Going Back For Seconds (and Thirds)

I've been in Seattle 8 years and, despite it's status as one of the nicest drives around, last weekend was the first time I'd been to the West side of Mt St Helens.  As luck would have it the second time came 6 days later.  A friend was part of a BMW motorcycle event and he wanted to get out and do some more riding.  He convinced me to meet him in Centralia on Friday.

I often say "Even a lab-rat learns from experience." and I like to think I'm a step or two ahead of a lab-rat.  Since I hadn't completely recovered from long ride the previous Saturday, and getting to Centralia is about as boring as you can imagine, I decided to take the trailer.  (Sure, go ahead, tell me I'm a poseur, a fraud, a typical Ducati owner.  I'd rebut your statements but first I have to finish my venti, no-whip, one-pump, soy, iced, chai latte.)

Friday afternoon Wil and I decided to go up 504.  The weather forecast was not good but the rain had been holding off so far and the weather was supposed to be improving.

Turns out it didn't.  The ride up was okay. There was occasional drizzle but nothing to worry about. The ride down was cloudy. "Cloudy" meaning "in a cloud." The rain and visibility ranged from bad to worse. In some cases I had to use the taillights of the car in front of me to know where the road was. By the time we reached the bottom again I was soaked.

We got back to the hotel, cleaned up, and went for dinner.

In the morning we took a round-about way to a little roadside diner in Oakville.  From there my friend headed home and I went back to the hotel.  After packing up and checking out I headed off on another ride.

For the third time in 6 days I was at the Johnson Observatory so I figured I should pay the fee, see the exhibits, and try to learn something besides "BMW drivers think 'Slow vehicle lane' doesn't apply to them."  The exhibits are about what you'd expect.  There were a couple of short films about the 1980 eruption (spoiler alert: the mountain explodes at the end.)

By 4pm I was back at the hotel and more than ready to call it a day.  I loaded up the trailer and headed home.  The executive summary:

• 415 miles on the bike
• 200 miles in the car
• 2 educational films about Mt St Helens
• 1 unnecessary rainstorm

Friday:

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Saturday:

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