Late Memorial Day

Since Katie and I didn't have a chance to have our own Memorial Day (due to Kath's bachelorette party and my bike ride to Spokane), we sort of had one last night. After coming home from work at 6pm, Sid was at my door and ready for a bike ride. Our two man gang, "With Honor," took off from my house and headed north on I-5. We exited at Marine Dr. in Everett/Marysville area and followed the windy, tree-filled road around the coast of Puget Sound towards Stanwood. We then cut across heading east towards I-5 as we encountered several amazing lakes such as Lake Goodwin.

Every time I feel like I've seen or done it all on a bike, something new and exciting happens. For starters, the drive through Everett's lumber mill was awesome as we could smell the wood for several miles. Then it was immediately followed by the smell of fresh grass and trees. We also encountered a sport biker heading towards us. Typically the biker "code" is to wave when you see another biker. You normally just give a straight arm, peace sign or something to that affect. This guy sits up tall and straight, gives us the "hang loose" sign, and wiggles it around for a while. Very strange.

The best part is being able to chat on our communication device. So Sid and I were talking the whole time. Good times.

But Memorial Day really started when we got back to my place. Katie was home. She had cleaned the whole downstairs area and prepared burgers for us. I fired up the grill and BBQ'd the meat. We had some amazing burgers last night along with some corn on the cob and baked beans. Katie stole a page out of Micah's playbook. During my Spokane ride, Micah had made burgers with feta cheese embedded in it. Katie used goat cheese in it which was really good. We followed up with some drinks and had a nice, cozy evening.

Spokane Bike Ride 2009

I had a blast over Memorial Day weekend as Katie went with her girls to celebrate Kathryn's bachelorette party. I rode my sport bike across Washington state to a little city outside of Spokane called Medical Lake where Micah, Erika, and Tayton Cruger reside. I got to Medical Lake in a little less than 4 hours driving time (not counting the rest stops), which Google tells me is 4 hours and 30 minutes, so I made good time. I got to Micah's house at the same time he did. We then hopped in his car, got some groceries (where he knew like 3 people...of course), and headed back to the house. We made cheeseburgers, fries, and beans. We then decided to go to his new gym to go to the sauna. On our way there we stopped for gas where he knew somebody there...of course. Then we drove for about 10 minutes to his gym only to discover that it was closed for the night. :( Then we drove back to the grocery store to rent a movie (where he saw another person he knew...of course). We rented "Traitor" starring Don Cheadle and Guy Pearce. It was a great movie. Micah had seen it before and he requested we watch it. Then we went to bed.

We got up the next morning at 8:30am. We rode our bikes to the gas station and met up with Kenny, his friend from church. Kenny is about 50, and he rides a huge bike (Honda VTX 1800)! Kenny led us through the back streets, countryside, and open areas for much of the trip (heading west). We ultimately ended up in Grand Coulee. We then rode down from Grand Coulee Dam next to the lake the entire time down to Coulee City. We drove a little more (to Ephrata) where we eventually split ways (Micah and Kenny headed east on I-90, and I headed west by myself).

Around Ellensburg, I encountered one of the worst traffic scenes ever. We were literally stopped and not moving for 20 minutes. Then we'd creep forward about 30 feet and stop again for 20 minutes. This continued for almost 2 hours!! It was ridiculous. Luckily I encountered a fellow sport bike rider, and we chatted for a bit in traffic, and we got off at Cle Elum, stretched, talked some more, and called up Micah to find out how bad the traffic will continue to get. Micah told me that it should be bad for only another 10 miles. So we (the other biker and I) decided to stay on I-90. Sure enough, the traffic finally cleared up, and I booked it home by 8pm. Almost 12 hours on my bike. Ugh.

The best part by far was riding with Micah. I had so much fun. I am still smiling from it. It's so awesome to ride. The ride in the countryside (wheat fields, crops, etc...) was sensational. Great, windy/curvy turns. We saw a calf playing with mama cow in the field. It was like bambi, cow-style. We saw a crop dusting plane flying right next to us. We saw beautiful lakes and rivers with birds flying next to us. Grand Coulee itself was quite the spectacle. We ate some amazing burgers at a restaurant. We took a leak on the side of the road...LOL! We chatted a lot during our breaks. It was probably the best ride I've ever had.

Riding alone wasn't too shabby either. Driving through the mountains was by far the best. There is still quite a bit of snow on the mountains (but the roads are fine). Seeing all the lakes was amazing. Moses Lake was PACKED and looked phenomenal. Readers won't like this, but at one point there was a long straightaway (no cars, no cops, just open), so I decided to open up the throttle. I went my fastest ever on my bike: 132mph! It was an awesome feeling that I know Pastor Alec would be happy to hear since he's a fellow speedster. It was crazy though, because I felt in my spirit to slow down immediately when I hit 132mph, so I slowed down to 77mph (which felt like jogging by that point), and as soon as I did, there was a cop hiding on the side of the road gunning people. The speed limit was 70mph, so the cop didn't chase me down. So praise God for that.

There were a few close calls while riding. When the three of us were riding (Kenny in the lead, Micah in the middle, and me trailing), some jerk was tailing me. He decided to pass me, but then realized he didn't have time to pass all three of us, so he cut Micah off, and then he started to tail Kenny. Eventually he passed Kenny. When the 3 of us stopped, we were not happy about that. On my solo ride, a car nearly side-swiped me, but I was well aware of my surroundings and totally accelerated out of the way. Also, there was a 7 mile stretch on I-90 where there was grooved pavement (i.e. the worst road scenario for a biker). I hit a few potholes and nearly lost control a few times. Scary! Other than that, it was a fairly safe ride. Sadly, we only took like 3 pictures the whole time. None of us were really camera hungry; we just wanted to soak it up and enjoy. Easily one of my favorite rides. It definitely competes with my Highway 20 ride which up until this weekend I thought could never be surpassed. Thank you for those who prayed for me. I felt confident and safe the whole time.

Grease

Last night Katie and I had a blast as her Uncle Fred and Aunt Margaret gave us their tickets to "Grease" at the 5th Avenue Theatre in Seattle. They had four tickets available, but we only used three as Lisa tagged along.

The musical was good, but it wasn't the best I've seen. I still put "The Lion King" at the top of this list, but I'm anxiously awaiting to see "Wicked" come September.

It was great to see Taylor Hicks, winner of American Idol a few years ago, on stage. He played the role of Teen Angel. As soon as he appeared on stage, the audience erupted in a cheer. He sang his song and left. At the end of the show, he sang his new solo for everyone (which was kind of weird I must say).

The night was super fun. Lisa was starving since she didn't have time to eat dinner as she went straight from work to home to our car to the theater. So at intermission, the three of us went to the President's Club which was a part of Fred/Margaret's seasonal ticket package. We shared a drink and some hummus. After the play, we booked it to Jack-in-the-Box for some yummy milkshakes and a chicken burger for Lisa. We laughed a lot. Good times!!