Day 12 Lynnwood, WA

Good evening from Washington. Today's word STRESSFUL. Let me explain. We awoke this morning to a light rain. No problem, we had a short ride planned. We were heading for Sumas, WA which was around 420 miles away. We ate then headed out. Rain gear on and dressed warmly. We rode across Rt. 80 to Kennewick, WA to get Tracy a new wall charger for her phone. Somehow we left hers behind in Salt Lake City. It was raining lightly and it was slightly chilly but it was only 67 miles away. As we were pulling into Kennewick it started to down pour. We went to the Verizon store and purchased her charger, then decided to have a cup a coffee and dry off. The rain lightened and we headed out. The rain was more of a nuisance than anything else. We kept a good pace. Washington's landscape consists of mountains covered with pine trees and green vegetation. The towns are in the valley's and are spread between mountains. We would leave the flat lands, climb a mountain, then head down the other side to another town. When we got to Yakima, WA the mountains raised higher into the heavens. The clouds were surrounding them, hiding the snow at the top. The rain progressively steadied. We stopped at a Flying J to dry off and get something warm in us. The sun peaked through the clouds and it looked promising. We saddled up and headed north on Rt. 90. Like I said the mountains were very high. As we rode to the top we were heading into the clouds and, of course, the rain. Heavy rain. Snoqaimie Pass added to the STRESS. Traffic was moving along at 70 m.p.h. and it was pouring. We kept climbing in elevation to 4800 ft. above sea level. We were in the clouds and it was cold. When we reached the summit of Baker mountain I could feel tension in my upper back from my death grip on the handle bars. The tempature was 43 degrees according to the sign at the top of the summit. I believe it, the rain turned to grapple. There was nothing on the mountain that would give us shelter so we had to get to the other side. As we descended the rain lightened and it looked to be clearing. We decided to take the 405 to avoid Seattle and the traffic. Wishful thinking. Traffic was heavy and we came to a crawl. No problem, the rain had stopped. As we inched through traffic the rains came again, this time with a vengeance. The next 15 miles were, once again, STRESSFUL. We pulled off in Lynnwood because we could no longer take the rain, cold, and the traffic. The first motel we stopped at was full. We found another a mile down the road. At this point I didn't care what it cost, we wanted off the bike. The motel has a lot to be desired but it's dry and clean. Not a bad price either. God certainly had His hand on our adventure today and we thank him for our safety. We have the heat cranked trying to dry our belongings and boots. Tomorrows weather shows an improvement over todays. We cross over the border in the morning. Please remember to keep us in your prayers, the rough part of the trip is ahead. God Bless and good night.