Motorcycle Day Trip up State Highway 9

Since today is the start of the Labor Day weekend, we decided to go for a nice motorcycle ride. The weather was sunny and the sky was a clear blue, something we haven’t had enough of this summer for our weekend enjoyment.

We got a late start this morning so decided to take a nice 40 mile ride north to Arlington, WA where there was a Cycle Barn we could check out. By then we would be ready to catch a bite to eat – our destinations always seem to involve eating in one way or another.

We got the bikes out, and this time I brought the camera so I can start taking pictures of things along the way. I am not a photographer by any means, and nothing seems to look as beautiful in a picture as it does in real life. I put my saddlebags back on the bike, since they had been off while I ‘tried’ to work on the cycle and had to take the seat off.

It was a real nice cruise heading east from our town. We picked up Washington State Highway 9 just near the southern border of Snohomish County. Then we headed north. It is a very straight, two-lane road with a 55 mph speed limit most of the way. It is lined on both sides with dense trees and the occasional rural house or clearing. The section of road we were on has recently been paved and so was smooth and great for cruising.




These pictures were taken after I missed a road, and ended up on a detour road. I had to snap some of the beauty before we headed back towards the motorcycle shop we were looking for.

We found the Cycle Barn and I found some riding jeans with a skull on the back pocket that I had to have. After looking at all the shiny motorcycles, I bought the pants and we left. By then we decided it was time to eat. My better half had noticed a Der Weinersnitzel on one of the previous roads. Oh! That is from my childhood and I didn’t know they still had them. This one was new and was a combo Tastee Freeze/Der Weinersnitzel. They have many kinds of hot dogs and ice cream treats! It was yummy.

Finally we were full, happy, and ready to head
home. We had a perfect ride back passing through Lake Stevens, which is a beautiful sapphire blue lake that has parks and many residences around it. It is large enough for waterskiing and other speed boats. The areas we covered are mostly rural with more and more subdivisions popping up everywhere. We only saw one dead possum, remnants of a dead rat, and one dead raccoon on the road.

My Suzuki S40 ran pretty good all the way, but started acting squirrelly like it was going to die a couple of times on the way back while sitting at red lights. All in all it was an 81 mile round trip ride and a lot of fun. I hope to ride somewhere new tomorrow. It was fun....