It was the perfect day for a ride.  Only the 5th nice Memorial Day in 20 years here, and the first in full Memorial Day weekend of good weather since….   yes, this is true..  1969!     Can’t squander such opportunity.

5 of us met in Silverdale to nail down the specifics of the ride.

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After a short discussion, and admission by myself that I’d neglected to check the fuel load on the Duc before arriving.. I was elected ‘leader’ to Belfair where we’d fuel up at the Shell Station.

Waiting until 11:30, and seeing no others appear, I lift off the beast and directed the crew out to SR3.  It’s sometimes tough to gauge what level of hooliganism one can expect to have supported, when riding with a group of people, 75% of you’ve never met before.   So, that in mind, and the fact the Police were out *everwhere* I kept it pretty sedate.

Reaching the wonderul town of Gorst, Washington:

View Larger Map From Gorst I directed the group Southwest along the Old Belfair Highway.   Original intent was to follow this bypass around the ‘freeway’ (clogged by weekend RV’s) directly to Belfair.   Along the way I decided a quick detour up the hill and back down was in order, so we made a hard right, just outsite Belfair past the Gas Station / Espresso Stand and General Store near Bear Creek.

Up the hill was looking very good, until.. we encountered some weekend borrior hauling a massive trailer up the hill.   I made short work of it, but a couple of people could not make it around.   Once up the hill, we headed back down onto NE North Shore Road, through the ORV park (the paved part of the park) and into…   TRAFFIC!   Oh not, all that is unholy was before us.  An endless stream of people clogging up our return to the original route.   After what seemed like a loooong time in stop/go traffic, we reached Belfair, only to find that the Shell Gas station had closed down (for good by the look of it).  Not all was lost, since the Safeway there also serves a healthy hearty helping of fuel:

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At this point I turned the reins over to DatCat for the rest of the day. She directed us south along 106 to Highway 101, finally arriving to the headwaters of the ‘Good Stuff’. Which, ironically starts just past the Washington State Patrol Academy and a state prison. Not far past that, there is a little district (it’s not really a town) of Dayton. Those that know the area, know the roads we used. Those that don’t, can come ride with me next time.

NC05600CBR and I stretched the legs on our bikes and really worked out some of the day-to-day stresses of a workaday life. Arriving some time ahead of the remainder of the group, we pulled off the road just a tad northeast of Elma, had a few laughs and waited.

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Once regrouped and refueled, we headed back out towards home. After getting back out of town (I didn’t remember where we went) the lead was again turned over to myself and we headed out. Some miles down the road, I had a major wardrobe malfunction. Sadly nothing as interesting as the famous Super Bowl event, but luckily it did not cost me as much either. A few minutes later the other bikes started to come into view, zipping past me and trying to figure out WTF I was doing! I really don’t want to get into the details of what happened, but I will say it was… less than ideal. After some humor at my expense, I was able to re-assemble my gear, get everything stowed and back on the road.

Perhaps it as a good thing, as it slowed me a down a bit, and not too far up the road I encountered one of the largest deer I’ve every seen. It was massive! And it appeared without warning from the forest on the left edge of the road, narrowly avoiding destruction of an SUV (it might have caused some serious injuries had they collided), and giving me great pause. One of the biggest dangers to those of us whom ride in this area, deer can end a day, or even a life, without warning. After that encounter I ratcheted it back a couple of notches and the rest of the group gathered behind me.

It was a great day of riding, with a fun group of people. Nobody pushed it beyond their abilities, nobody did anything stupid and most important, everyone arrived home unharmed.

Thanks again to the PNWR riders I spent the day with. GOOD TIMES!!!

Europe Trip 1 – Leg 2

Amsterdam to Barcelona Spain   12:15  PM    local time Holland (3:15 AM PDT)

WHEW!  Finally here!   Flight itself became rather bumpy as we headed down near the Mediterranean.

