Burnaby BC to Moscow Idaho

[BC-Bruce]

11th and 12th July 2008
Weather: Hot, damn hot. (Mostly)
Location: Burnaby BC to Moscow Idaho and back
Mileage: 1480 kms

It's a bugs life. Sorta. This is the result of a trip I took on the weekend to
Moscow, Idaho.



This is the route I took there and back, the route there was much more fun and motorcycle friendly than the route back. Of special note is hwy 9 South and hwy 20 East - both of which I'd do again in a hearthbeat. (I actually have gone back and done Hwy 9 to Woodinville - great little ride!)



This is the close up view of the "best" part of the route, where most of my photos were taken.
A: Burnaby - start point
B: Lynden Wa - Breakfast!
C: Marblemount - where I ran into my insurance agent.
D: Newhalem - where the steam engine was.
E: Winthrop - the neat little western town.
F: Grand Coulee



I took the Sumas border crossing which was quite backed up, although probably not as bad as the more major ones, although not with a Nexus card. (There is no Nexus lane at Sumas.)

I stopped for breakfast at Lynden, Wa which is a lovely little town. This is the restaraunt I had breakfast in.



And this is the interior of the town mall - those bridges are over a "canal" stocked with fish.



So many of the places I went past on Hwy 9 South (and in the area around Lynden) are just lovely little stereotypical farms an houses with lovely manicured lawns, flowers, and flags... I could have spend a couple of weeks just taking photos. But, I had miles to cover so I didn't take any. Although, I will return!

This next photo is taken at Newhalem - the town occupied by mostly workers of the Skagit Power co - operators of the Ross Dam, supplying power to Seattle. This is Engine #6 - which ran the rail line from 1919 to 1954.

(A new iron horse next to an old one!)



The road through the North Cascades park.



Winthrop sure seems to attract a lot of motorcycles through there.



Did I mention that Winthrop sure seems to attract a lot of motorcycles through there?



This is part of the main street of Winthrop.



The ice cream shop on the corner...



And the stools for the kids!



Grand Coulee Dam.



The plains of Eastern Washington... Believe me, the mountain roads were much more fun!



My one picture of Moscow - the University's water tower, taken from the Wal-Mart parking lot!



If you are interested, I averaged about 45 MPG.

Just some random comments about the trip.

I don't handle heat all that well, and got hot in Eastern Washington. Talk about extremes, after I left Spokane it got bloody cold as the sun started to go down.

It's a good thing I brought my windproof fleece and winter gloves. (I was thinking I was being foolish, but I try to live by the "It's better to have it and not need it, than to need it and not have it" rule.)

After doing what I had to do in Mocow, I decided to head for home the "short" (8 hour) route. (It turned out to be quicker, but almost as painful, especially when I hit Seattle. I was supposed to take the "short cut" through Bellevue, but they had closed the 520 bridge, so me and everyone else had to go through the stop-and-go nightmare that is I5 through Seattle...)

I wasn't quite prepared for the wasteland that the West 26 highway turned out to be. I should have topped up the tank when I left Moscow, but I was only down a bar on the gas gauge and thought there would be plenty of places to stop and get gas on the way. To keep it short, I was blinking on reserve when I finally saw a gas station. You do not take that road on a bike with a small tank!

All in all, it was a bit of an adventure, but I learned a bit and reinforced other stuff I already knew. It was great weather for a ride (heat and all) and it was good to get out for a little bit of a serious ride.

The Vstrom handled great, and took the heat and highway driving for hours on end without incident. This is really a great bike!

[Papa-Ken]

Nice post Bruce. Love your neck of the woods and all of BC. Use to own 60 acres around Sheridan Lake out of 100 Mile House. Still have some family up that direction...........Ken

[Ally House]

Nice post and pics. I did like the old/new iron horse pic. You might want to look into a cooling vest for those long desert rides; I've heard good things about them from other, non-heat tolerant folks.

[BC-Bruce]

Originally Posted by Ally House

You might want to look into a cooling vest for those long desert rides; I've heard good things about them from other, non-heat tolerant folks.

Thanks for the tip - it'd sure come in handy. Normally, here, it's not something you generally think of!

- Bruce.

[wa.tarider]

Nice report Bruce. The part getting to Moscow was a good choice. I would have made another route going back though. As you found out ,I-5 is bad most of the time any more. We just got back form the Sound Rider Rally in the Columbia River Gorge (GREAT places to ride) and traffic was stop and go for miles for no reason I could see. I'm going back and have more fun in the Gorge soon, I hope.
Norm