Northern Tier Day 9 =>Paternos

Short 20 mile ride north to Paternos along Columbia River with a few hills.

Half the ride was on Highway 97 (60+mph traffic). But the other half was on somewhat remote quiet roads - maybe almost too quiet - in a state park. Mike reminded Diane that we had entered grizzly bear territory. Diane began ringing her bell and yelling “Woo Hoo!” - to not surprise any bears. Fortunately, we didn’t surprise any bears.

Tomorrow, we connect again with the Northern Tier Route after the long detour we had to take to get around the landslide on Route 20.

We met Al and Preston from Massachusetts, also retired, who are also doing the Northern Tier on fully loaded bikes. We decided to have dinner together at Kodi’s Noon Saloon (only place open in this remote town) and exchanged a lot of stories - common interest.

We also met Jason, an artist from Port Townsend, fully loaded, headed north into Canada in a long loop.Read more