Hoodsport to Aberdeen, WA

Today was, in mileage, the second longest day of the entire tour. We covered the 64 miles from northern Hoodsport, along the Hood Canal, to Aberdeen, tantalizingly close to the Pacific Ocean.

There was no breakfast provided by the hotel, so we planned to eat from our stockpile, then get second breakfast from a grocery store a few miles down the road. We were out of milk, but the kids had Cheerios with raisins anyways (“cereal trail mix”, in my attempt to sell it).

The sky looked pretty clear, but the forecast called for rain in the afternoon. So we continued in rain mode, just to avoid needing to stop to switch.

At second breakfast, there was a great big wall built against rock slides. We decided it was too nice to leave Ruth’s rain fairing on. I left the rain covers on the panniers, since there was little reason to spend the effort taking them off.

Before long, it was time to say goodbye to the Hood Canal, and take foresty roads instead. We climbed up to Shelton and found a trailhead to stop for lunch. We watched skydivers glide down to a nearby airport.

After lunch, we cut the rest of the way through town. The downtown part had some intentionally narrow roads, which kept people from being able to pass us. Some were unhappy. Sorry, write your city council member. We passed a playground which would have made a better lunch spot for the kids. Such is life.

By the time we rejoined US 101 on the far side of Shelton, it had changed from a country road to a freeway. Fortunately, that meant good shoulders to ride in, with enough room for some separation.

We got to the second climb of the day, taking WA 108 towards McCleary. The descent was spread over 15 miles, so really just enough to give you some extra speed.

We rode our way through a series of small towns, fighting a headwind and chip seal surface. Our touring tires keeps the chip seal from being a non starter, but it still gets tiresome.

We rode through Elma (quaint, vibrant downtown, with competing gun stores on either side of the street and a horizon dominated by the cooling towers of an unfinished nuclear power plant), Satsop (many abandoned commercial buildings, with only a single “Junque Shop” in evidence of remaining in business), and Montesano (will this road ever end?).

We cut around Central Park, on a road that turned to concrete for a while. It felt like a giant sidewalk, complete with seams, cracks, and gaps. At least it wasn’t chip seal.

That spit us out on US 12, which took us on the final approach into Aberdeen, either the Lumber Capitol of the World, or the Gateway to Olympia, depending on which sign you choose to believe. It’s definitely an industrial and shipping town. The highway was in freeway mode, and the shoulders got narrow once we crossed into Aberdeen. We all managed to share the space.

As we pulled into the hotel, there was some surprise. There was a Best Western where our Aberdeen Hotel was supposed to be. It turns out the signs are just a trick. They won’t be a Best Western until June 7. They had our reservation, and the crisis was averted.

Today’s ride was quite long. Second breakfast and the hydro visit added to it. By the end, my feet were quite relieved to be out of the shoes. Anne and I shared our fantasies about being done on the way to dinner (at the lovely Burger King across the street).

I had made some joke about a propane tank being for cooking ribs. Then I got excited about ribs, and how good that sounded. Then I forgot it was a fantasy, and thought I was definitely having ribs, and looking forward to it. Then reality came crashing down as I realized there were never any ribs to begin with.

Anne considered the possibility of buying one of the houses available for sale, purely to be done and take a shower.

We both wanted to stop at one of the many burger stands in operation.

Except for a few minutes of drizzles, the rain never materialized. So at least we had that going for us.

Tomorrow, we get to take a number of interesting looking bridges, then follow the Pacific coast south, for what looks to be a shorter day.