The Washington State BMW Riders – MOA #104 – held their annual rally in Menlo, WA this year on the weekend following the MOA International Rally in Redmond, OR.
Continuing our thirst for adventure, fellow BMW NorCal club member Gene Austin and I attended both. We left Redmond on Sunday, and spent four days riding through the Cascade Range and visiting relatives in Seattle before heading for Menlo near the southwest coast of Washington.
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| Mt. St. Helens WA |
Our first destination was Mount St. Helens. We rode in from the east, and were pleased to find we could go all the way to the end of the road high above Spirit Lake. The lookout points here offer a superb view of the missing north face of the mountain, now spread halfway across the state since the eruption in 1980. It was surprising to see many logs still floating and drifting around the lake.
We left Mount St. Helens on the narrow single lane forest service road #26 that was “not recommended for cars”. It was interesting to see the unstable nature of the ground in this entire area. The blacktop on these roads is rife with large cracks, sinking areas and upheavals. We camped that night just outside Mount Rainier National Park, our next destination.
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| Cayuse Pass, Mt. Rainier NP |
We entered the park at the Stevens Canyon entrance and had breakfast at the refurbished Paradise Inn lodge. After that, we stopped at just about every waterfall and reflection lake to take pictures.
Leaving the park with Seattle as our next destination, we had no intention of setting tire to any freeway or interstate. So we headed for the coast. We wound up in Menlo, and checked out the tiny fairgrounds that would be our camping home in a few days. It wasn’t much to look at, but the fairgrounds would gain an entirely different character when filled with people, tents and motorcycles.
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| OR 224 along the Clackamas River |
We camped that night at Lake Sylvia state park near the town of Montesano, WA. The park had a decent shower, and the town had a decent Italian restaurant. The next day we cruised around the South Sound through Shelton, Gig Harbor and across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge; then headed up to Lake Sammamish to Gene’s brother-in-law’s house. After meeting Larry, I headed across the 520 bridge to my daughter’s new residence in Seattle – about a half mile from the Seattle BMW motorcycle store. Nice location, honey!
I did my laundry, and my daughter and son-in-law took me to a local Brew Pub – Hale’s Ales of Seattle. I was thirsty.
Two days visiting and it was time to head back to Menlo. Gene wanted to stop at a waterfront café he had seen on “Diners, Dives and Drive-ins” on the food channel. So, we had breakfast at “Voula’s Offshore Café” http://voulasoffshore.com/ , and met the friendly, wisecracking proprietress, Voula. The food was excellent and the price was low - my kind of place.
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| Crossing on the Seattle - Bremerton ferry |
The next objective was to take the ferry to Bremerton. Voula’s is located near the University Bridge, and our goal was to get to the ferry docks without using I-5. So with shaky directions and not much time, we left Voula’s and started hunting for “old US 99”. The old route took us right along the waterfront and ferry docks. I saw the ferry pier, but fortunately Gene saw the left hand exit, and we pulled up to the ticket booth with 30 minutes to spare. $6.75 round trip; motorcycles are first on and first off. Hey, a rider could do this all day and get a pretty good tour of Puget Sound!
Bremerton was interesting because of the huge navy shipyard and old mothballed aircraft carriers sitting in the bay. Back in Menlo, we smugly thought we knew right where the entrance to the fairgrounds was. OOPS, they changed it. Oh well, we got a nice tour of the town of Menlo. But now we were thirsty again, and just outside the “new” entrance to the fairgrounds was the Menlo store. It was time to check out their beverage supply.
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| Menlo WA rally site |
This rally was small, but unique. The people were very friendly, and it wasn’t difficult to make new acquaintances, especially sitting around the big campfire every night. Many of the attendees were also at Redmond. There was Phyllis, who rode an F-650 alone from Atlanta GA, and Jim, who rode an R100GS from Anchorage AK, and “Turk” from Borrego Springs CA, the “Keeper of the Flame”. One local fellow from Tacoma, a German named Hans, kept everyone around the campfire amused with his “war stories” of being a cook in the Special Forces in Viet Nam! So, what was your motto Hans, “Death from Within”??
South Sound BMW from Tacoma gave demo rides, and a band played on Saturday night, but the absolute best part of this rally was the food. Daily breakfast and lunch was served by the local Elks, and was excellent. Two dinners were included in pre-reg. Friday it was barbecued beef. Saturday it was the piece de resistance – charcoal grilled salmon steaks and corn on the cob, washed down with Alaskan Amber Ale.
Then there were the homemade pies – available at every meal. One slice comprised a fifth of a pie. People were gorging themselves on pies - at breakfast!! You just don’t get this kind of great food at national rallies.
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| Lake Quinault WA near Olympic NP |
Day ride possibilities were numerous. Friday we rode up the coast to Lake Quinault and took a short hike through a rain forest. Saturday we rode up the Long Beach peninsula to Oysterville. I never knew there were so many oyster beds on the Washington coast. Oyster bars are everywhere.
The return trip home took us over the Astoria Bridge near the mouth of the Columbia River. This area was the terminus of the Lewis & Clark expedition, and historical points of interest are everywhere. We stopped at the Lewis & Clark National Historic Park, and walked through the replica of Fort Clatsop.
Further down the coast was the town of Tillamook, famous for cheese, and the old dirigible hangar that was part of the coastal defenses during WWII. The hangar is now an aircraft museum.
After camping overnight near Mt. Hebo, we headed inland to the delightful town of McMinnville for breakfast. A local pedestrian’s advice resulted in our being seated at the café in McMenamins Hotel Oregon, www.mcmenamins.com/441-hotel-oregon-home. This is another place I’m coming back to. Very cool.
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| Under the wing of the "Spruce Goose" |
Out near the airport sat the reason we came this way. Howard Hughes’ “Spruce Goose” is now located here in a huge new hangar/museum. We spent all day here, and I was in awe. This museum alone could be the subject of another article.
After a stretch on “Old US 99” in Oregon, we rode southeast through the Cascades to Bend and US 97. A side trip through Crater Lake N.P. brought us to our final campsite in the shadow of Mount Shasta along CA 89.
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| Crater Lake NP Oregon |
Two weeks and a day on the road; two rallies; 3200+ miles; no hotels; no interstates and no rain.
I’m getting thirsty just thinking about it.
Tom “Tuco” Harris
For more information about the BMW Club of Northern California, visit: http://www.bmwnorcal.org/
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