The fourth and final corner is Blaine, Washington. This is a seaside community on the Puget Sound and the Canadian Border. I completed the trip in twenty days having covered 11,572 miles. I made 65 stops for fuel, consumed $968.28 and 328.4 gallons of premium gas. This resulted in 36.1 miles per gallon.
Saturday, August 26th, 2017
Today, I started out around 9:00 AM. As I was headed to the highway, I noticed that there were rain clouds in the direction I was headed. I put on the jacket for the rain suit. The storm was heavier that planned so I pulled over under an overpass and put on the pants portion. I cleared the storm about 20 minutes later. I got out of of the suit when I stopped for gas when I got the the first rest area in Wyoming.
There is not much to say about the scenery in Western Nebraska. I hit a ridge of small mountains between Cheyenne and Laramie that was a fun ride. I stopped at one of the rest areas and stretched out and took a short nap. The temperatures were in the 90's so it was a challenge to stay cool.
I stopped for dinner while the sun was setting. The temperatures dropped quickly once I left and I had to stop and put on warmer clothing. So the story for today was: (1) too wet, (2) too hot, and (3) too cold. The weather is always the critical factor.
Having started out in North Platte, Nebraska and I ended the day near Ogden, Utah. I covered 663 miles in about 12 hours.
Sunday, August 27th, 2017
I spent the night in a nice hotel. I noticed as soon as I walked into the hotel lobby this morning that part of the cover I put on the bike last night had blown loose. Fortunately, it didn't tear and blow away which was good. Because of the high winds, I wasn't able to fold it nicely, so I just crammed into the saddlebag before getting the rest of the bike ready to go.
I went back into the lobby to get something to eat before leaving. I chatted with a nice couple from Tennessee who were originally from this area. They stated the the winds pick up every morning because we are at the end of the canyon. So once I got going the winds dropped quickly. I had to make several stops to remove gear as the temperatures were climbing. By mid-afternoon, it was over 100 in most places. I took a long lunch in Boise, Idaho to cool off.
I passed through a portion of Oregon before crossing the Columbia River into Washington State at sunset. I got to the hotel in Yakima around 9:30 PM. I drove past the hotel to see if there was some place to eat. However, there were several Pot Stores, lots of homeless people and seemed kind of creepy. I parked the bike by the front door of the hotel and while I was putting on the cover I was approached by an individual. She left when I lied to her and told her I was a cop (which was a lie). I ended up ordering a pizza and had it delivered to the room. I covered 694 miles today in roughly 12 hours.
Monday, August 28th, 2017
Today was planned as a later start than normal to miss traffic in the Seattle area. This was also the shortest day of about 300 miles. I left around 10:00 AM and passed through the Cascade Mountains with some construction. I made it to the final corner with only one stop for gas and no breaks.
I reached the final corner checkpoint at 1:45 PM. I had lunch at a Thai restaurant with a nice view of the bay. I was able to cool down and get ready for the remainder of the ride. I got the final gas receipt to make the documentation complete.
I crossed the border into Canada and headed to the Harley-Davidson dealer in Langley, British Columbia. Unfortunately, they are not able to service my motorcycle because of the backlog of work already in the shop. I will need to find another dealer in Vancouver or Seattle.
I checked into the hotel around 6:00 PM after fighting some traffic getting out of the Vancouver area to Abbotsford. This is where the next portion of my trip begins on Friday. I planned to have several days of downtime at this point in the trip to get the bike serviced and have an extra day in the event of problems.
I had a very nice dinner at the restaurant that is connected to the hotel. One of the gentlemen at the bar came over to my table and asked if I had the motorcycle from Nevada. It turns out that he is from Carson City and we are both there for the "Three Flags Classic" run that starts from here on Friday morning. He is travelling with his son who will be entering the US Marine Officer Candidate School after this trip.
Tuesday, August 29th, 2017
It has been the first day to relax in 10 days. I slept in this morning and got the computer powered up and stayed been busy until 10:00 AM. I went and had a quiet breakfast and came back to the room and went back to bed. After a few hours and numerous work related emails, I finally got back to writing this blog. I was able to get the bike scheduled for service in Vancouver tomorrow.
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