Triumph Saturday in La Conner, WA

I got an early start, left home before 8am and headed South on Hwy 99. It took around 40 minutes and I evenutally arrived at the US Border crossing at Blaine and waited patiently in the line-up


(Peach Arch border crossing: Blaine, WA)

The Nexus line was much longer than usual. I have never seen it so busy.



Since the line was not moving very fast, I wanted to conserve my fuel and turned the engine off. The first part of the lineup was down hill and I was able to coast my way down but when it levelled off I had to push the bike. It's not easy to push a machine weighing over 550 lbs, but more like 600 lbs loaded up.



The wait seemed to take longer than it seemed but gave me some time to take a few pictures. After I made my way through, I continued on I-5 south to Fairhaven in Bellingham and headed to the Alaska Marine Highway ferry terminus to have a short coffee break at Sorellos with some local scooterists from the SOB's: Scooters Of Bellingham. Today they were having one of their Saturday morning meetings. We talked and gabbed for nearly an hour before I continued on my way south on the famed Chuckanut Drive down to Bow Hill Road


(Samish River, near Edison, WA)

and entered Edison


(Edison, WA)


(Samish River, south view)

Edison is a very small community with a saloon, a couple of eateries and is about 3 blocks long. It is a place which has escaped development


(Longhorn Saloon, Edison, WA)

Today I have the place all to myself. Tomorrow is the mini-Sturgis Bike rally in Anacortes. There are a lot of bikes cruising the backroads being mainly of the cruiser variety. Travelling solo is a new experience for me. While I miss having a riding companion for safety and security it is very nice to be able to stop where you want to take pictures and have no planned agenda except today I had to be in La Conner by 11:30 am

Today I was going to finally meet Lance, The View from over the Handlebars (<-- click link)


(Lance on his Triumph America, La Conner, WA)

Lucky I was a few minutes early and in front of our meeting spot. I noticed this loud cruiser heading my way and motioned for Lance to turn around and take this parking spot. This was my first glimpse of him.


(Lance, nice to meet you)

Our plan today was to meet in La Conner for lunch at a place overlooking the water. We found a table outside in the warm sunshine and watched the boats go by while we ate, conversed and got to know each other

We have nearly the same culinary tastes and here we are with two identical bowls of seafood gumbo


(Seafood Gumbo, it was very yummy)

The soup was very good, we should have ordered a bowl each instead of two "cups"


(Oyster Burger --> Lance)


(Salmon Burger --> Bob)

We decided to share a dessert to bond our friendship


(Decadent Chocolate cake with whipping cream)

After lunch we decided to take a few photos of our bikes


(Lance, in action)

We also spotted a conch type bicycle rickshaw which would be perfect for a local tourguide but I don't think you would be able to make a livelihood in this business if you give your rides away for free


(Bicycle Rickshaw available for FREE rides)

We took a few group shots by the water


(Lance is on the left)


(This time Lance is on the right, Rainbow Bridge is in the background)

Soon we had to be on our way. We took a few backroads northward and ended up at Edison again for a photo opp by this Hack


(Edison, WA)

We wanted to get a couple of pictures of our bikes beside each other but Lance parked his Triumph America a little too far away, but they are, more or less beside each other


(Triumph America beside Suzuki V-strom)

I guided Lance to the nearest entrance to the I-5 so he could make tracks for home in North Bend, WA.


(Lance waving farewell)

Lance, it was very nice to finally meet you and have a safe ride home .