The most notable aspect of the flight was… uh..   wow.. the flight attendants!   All of them blond (KLM is a Dutch airline after-all)  and they were wearing the types of uniforms that the American flight attendants used to wear in the 80′ or early 90’s.  Dresses and high-heels.   Beautiful and fit without exception.     But, I want to backup  bit.

Arriving in Holland was fascinating.   It is the largest airport I’ve every seen.  As in really huge.  It makes O’Hare look like a crop-duster’s FBO.   We landed in terminal A, and then had to make our way out to terminal C.   Gates 64 and 72 in Terminal C.  It was a 15 minute hike.  Unfortunately,  the amount of time I had between flights meant I had to rush.  Having promised to send postcards from Holland.. I did my best to keep that promise.   It was tough.  Found postcards in one shop, had to go to another to get stamps… and then had to find a postal box.  All the while I was addressing them and trying to write a little something on the cards while waiting in line for Customs to clear us into the EU.   This was also the first VISA stamp in my new passport…. (even though I’ve been to Canukistan already using my documents).

OK..  so getting through EU customs was a breeze.  I was more closely questioned by US customers getting ON the plane in the US!   But it made for a sprint to the gate, since I only had 30 minutes before the plane left.   No time to really do much in Holland but.. look at the dikes and massive fleet of KLM aircraft all over the airport.

Once on board the Boeing 737 they closed they door and we were on our way.   I just say..  the starboard engine made the most horrendous sounds on run-up and takeoff I’ve every heard from a jet engine.  I full expected it to come apart.  It sounds like it had a loose connecting rod or two.   Once a cruise and the captain pulled back on the power it really quieted down.   Thank goodness for the noise-canceling headphones.. it really helped me ignore the racket from that one engine.

In stark contrast to the video screens, music and such on the first plane, this one had nothing.  Nothing but seats.   Although it did have more leg room, and they felt a bit wider (yeah American seats!).

Flying final over Barcelona was striking.  The Mediterranean waters, the beaches, numerous cruise ships appear to make Barcelona the port of call.  It was really quite a sight to see.   I look forward to getting to the resort, checking in and hitting the beach for some cocktails .

Right now, for me it’s about 4:00AM local time.  I’m feeling it too.  My boss’s plane is still 2 hours behind me.  Unfortunately he has the hotel info, and my contact here in Spain has not yet called me back.     So.. here I set at the airport…   killing some time. 🙂

The flu reported in the last few days, seems to have spread across not only borders, but oceans.

The flu that has killed approximately 100 people in Mexico, and triggered the Mexican government to start shutting down events in Mexico City, has shown up in the southern United states, New Zeland, parts of Europe and possibly Asia.

Mexican swine flu spreads to Europe

Spain became the first country in Europe to confirm a case of swine flu when a man who returned from a trip to Mexico last week was found to have the virus.

But his condition, like that of 20 cases identified in the United States and six in Canada, was not serious. A New Zealand teacher and around a dozen students who recently returned from Mexico were also being treated as likely mild swine flu cases.

Cases of the flu, which has components of classic avian, human and swine flu viruses but has not actually been seen in pigs, were also suspected in Britain, France, Italy and Israel.

This paragraph from he Reuters article was really interesting. Thermal devices looking for people with fevers! The technology certainly exists, but this is the first time I’ve heard of such use. Interesting!

Many countries have stepped up surveillance at airports and ports, using thermal cameras and sensors to identify people with fever, and the World Health Organization has opened its 24-hour “war room” command center.

With proper treatment, it seems to be easily survivable (the 40 some-odd US cases have not reported any fatalities).

I’m still not sure what to make of this, and with travel to Spain planned for myself in two weeks, I’m wondering how wise it might be to continue with the trip, considering my personal risk to flu (due to medical issues of my own).  I’m considering requesting a prescription of TamaFlu from my doctor as a prophylactic action, if that is even possible.   But the one thing I’m going right now is increased my consumption of Vitamin-C from 1000mg to 4000mg a day.

More news on this will be breaking all day long.  Hopefuly it turns out to be equivelant to the big flue outbreak in 1976.