Am I taking the ferry or the Ark?

The weatherman said it was going to rain today. He hit the nail on the head!

I left the motel this morning in my rain suit. I knew I was heading into the Seattle traffic grid and that patience was going to be the key. So I turned onto the ramp heading north on THE 5 (as they say in SoCal), shifted into second gear, merged left, then shifted into third gear ... SEVENTY ONE miles later!

Traffic is bad enough in any big city but ya gotta remember - these folks are on COFFEE!!! 

Ordinarily I ride in the middle lane, trying not to ride alongside anyone, lest they suddenly decide to change lanes. I then periodically pull alongside the car just to remind them that I'm there, then drop back again. But riding in the rain on a motorcycle requires enough additional skills that tradition would take a backseat... if I had one. 

A reminder that motorcycles don't have windshield wipers (or cup holders) so the only thing between the sheet of water that collects on the windscreen and the eyeballs of the cyclist is a face shield on the helmet, the same face shield that fogs up when closed tight over the front of a full coverage helmet.

So when in heavy traffic AND a rainstorm the following technique can be employed (I call it the Whack-o-Mole technique)

1) Leave face shield open slightly to keep from fogging up

2) duck down behind the windscreen, allowing it to collect most of the rain and giving you a view like this:

3) Find a large object to fixate on while following it closely down the highway at speeds not to exceed 50 mph faster than what can be done safely, giving you a view like this:

Should any red lights suddenly appear in your field of vision it is probably a brake light. Given the refractory quality of millions of droplets of water it will look approximately like this:

When a pattern such as this suddenly appears in front of you, pop up from your position behind the windscreen like a Whack-o-Mole, quickly ascertaining the impending danger, then drop back down so as not to hit the top of your helmet on the muffler of the semi as you neatly pass under it.

This game can provide miles of fun unless the semi, instead of applying his brakes, decides to simply straddle an obstruction in the middle of his lane. This occurs however only with small obstructions such as a missing man hole cover or an abandoned VW Bug parked on top of a Mini-Cooper.

I'm not saying I got wet today but I couldn't wait to check into the motel and take my shoes off

then jump into the pool and dry off!

I borrowed some old towels from the motel front desk and wiped down my bike (it is surprising how much dirt accumulates in the midst of a rain storm), then decided to walk to dinner so as not to dirty the bike. I went to Google Maps and asked for nearby food. There were two Mexican restaurants, a Vietnamese restaurant, one Thai restaurant, a Cuban restaurant, and a Wendy's. Never being one to shy away from experimenting with my choice of food I wondered if the Frosty at Wendy's was as thick in Bellingham as it was at the higher elevation in Boise, so I chose Wendy's. Apparently someone at Google didn't like my choice. I pushed the "directions" button and it came back with the following reply:

"Walk across the street you lazy bum!" 

I have until 3 p.m. tomorrow to ride one exit south and locate the pier where my ferry awaits.

As I mentioned before, the Wi-Fi service is poor to non-existent on the ferry. I'll publish when possible but it may not be until Sunday when I will be in Skagway, Ak!

Oh latre, mon frer and frerettes. (I'm practicing my French in case I end up in Canada).