I just ordered myself some new gear, a jacket and pants, that layer well, have incredible ventilation, and are waterproof yet will allow me to add to keep comfortable in temperatures from 35°f to 95°f. Anything below 35° and you will not often safely ride because of freezing liquid on the road and anything above 95°f and you are not going to stay very cool regardless.So the gear is great and fits the way I want it to and Joan is motivated (as I am!) to get some pants that fit well and behave like her Cortech jacket does with the 3 layers (Mesh shell, waterproof liner, and quilted liner) that can be added in any combination for comfort. We find the pants, size them as best we can, and order. Disappointment... it doesn't fit as she wants and a return is imminent. So we decide, "Hey, it's Saturday and Seattle is only a couple of hours away, let's take the bike and look at pants"! Google best selection of woman's motorcycle gear, find the stores nearest and off we go!
I hate driving in Seattle traffic, I hate driving in Seattle more when it's 90°f, and I really hate it when you add that to the traffic gridlock, rude drivers, and limited access often to the places you want to get to that do not show such limited access on a GPS. Maybe it was the heat that gives such disregard to driving courtesy (but I doubt it), but it was an urban rendition of The Road Warrior at times... any minute Hugo Humongous was going to come ripping around a corner in a H2 Hummer and grind my beemer butt under his chassis. On top of it, we realized that largest selection of the same thing means every size of 2 items in the realm of pants. many jackets of one or two sizes, but pants were limited to the current Seattle fashion it seems. So we hit the 2 best shops and have had enough of metro Hwy 99 (Aurora Blvd) and find Interstate 5 north to get as far away as quickly as possible. I-5 south was jammed, I-5 north was open! I resisted the urge to pull over and sacrifice a scooter to the gods of highway access and zoom north in the HOV lane (alternating into the far left non-HOV lane also known as the "Luftwaffe lane when the HOV sightseers do 5 mph under the limit) and head north to the WA 530 for the Arlington/Darrington route to the North Cascades Highway (State Route 20).
Hopped off I-5 (not a bad interstate road comfort-wise at all really) and breathed a sigh of relief as we entered that euphoric state of Mad Max behind us and secondary roads to the front. There is a place in Marblemount called "Clark's Cabins" and a sit-in/walk-up restaurant called "The Eatery" that had a burger called a Skagit Burger that is wonderful. Hand pressed patties, bacon and blue cheese, all the fixin's and real fruit shakes. This is a favorite place to grab lunch or whatever the time of day it is that rolls us in to this area. Small, rustic, our kind of place. 
The shakes were great!
Mistress at rest near the picnic area.
We ran into another couple there who was on their way to the BMWOA (BMW Owners of America) national rally in Tennessee, on their 2005 K1200LT. I think they got a chuckle out of my tennis racquet tape grips (don't knock it until you try it, highly recommended by many on the K1200LT forums) but were nice to visit with and hope them a safe ride on their trip to the East Coast.
So over Washington Pass we went and it was very nice the way the waning sun was hitting the mountain rock faces of the North Cascades, down through Winthrop, and then to Pateros on the Columbia River.
