Day 15 - Over the top

The sun was shining brightly today so it looked like it was going to be another great day for a Model A ride. However, before we got started Dick wanted to reset the timing on the Woody. Just as he raised the hood the Model A group from Oregon went by with Ahooga horns blaring. The good thing is the timing adjustment made a big difference in performance.




We left the hotel, stopped for gas and then took a side trip to the Fish Hatchery which was just down the road. Even the ride to get there was nice as it followed a fast moving river. We were given a brief explanation of the facility which raises King and Chinook Salmon. The holding tanks for the juvenile fish held 1.2 million fish. But it's the giant ones in the mature tank that were the stars of the show. Boy were these guys huge...I bet 3 to 4 feet in length. Although the river looked great, there were no fish at this time. It was past season.


Back on the road it was time to head over Stevens Pass and down into the coastal area of Seattle. The pass is at 4000 ft so we had some climbing to do. The good thing was that it was cold outside which kept the radiator temperature down. The scenery along the road was spectacular, with the mountains rising sharply, the river raging down along side of the road and snow on some of the mountain peaks. Up we went, although at a gradual rate until we got close to the pass and then the grade increased to the point where I had to shift into second gear overdrive. (Boy, I do miss the added power of my touring engine.) We made it over the pass and on the way down stopped at the Iron Goat Scenic area to check out some of the relics of the past, which included an old railroad caboose. The mountains rising in the background was a sight to see. A little further down the road was Deception Falls. The water was roaring down the rocks, making quite a racket. In spite of the noise, it was kind of restful too.



We were soon out of the mountain area and the air temperature started to go up. It was lunch by now so we stopped at an Applebee's. When leaving we had a nice conversation with a local woman who's grandfather, who just turned 100, had a 1930 Chevy years ago. She had just found some old pictures of the Chevy and wanted to show him pictures of our cars and let him know about our Model A adventure.



The plan was to head for the Mukilteo to Clinton ferry and take it to Whidbey Island, a picturesque island in Puget Sound which is about 60 miles long. Unfortunately there was over an hour wait, but fortunately the time seemed to go quickly. It was a long wait for a short ride to the island. We stopped and visited Fort Casey State Park and Lighthouse. The wind was blowing and it was cold but the view was spectacular. The "Model A Passport" was put into action and we were allowed to park the A's in front of the lighthouse for some picture taking. In addition to the lighthouse was a fort that had two 10" canons for coastal protection. The view of the mountains from the island was specatcular also, with Glacier Mtn being the tallest visable.



We left the island heading for Bellingham and our hotel for the night. The GPS took us over secondary roads, but one of those roads, Chuckanut Drive http://www.chuckanutdrive.com/ was really spectacular. This narrow road followed the coast with steep cliffs down to the water. It may have been slow but it was a road we all thought was great.


For a day that we didn't have much planned we found a lot to see and enjoy and we did manage to put on 230 miles today. Tomorrow it's across the border to Vancouver, British Columbia.