day sixteen: to DP & Mere's we go

Firstly, allow us to apologize for keeping yall hanging for two days—we’ve been unsuccessfully searching for wireless connections everywhere.  But we believe we’ve had a breakthrough.

 

Mike and I started out the day in Seaside, OR and ended it in Bremerton, WA.  That’s a quick summary of the day but the story is a little more involved than that.  We woke to a cool morning with fog in Oregon, gassed up and headed north once again.  We crossed the Columbia River at Astoria.  If you talk to someone from Washington state they’ll almost always describe the beauty of the area just before a “but” or “if only” as in, if only it didn’t rain so much.  So it was only fitting that as we crossed the final bridge into Washington, it began to rain.  Mike said that it was neat to see fog and rain closing your view of what was in front with nothing but the sea on either side of the bridge- water above, below and all around.  The rain was mainly misting but the only difference in a misting rain and a driving rain is speed.  Since we supplied the speed, it certainly seemed to be one of the driving variety.  Not that it mattered, when machines of steel are ridden by men of iron, rains of any type are immaterial.  (I hope you’re wearing your boots!)  Just before South Bend, one of Washington’s finest, in the form of the highway patrol, decided to escort us for a few miles to ensure strict adherence to the 55 mph speed limit.  This is something I’ve noticed in Washington- drivers have been well trained that if the limit is 55, you drive 53-55.  Coming from South Carolina where 55 generally means that 55-64 is OK, this was a hard adjustment.  Nonetheless, we thank the Washington highway patrol for their concern and practical demonstration of it.  Their effort on our behalf had the effect of slowing both us and everyone else down so we could have some very close time together and more fully appreciate the scenery.  We arrived at Bremerton to check in with Mere and DP and subsequently, the Navy.  We had almost completed the process when the Navy attendant asked for our motorcycle safety cards.  We had already provided SC driver’s licenses, proof of insurance and registration information.  Michael suggested his second grade picture, which he always keeps handy for just such an occasion but they were not amused.  The upshot of this was that Mere and DP had to call friends, the Stimmels, to allow us to park the bikes at their house until we could take them to have them serviced.  So, for the next two to three days Mike and are resting and planning and spending time with Mere, DP, Charlie (their Lab) and starting on Thursday, Megan, Mike’s girl.  We’ll be sending our reports from a short-term home base before pushing on Saturday.  Until next time . . .