That’s the thing about road trips. Planning on the go is permissible.
Port Angeles and maybe a trip up the local mountain was the plan. Today we’d push a little further into the Olympics. Highway 101 was a route I’d travelled before, in 2010 on my first road trip and earlier this year on the California trip. The route has some of the most spectacular scenery in Oregon and California. The stretch to be covered today was unknown territory though.
This road trip had a couple of guiding principles. It had to be fun and it had to have adequate downtime to relax. It turned out that the northern section of the 101 wouldn’t meet either of those needs. The stretch being ridden by two intrepid scooterists was populated by fast-moving and plentiful traffic. Despite the Vespa’s 70 mph capability and a 55 mph posted speed limit, it was clear that traffic was in the 70 mph plus zone. The thought of 50 or so miles having to pull over every few hundred yards to let big rigs rumble through was not in the least appealing and certainly wouldn’t be fun or relaxing. Something had to be done. That’s the thing about road trips. Planning on the go is permissible.
A well-placed roadside coffee stop appeared; a true java oasis that offered a warming shot of espresso and maybe more importantly, wifi. Out came the iPad, maps fired up and a decision taken to turn around. A combination of the road and weather conditions (chilly and not improving) really made it an easy choice. We’d stick to minor roads around Port Townsend.
So that was day four. Not the originally envisaged expedition, however, the Vespas were still on the road soaking up the miles without complaint. Fun was re-established as we discovered a desolate beach and relaxation Was in the shape of another delicious late lunch at BLT coffee.
Given that the weather forecast for the rest of the week isn’t too encouraging, the scootour may well head north again.
