and today was no exception. I stopped off in Steilacoom (Fort Lewis) to rest and to get a cup of coffee. I had a quick chat with Mark on my cell phone and then headed back to the bike. I had just finished gearing up when a man approached; checking out the GT. Looking behind me I noticed he was riding a Harley, a retired police bike. We chatted for a bit about my bike, the Ride A2B trip, and motorcycling in general. We made our way over to the Harley and talked about that for a while. I told him that I had a friend who used to have a similar motorcycle. It turns out that this was the very bike my friend sold! He'd bought it from him off of CraigsList. It was a very "small world" moment.

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful. Somewhere along the way the odometer clicked over the 2,100 mile mark...round-trip: 431.5 miles. Not bad for two days, and my endurance is up too. My butt only hurts a little right now :)