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June 2: Portland to Fall City, WA (~400 miles)
Somewhere around 6:30 or 7:00 am I got a call on my mobile phone from Nancy
form the Sprint list...I was up anyway, so we made plans to meet up. 

We took off up I-5 and turned off at Woodland on 503 to head up Mt. St
Helens. The morning was spent going around the back side of St. Helens. It
was one of the coolest things I've ever seen. One minute lush green forest,
the next, stark desolate destruction. The roads were in good shape and this
being the Monday after Memorial day holiday, they were also empty. Having
Nancy to ride with made a big difference, in terms of enjoyment and time
going quickly. We went all of the way into the park, and then back out
again. With the only close call being a van full of Mennonites that stopped
in the middle of the road, I can only assume to "let us pass". Clearly they
were not used to seeing motorized two-wheeled vehicles on roads. Later, we
tried going down this little side road...can't remember which one, but it
was closed. Bummer. We eventually stopped at Silver Brook for gas. Nancy
planned to head home, so she left, and I sat down for lunch. 

After Nancy took off, the Vannonites pulled up at the same gas station. I
could barely keep the little boys away from my bike...they thought it was
pretty cool. 

So, after lunch, off I went around Rainier. My route was 12 - 123 - 410. I'm
running out of superlative words...suffice to say, you should try going
there some time. 410 lets out at Enumclaw where I saw a Hondakawayamazuki
dealer. Since my throttle hand was feeling a like a lump of lead after these
three days and I knew I still had to get home, I decided to see if they had
a Throttle Rocker. $10 later, and I was on my way. Had a nice talk with some
of the sales guys there. They were stunned that I had 17,000 miles on my
bike. After what I've heard from this list, I don't know what they were so
stunned about...but there you go.