Destination: Snoqualmie Falls

Saturday was another lucky day in the Seattle area. Every weekend we hold our breath to see if it will actually be nice enough to get out on the bikes for a while. The sun came out on Saturday, as promised, and it was Spring riding weather once again.

As usual, we got a late start and left around 1pm. By then the temps had warmed to about 60 and it felt pretty good to us. We couldn’t decide where to go. I like to have a goal in mind, but we came up with nothing. Not growing up in this area, we don’t know a lot of the scenic back roads. We decided to head east to Duvall, and then take 203 south until we came to Snoqualmie Falls.

The Falls are beautiful anytime of year and are somewhat of an International tourist attraction. We have been there many times, mostly with visitors from out of town. It is always fascinating.

We both filled up with gas and headed out to Duvall. It was a great riding day, with warm breezes and the smell of bugs and wetlands as we rode along the country roads. I noticed many barns along the way that went by too fast to catch a photo. The area is covered with old barns, some still in use. Most are an unusual Scandinavian design, which were some of the first people to settle this part of the land. I plan to go back and do a photo-shoot of scenic barns. They were very cool.

We headed down 203, which is Duvall-Fall City Road (they’re creative here). We rode on through Fall City, and then turned down a back road that led to a fish hatchery. We ended up in a small gravel parking lot that is the back way to view the Falls.



It was lovely, warm, and we had a nice walk down a trail and boardwalk following the Tolt River. The water supplies energy to Seattle City Lights Power Company.


By the time we started walking I was very warm and had to carry my heavy leather jacket. It was the first time I’d been in short sleeves this year! It felt good.

We headed back the same way we had come. It is a nice 2 lane road that is not heavily congested. I decided I would love to live in the small towns we went through. They are in some idyllic settings. I love to ride that particular road 203.



There were wetland aromas, river scents, plowed field odors, and the occasional dairy farm smells, wafting in the wind. We rode right through the town of Carnation , which is where the actual Dairy Farms are. All I could think of were the contented cows.




It was a very enjoyable ride. My windshield got full of splatted bugs. They are juicy right now near the river. It gave us a taste of what the warm summer riding will be like. We’ve forgotten. I can’t wait to get out earlier next time and take a real long ride. All in all, the day was a beautiful memory that I hope to repeat many times.

Footnote:
I have submitted this article to the Motorcycle Blog Carnival at Raven's Rides. Head on over there on May 7 when it goes live and see a variety of motorcycle related articles. Linda will be holding the Carnival every month, so be sure and submit your entries.