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Posts Tagged ‘Anacortes’

Daily life keeps us busy. Sometimes an escape is needed in order to just hit the biological reset button. A quick escape can be all that it takes to slow life back down and begin to enjoy the moment again. Recently, Monica and I left the daily grind behind with a trip to smell the roses. Actually they were tulips.

Mr. Happy out for a Sunday ride along the Skagit Valley Tulip Fields

Every spring the Skagit Valley bursts into bright hues of yellow, red and many mixtures of colors for the Skagit Valley Tulip Festival.

Celebrating 17 years, the event showcases local farmers growing hundreds of acres of tulips, irises and daffodils. These crops bring a beauty to open fields that few others can match.

The Skagit Valley Tulip Festival is also a mapping and commuting exercise that can get bogged down by the thousands of people clogging the narrow rural roads along the fields. A narrow-track vehicle such as a scooter or motorcycle can be a valuable means of transportation to experience the amazing blossoms of vibrant color.

Cars and trucks get stuck behind the throngs of other caged people out looking at the flowers. Motorcycles allow quick in and out access to each field. Sometimes filtering through the stop and go traffic is required to get past the folks dangling cameras out of gas-guzzling SUVs to snap photographs.

Skagit Valley tulip field in bloom. Many colors open the acres of farmland to the mountains in the background.

Monica and I pulled on our Aerostich Roadcrafter suits and rode two-up on our Suzuki V-Strom 650 out of our garage and down the street to stroll among the flowers at the Tulip Festival.

We stop for breakfast at the Farmhouse Restaurant just west of Mt. Vernon, Washington on State Route 20. This is a great spot to meet up with other riders to start the day. Today, however, we are on a solo mission.

After eating a hearty breakfast we straddle the bike and within a mile are taking in an entire field exploding in the deep red hue of freshly blossomed tulips. Monica fills the lens of her Canon Digital SLR camera with close-ups of petals and pistils and zooms out for wide shots of the 40-acre field.

There are entirely too many fields to see. So we hop on and continue to the next field that catches our eyes. We stop at fields along narrow paved roads with names such as Best, McLean, Calhoun and more. The festival provides a map showing the best places to visit. The large tulip companies, Tulip Town and Roozengaarde have nice displays if you’re willing to shell out some clams to see them. I wasn’t about to pay money to see flower displays when I can see them strewn out across entire fields. We motor right past the Tulip Town and Roozengaarde.

Clean example of a mid-1960's Velocette parked in Anacortes, Washington.

After taking ample photos of the blooming tulips we decide to extend the ride and head to Anacortes for a stroll. While walking along downtown Anacortes we spot a couple of nice old British motorcycles. The one that really caught my attention was the 1965 (era) Velocette. It was truly a nice example from the family-owned firm out of Birmingham, England. As many small motorcycle manufacturers have done, they went defunct in 1971 after many racing successes. Just ten years before closing down the factory, Velocette made history by being the first motorcycle to cover more than 2,400 miles in 24 hours. That’s right, 24 hours straight at the ton mark (100 mph).

Most of Anacortes’ downtown stores were closed since it was a Sunday. We strolled along the closed store fronts for more than an hour. Then headed back home for an early dinner.

This can be a calm day ride if you can manage the traffic. Being among the blooming tulip fields throughout the Skagit Valley made for a nice day with my #1 pillion.  There are many events during the festival including a street fair, battle of the bands, master gardener talks and more. The festival is now over, but it is certainly worth marking on the calendar for March or April each year. 

Keep my motor runnin’. Every dollar is appreciated.

V-Strom riders parked in front of Old Strokers Cafe in Everett

Scenic roads are fun to take in by on your own, but they are also fun in a group from time to time. I ventured out on a group ride with a few fellow Suzuki V-Strom riders this past weekend. The ride was organized through Stromtroopers.com. In all, 10 riders converged upon Old Strokers Benchrace Café to start the ride at 10 a.m.

After brief greetings were exchanged and everyone was satisfied with their salivating over others’ motorcycle customizations. It was “stands up” time. We fired up our beasts and headed north on Interstate 5 to exit 199 where we headed through the Tulalip Indian Reservation on Marine Drive NE.

The road winds you along the Puget Sound. The heavily forested area has homes scattered throughout and from time to time allows brief views of the Sound. It is a very scenic route. In fact, you have to be careful of the car drivers who are too busy enjoying the scenery to pay attention to the road. We didn’t have any issues this time, but I’ve traveled along this route before and folks taking in the scenery cross yellow lines, white lines and focusing on the road is secondary to the views.

Lined up at Kayak Point park in northern Snohomish County along the Puget Sound

Our first stop was at Kayak Point County Park. We took in waterfront views and snapped a few photos. It is funny how all of these people come together with a common interest in bikes and yet we don’t know each other’s names. We’re forced to go by our Web forum screen names in order for previous conversations to be remembered.

Back up the steep and heavily treed park road to Marine Drive where we continue heading north through Stanwood on our way to La Conner. The road changes names as you cross the county line from Snohomish County to Skagit County. Stick to State Route 530 and you’ll follow the same path as we did. Trust me, you’ll be glad that you took this scenic route instead of super-slab I-5.

