Strangers in a strange land

We finally said goodbye to the Ramada Inn, which had become home for us for a bit too long, and loading up all our worldly possessions, we zipped downtown to catch the Black Ball ferry from Victoria, BC to Port Angeles, WA. We arrived early for the 3pm sailing, so had time to wander downtown Victoria one last time.

Clearing US customs turned out to be almost a pleasant experience. The nice young fellow who did ourinitial clearing had recently moved from Grand Marais, MN. Ann swears she even recognized him from one of our times we went down from Thunder Bay … of course Ann swears to a lot of things, so who really knows 😉

We boarded the ferry, saying goodbye to Canada , and hello to the US of A . The ferry ride itself was smooth, stunning, and rather gorgeous … just like my Annneeeeeeee .

By the time we arrived on the other side the sun had set and darkness was rapidly taking hold. Luckily we had no trouble finding our little motel for the night. It was close, cheap and, er, well, did I say cheap 🙂 Anyway, it was fine. We found a great local pub with wonderful beer and good food. Then off to bed.

The next morning we found highway #101, which will be our asphalt “yellow brick road” for many days, weeks and maybe months now. It was great to be back on the bikes, and the windy, twisty road down from Port Angeles to the ocean was a reminder of how much fun it is to drive a motorcycle. The road goes through Olympic National Park, with some amazing forests, including overhanging trees that nearly envelope the entire roadway. As we got closer to the coast the air warmed and the smells of the ocean made itself known. We had to stop to take it in: the open Pacific Ocean!

We decided to end our first day’s Washington journey on a peninsula called Ocean Shores. It’s a complete tourist mecca, but in the off-season is quite wonderful. Rooms are cheap too, so we grabbed a small one, did a quick wander down onto the beach, had a great meal, and went to bed not knowing what tomorrow would bring.