I left Colleen and Josh's house this morning pretty early and headed south to get a glimpse of Mt. Ranier. I figured I wouldn't see anything because of the heavy cloud cover in North Bend. Once I was on the road for about 45 minutes the clouds stopped and I had a perfect view of the mountain which stands at just over 14.000 feet. The drive around the mountain was spectacular. I twisted around the side of mountain passes and drove through the remaining snow banks on both sides of the road. The temperature dropped down to around 45  from the earlier 65. It really turned out to be a picture perfect day. I continued around the south of Ranier National Park, to try to get close to Mt. Saint Helen, but It was too far to drive to get a quality picture. So I turned north and drove back to Seattle where I was to meet the full five other members of my Alaska team. Now all six are all in the same city for the first time ever. Our bikes were checked into Ride West BMW for new tires and oil changes. We will pick them up tomarrow afternoon. We took a taxi back to the hotel and now we wait to eat dinner.

  Leaving the Burin's home this morning, felt like I was leaving home for the second time. They made me feel very comfortable and welcome. It was also nice to spend two nights in the same bed.  Now I feel double homesick. I will miss them as I move on northward.

 We will stay in downtown Seattle until Sunday morning. the mules will be remounted and ridded up into Canada and onward. As I get into rural British Columbia I may not be able to connect to the internet so I might miss a couple days of post, but hang tight I will be back to update you on everything that happens.

                                   Motorized cooler...