I grew up on a farm and enjoy seeing old barns, tractors and animals in the fields. This route allows you to take in the numerous smells of the different animals. As I’m enjoying all the different odors in my olfactory neurons are suddenly overcome with the sweet sugary smell of silage. Open-air cars would likely give you some of the same experiences, but this is why I ride a motorcycle. It allows you to take in information about your surroundings from all of your senses. It enhances the experience of that stretch of road. Smell is the sense most closely tied to memory. Perhaps that is why I ride through the infinite odors along the route and can’t help but think of my childhood pushing cattle from field to field and taking our horses on 20-mile runs to “let them breath” a bit.

The area near Stanwood north to La Conner is some of the most beautiful farmland I’ve come across. The farmer’s fields are planted with various crops including many varieties of flowers. The rolling hills of the fields are flanked by mountains to the east and open up to the Puget Sound to the West including the San Juan Islands. It is truly spectacular scenery. A painter would be hard pressed to do the imagery justice.

The mind drifts, but I must rein it in and concentrate on maneuvering the road at hand.

We turn west from SR 530 onto Fir Island Road, which changes its name to Best Road as it sweeps from westbound to northbound. This is prime Tulip and Iris country. Driving these back roads in late April and early May provides views of thousands of acres of flowers.

We hang a left and head into La Conner.

La Conner is a humble town of less than 1,000 people located 55 miles north of Seattle and 75 miles south of Vancouver, B.C. This small town really pulls in the local tourists. The historic downtown area located along Morris Street and First Street are situated along the Swinomish Channel near the mouth of the Skagit River. Many antique shops and restaurants line the streets. It is a great back road destination for taking an easy stroll from shop to shop.

The people walking the sidewalks weren’t used to seeing a gang of motorcyclists riding in formation atop… what’s this, these aren’t bikes of American Iron. The heads turn as the string of tall V-Stroms decked out dual-sport tires with luggage hanging from both sides of the bike and adorned with bash guards and other dirt road accessories. We quietly roll through town and park.

We met another V-Strom rider on the street. He left the tall beast in the garage at home and on this day was riding another bike of the inline-four variety. We invite our new friend to join us as we walk across the street for lunch.

Tasty but spendy bacon cheese burger at La Conner Brewing Co.

We strolled into the La Conner Brewing Company and made a “b-line” to their covered outdoor patio. It was the perfect spot for all of us to partake in the brewery’s decent, but expensive faire. The menu includes something for all tastes. They have 10” pizzas with what seems like an infinite amount of toppings. The menu screams pizza place, but I go for the bacon cheeseburger with a salad and lemonade. I was pleased with the meal and the service for our large group. The burger was good, but my bill with a decent tip came to nearly $17 for a burger. Ouch! I will return to the La Conner Brewery, but I’ll be ready with a full wallet.

Stories of trips, feats and other nonsense were flying at the several tables that we occupied. Our new friend told stories of his recent trip to Prudhoe Bay Alaska. It turns out that a couple of the guys had previously met him at a V-Strom gathering in Reno last year. The world is small when you ride it on a motorcycle. You make friends everywhere you go.

Now with full bellies we jump on the motorcycles and ride across the Rainbow Bridge onto Fidalgo Island. As we ride across the Swinomish Channel I wonder if the Rainbow Bridge inspired Jimi Hendrix’s early seventies film by the same name. Does anyone know the answer to this question?

We follow the Simlik Bay’s shoreline up to State Route 20 and ride into the town of Anacortes. We continue straight through town to Washington Park on the northwestern point of the island. This is a fantastic viewpoint of the San Juan Islands. There is a narrow one-lane tree-lined road that follows the shore. This is a great spot for picnics. Trust me on this one. Head there for a little day camping with the kids and everyone will be happy. We stop and snap a few photos, but keep pushing on.

Rest break at Washington Park in Anacortes, WA

Riding the western perimeter of Anacortes provides nice twisty roads that beg for a foot peg to scrape. Alas, it is a populated area and the speed limits keep our natural hooligans cooped up for now. We leave Fidalgo Island heading over the beautiful Deception Pass Bridge to Whidbey Island on SR 20. Yachts navigate the waters that divide the two islands. History books say that George Vancouver gave this area the name of “Deception” because it looks deceptively like a bay with connecting land on one side. Vancouver mapped the area and rightfully designated Whidbey as an island in 1792.

We gently sway through the island on SR 20 and pass the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station. The road mostly allows speed limits of 45-55 miles per hour. These speeds are perfect for taking in the many fields, water views and wildlife. There are many places to stop and explore on the island, but we are determined to make it to the ferry on the southern edge.

Victor parked outside the Whidbey Island Naval Air Station

Arriving in Clinton it is obvious that we’re getting close to the ferry. Cars are lined up on the right shoulder patiently waiting for space on the vessel to cross over to Mukilteo and the rest of the mainland. The beauty of riding a motorcycle on the Washington State Ferry System is that you don’t wait in any lines. There are different rules for each ferry, but the general rule is that motorcyclists can pass the two-mile long waiting lines and ride straight up to the ticket booths. Pretty sweet! It gets even better. After buying your ticket bikes can pull to the front of the large parking lot ahead of the cars. When the ferry is ready, motorcycles are loaded and unloaded first. This is a huge time saver.

The short 20-minute ride to Mukilteo is spent recapping the ride and discussing future rides. These Stromtrooper.com guys are a good bunch. It is time to make these rides a regular occurrence.

Here’s LowAndSilent’s video of the ride.