Happy Thanksgiving!

Just a quick note to say Happy Thanksgiving!

As always, I have much to be thankful for. I am especially thankful for yesterday - we had a break in the weather, no rain, and even a bit of sun (albeit very brief). Our office was closed at 1pm, which gave me time to get home and get on the Triumph. It's been about 3 weeks since my last ride, so I was really itchin' to get on the bike. It was one of those rides where you really feel thankful for the opportunity to have a motorcycle. By the time I returned, it was raining.

A dry forecast for this weekend, so hopefully I will be able to get out some more.

Hope your day is nice, no matter what you are doing!

Post-Halloween, Post-Daylight Savings Time Ride

With the change back to standard time, most people in North Bend are happy to have an extra hour of sleep. Except perhaps for the fellow above, whose downcast look shows his sadness that Halloween is over.

Daylight saving time in most of the United States ended this morning at 2 a.m. Most U.S. residents set their clocks one hour forward in spring and one hour back in fall. But, contrary to popular belief, no federal rule mandates that all of the U.S. states or territories observe daylight saving time. In fact, people in Hawaii and most of Arizona, along with the U.S. territories of Puerto Rico, American Samoa, and the Virgin Islands—will do nothing to their clocks. It's all standard time for them.

Today was dry and sunny, with the temperature just below 60 degrees F. I had no particular itinerary for this ride, so the pictures below are a bit of a ramble of places that I stopped at.

This bridge crosses the Snoqualmie River just near the Twin Falls hiking area. For those of you who read my earlier post on Olallie State Park, access to Twin Falls can also be made not too far from this bridge.

On the opposite side of this road is a Christmas Creek Tree Farm - North Bend is known as one of the best places to pick up a Christmas tree in Washington state, with no fewer than 6 tree farms in this small town.

Also on the same road as the bridge is what is called "Seattle East Travel Center" or "Ken's Truck Town" for it's previous owner before the TravelCenters America corporation took over the management of this truck stop. Truck Town is right off I-90 at Exit 34, and is just that - a town for the trucking industry, with repair facilities, gas pumps, a motel, restaurant, a driver's lounge, and a chapel. The restaurant is a great place for a homestyle, filling meal. Dining tip - TravelCenters America has just started offering their entire menu in many of their restaurants across America as all you can eat, which suits this non-trucker very well.

Back in the center of North Bend, the oldest church in town at around 110 years of age, North Bend Community Church, continues to provide worship services for the valley:

I continued my ride, stopping at the local espresso drive-through in Fall City. Here I met a gentleman riding a beautiful Honda CBR600:

We chatted for awhile - the owner is new to this area, and was looking for good places to ride, so I offered some possibilities to him. He left before me, and I thanked the ladies who made my coffee and proceeded home - with the change in time it gets dark early!