I awoke early on Castlegar departure morning to look out side and see that torrents of rain had taken over the outer world. The ground had rivers running across it and I knew this was definitely going to be a test of my FirstGear riding suit. I have no rain gear per se but the Kilimanjaro jacket and my pants were both supposed to be rain proof. Well, I guess I’ll be finding that out!

As we loaded the bikes, everyone seemed in fair spirits, regardless of the weather. It was a fun time, and now it was time to head home and everyone was ready to deal with whatever was out there! There was lots of laughter and good cheer, pack patting and hugging. What a wonderful event.

Tyler is really good about gassing up at night, but me, not so much. So off to the Shell station in the pouring rain. I have to mention, that I had forgotten to call my bank and let them know I was out of the country, so my debit and credit card were blocked. Luckily I had some cash so this was not a problem, but it did take a phone call from Canada to sort it out. Note to self: don’t forget to call the bank when touring!
Several miles out of Castlegar, the rain finally began to lighten up. The first miles were horrid, with cloud cover falling low over the horizon and lots and lots of rain, but the silver lining was I was warm and dry in my FirstGear suit with my heated liner cranking away. I swear, I would not be able to ride if it wasn’t for my Gerbing. I am such a weather wimp!

Christina Lake was finally where the rain stopped.

We proceeded across the border effortlessly at the Danville crossing. I was ever so glad to be back home, even though I had a wonderful time seeing friends and flawless country. There is just an unexplained feeling when you once again cross back into your own country, even with those darned clouds!

The river along Hwy 21 in Washington.

A little valley before we switched to Hwy 20 and stopped in Republic for lunch.

Funny thing, we met some of the FJR riders in Repbulic. Of course we did!

The rest of our journey that day was skirting rain storms. It seemed to be the theme of the ride, but I have to admit, some of the cloud formations were truly something.

As pretty as the Hwy 97/2 were the traffic was becoming unbearable. The closer we got to Leavenworth, the destination for the day, the less patient I was becoming. It’s not good, but still pretty.

Tyler discovered the inner “poser” in me.

I saw this on Hwy 97 before we got to Selah. It’s not a great shot by any means, but it cracked me up. My favorite is always antique fruit!

I was thrilled to arrive in Leavenworth and have my brother there awaiting our arrival. Look at all that stuff that came off our bikes!! It’s amazing since I think I take so little!

My brother Bruce and his son Michael with their beautiful new Triumph!

Tyler got this family portrait of us.

Tyler shot some lovely shots of Leavenworth.

Tyler also met her father in Leavenworth. I thought this was a fantastic photo of the two of them!

Our plan was to leave Leavenworth after breakfast and good byes and ride the back side of Mt. St. Helen’s, but like usually the best laid plan can often go awry when motorcycling.

Hwy 12 was a lovely ride only it did have lots of log trucks!

Hwy 12 was well worth the diversion as we were about to find out.

Forest Service Road 25 was closed due to mudslides. Grrrrr, I was again not to visit Mt. St. Helens or riding the road I have heard so much about. *sigh*

Now doesn’t that look like a good little road??

The rest of our ride into Portland was a bit mundane to say the least. After careful map perusing and speaking to the locals, we discovered there was nothing else open between Randel and Portland except the freeway. Oh goodie!!

In Longview we decided this was in order so that we could possibly miss some of the 5 o’clock traffic of the Portland/Vancouver area.

We weren’t spared the PDX traffic even at 6:30. It took a bit of patience for me, since I adore lane splitting in bumper to bumper traffic. I desired throwing caution to the wind, but realized I’d probably have some serious explaining to do, to say nothing of scaring drivers! I arrived at my mom’s home around 7:15 to a cold Martini!