The Fickel Finger of Fate

After a very hot dry summer, a taste of winter came on the very day we started our ride.  We got underway in the rain, and it rained off and on (mostly on) for the next two days.  At least we could put our rain gear on while inside and not out on the road somewhere:

Mike came by and we headed out to meet Brian and his friend Albert at noon in Packwood.  On the way we stopped for a break at the snow park parking lot at the base of the Windy Ridge road.  Here I am trying to sync my intercom with Mike and Jenny.  We seemed to frequently have difficulty getting all three to sync together, and later when we tried four it was almost impossible.

We successfully met Brian and Albert in Packwood and then continued over White Pass.  I was concerned about running into snow at the pass, which is 4500 feet and predicted to have a rain/snow mix, but it was OK when we got there.  On the east side of the mountain is was generally dry and the rest of the day was pretty uneventful, although we arrived at our destination of Grand Coulee too late and tired to see the laser light show on the dam.  Brian and Albert camped and had their own adventure hiking up to the top of a rock in the dark.

The next morning was supposed to be the start of a cloudy, but generally dry day, but it was already drizzling when we started out.  Soon it was pouring rain, which continued on when we arrived at the Canadian border:

Brian was concerned that he would have trouble at the border because of previous issues on ski trips or school band trips to Canada, but it turned out the only people who had any problems were Mike, because he has a concealed carry permit, and Jenny, because she has had so many last names plus a finger print record.  She had to go through quite a bit of questioning and we ribbed her a bit about it.  She should have said she was a refugee from the Trump administration and she would have been welcomed immediately.  Here she is before the grilling:

A selfie at the border (not much to do while waiting our turn):

After the border crossing we continued on toward our day's destination of Radium Hot Springs, but first we had to get over a mountain pass.  Going up the pass it got colder and colder until finally this:

And we were still not at the crest of the pass.  Even as we were debating what to do next, the snow got heavier and heavier.  Our plans were screwed.  Nothing to do but turn around and head back to the nearest town to hold a powwow and decide what to do next.  We spent at least an hour in a restaurant leaving puddles on the floor from our gear and debating what next.  Weather radar showed lots of snow in northern BC where we had planned to go.  The only clear area seemed to be eastern Washington, so we decided to head for Colville and look for a place to spend the night.  We spent a total of about four hours in Canada.

At the motel there we found a map of the local area and Mike scoped out some good looking roads that we could ride to get some semblance of  salvaging the trip.  And Good Roads they were.....they met all the criteria except they were sometimes wet, but we had very little rain.  Part of ride involved crossing this ferry over Roosevelt Lake:

 We spent the night in Wenatchee.  Mike stayed with his dad, Brian camped by himself (Albert had split to get home due to a sick kid), and Jen and I did the motel bit.

The next day we were back on the planned route, but two days earlier than expected.  Part of this route involved a "secret passage" that I was anxious to show Jenny.  This was a road washout on a really neat curvy road that closed the road to all traffic except motorcycles.  This is what it looks like:

This was all familiar territory and after dodging some showers, we got home in time to clean up and go out to dinner.

So we were home two days early.  What to do?  GO FOR A RIDE.  Jenny, Mike, Ross and I did a 250 mile ride in perfect weather over one of our standard routes that parallels both east and west sides of interstate 5.  We had lunch at one of my favorite little dives in the little town of Toledo:

My thoughts on the ride?  Pretty disappointed that I didn't get to show Brian and Jenny the Ice Field Parkway, and frustrated that the weather happened to turn bad on this one week when we needed it to be good (next week looks perfect).  But I'm grateful that we had a safe ride and found some new Good Roads.  Looking at the big picture instead of my little world, the rains were a blessing to the Northwest.  The numerous forest fires have been suppressed, and the smoky air is clear again.  The gardens around our house that Carolyn has spent so much time watering and worrying over are now in good shape.