To Noah Bay and much more…. WA

Sunday, July 29th, 2007

Sometimes “lots” happens in a day… yesterday was one of those, and I better keep it in chronological order as I know that my undisciplined mind sometimes jumps from here to there savoring the memories. I do need to post this picture however… will of course tell you about it later, it made my day… my Journey, for more reasons than one.

We had an early start to meet the Adventure Riders taking off for a 3 to 4 riding extravaganza… an off road loop around the Peninsula. Too late for me to realize that we could have gone also as the five legs had many options, not all single tracks where I would not fit in! Next year!

A real nice and friendly group of riders with a great turn out, will probably be even more of them next year with more smaller groups riding on their own. Everyone was well packed for their journey…

Some were wrapped…

…never leave behind the comforts!

…and nice to be seen, wonder what is all in there? Can’t wait to read their ride report on the Forum. One rider has already offered to store my stuff for the days out, I know he will come forward as… of course… I forgot his name! We said our good byes, they went one way and we went the other toward Port Angeles. Our destination today was Neah Bay. The outmost Northwestern point in the USA. I first wanted to see the sand sculptures being worked on. The long days have been a welcome concept lately. How in the world are we going to survive winter with darkness early evenings?

The crowd was out of course on this sunny day, not so bad… we did find parking fairly easy and camera in hand we went out for the inspection. Spirit does real well with the free end of his leash in my pocket. He knows so well about the picture taking thing and all I have to say is “sit”… and he will till I am done.

Has a tendency to pull a bit when he sees other dogs as he loves to play, but then again, the word “heal” works well with him… he is never happy about it, but…

What do you think?… These are some sculptures! The real thing with many hours of patience and dedication. The theme was “The Circus”… in case you are wondering and everyone was allowed to vote. Which one?

One of my favorite… “Circus de Soleil” style.

They are all so incredible… This one was just an exhibit by a father and daughter team. I think the way it works is that last year’s winner will just have an exhibition… no pressure and no stress… well deserved…

They will be up till August 10th, unless a of a big storm which is not likely these days. A quick look at, for some reason or another, a display of exotic Porsches… she did not seem to interested!… future movie Star! Time to move on, west… still had a couple hundred miles or more to cover. Who’s counting?

A side note… I still don’t understand why “mileage” is important here in the USA?… I know I was caught up in it at one time… Iron Butt… all that stuff… but when one day a friend asked me “if no one knew about it, would you still do it…”, it truly made me think… of course not!!! Another friend one day told me as he himself has done a lot of long distance riding “come on… it is the easiest thing going… you just sit and ride!”. How true… A while back I gave a donation to someone trying to close a 100,000 mile riding year… ok… they had used their limit on their credit cards… and was asking for contributions! Talking about living above your means… I did… as a favor to friends we had in common! The goal again… “mileage”, versus the quality of the ride, the scenery, the feel, the experience… but enough on that!

This is when we meet Zak and Duchesse… We were taking off and suddenly I see someone run down the street camera in hand… relieved that he was not after us, trust me that it happens often, I SAW… what you see! And I did worse than what most people have been doing to us… I chased him and asked him to pull over!!!  Zak, 30, does not like his picture taken and I respected that wish. They have been on the road for about 3 years now, mainly in the USA and a bit of South America… As us, mainly camping on BLM and National Forest lands… How do you like that set up?… It has worked for three years!

BMW GS 650, with Ohlin shock in the rear, KTM 950 fork in the front, Jesse bags… the canoe, the bicycle. Oh! Yes, a GPS but no cell phone and he only has been on the Internet a couple times these past years. They were on their way to Vancouver Island for… as long as it took! He reminded me of the good old times which I have talked about a while back, simplicity, minimalist, the basics… And of course the question is… why don’t I myself go back to it? That is a Blog and more in itself trying to answer the question…

We parted, hoping to see each other down the road sometime… might be years… who knows. That is the way it used to be… Next time, the great road to Neah Bay, a true gem of a road with more curves than one might want to think about with a soft motivating scenery that seemed belonging to another planet at times.

Till next time, you all be well…

Ara & Spirit

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Ara Gureghian  853 Vanderbilt Beach Rd #245   Naples Fl 34108

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One Response to “To Noah Bay and much more…. WA”

  1. Norm Says:

    Ara and Spirit
    Glad you made it to Neah Bay. I spent many summers there whild my Dad fished. Some great roads along the Straits.
    We had a fine ride around the loop with a bunch of good people.
    Have a safe journey and hope to meet you again next summer. Like I said at the resturant, you are welcome here.
    Norm Rickey
    Gig Harbor,Wa

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