Every spring, the Washington State BMW riders head for the Oregon coast for some of the most exciting motorcycle road riding you can find in the north wet.  Yes that is WET!  We pride ourselves in our sense of adventure, when we gather to ride rain or shine.  The prospect of rain keeps many fair weather riders away.  But that's O.K., as we are willing to don the gore-tex and leather, shine up our windscreens and test our abilities on some of the more interesting roads in the southwest Washington/ Northwest Oregon area.

Breakfast meet at Hawks Prairie in Lacey.    Ready to roll...in the rain.              Rest stop at Rainbow Falls State Park on the WA#6 road to Pe Ell.  This first leg of the ride was pretty wet.  From the mid morning rest stop it was less so.

RJ rode a Moto Guzzi.  Very cool.    The sun was welcome at the break.  Soon we were in South Bend for lunch.  This group holds true to the axiom of "Ride to Eat-Eat to Ride".

The Oyster Stew was a big hit at "Boondocks" restaurant, the annual favorite place to do the Beemer power lunch deal.  Nice view of the Willipa river, source of the main course, of course. After a gas stop in Seaview, we rode on to the Columbia river crossing into Astoria.  But first we had to snap a picture of our bikes next to the Lewis and Clark campsite at McGowan, a "must have"  Historical Wonder destination on the annual "club ride".

After the exhilarating run over the Astoria bridge, we decided to stay on the coast to avoid the rain in the mountains, which could wait until the next day, and hopefully dry conditions.  So it was off to the scenic Oregon coast, where our first rest stop was at Oswald West State Park, which has a big overlook parking area, with vistas to our destination of Rockaway Beach and Tillamook beyond. 

The wide sandy beach at Rockaway made a pleasant and inviting place to end the days ride.  The group scattered to motels of choice along the beachfront.  We met for dinner at "Our Place" , the local restaurant lounge which was under new management and undergoing a remodel.  They served us anyway.  After a lengthy breakfast Sunday morning, we were off to see the cheese factory in Tillamook.  Yep, cheese head heaven.

The traditional destination of the "Rain Run" is Cape Mears State Park with it's broad rocky beach, wide views of the Pacific ocean and driftwood stage for pictures.  The "original" Rain Runners, Russ Darr, Doug and Megan Barritt, and Paul Tollefson.  

Lunch in Vernonia, after the exhilarating run up the Wilson River canyon, and the twisty scoot through Timber was welcome.  We enjoyed a sandwich at the Silver City Cafe, and headed for the Cathlamet ferry at Westport OR.  When we hit the Washington side of the river, we rode highway 4 to the  Longview area where we split up to return home at our own pace and route.  Doug, Megan , Paul and I took the back roads through Unalaska, Morton and Enumclaw, getting home about sunset after a run run in the sun.  I clocked over 525 miles on the RT this trip, and look forward to doing it again.  We don't need to wait for a rainy day though.  If you want follow me into Oregon and back...say when!

--Steve Irby