After  a quick safety check of the Goldwing and some time spent positioning the camcorder, I rolled the bike out into the driveway into the chilly 29 degree weather. Although chilly to start the weather guy promised a sunny day. My riding buddy showed up on time at 8:30 and we chatted a bit then headed for a fueling station.

After fueling we headed across the east Narrows Bridge span. It's still odd to me seeing the new bridge span. I'm also not too happy about the toll  returning. We rode Highway 16 and took the Purdy exit. I really enjoyed riding across the Purdy bridge and spit as it provides an excellent view of Car Inlet on both sides of the road. Once across we rode until our right turn onto Highway 302. This is another great little 6 mile stretch of road as it winds around Rocky Bay and Case Inlet with nice views of the inlet. Three more miles and things got real fun. We turned off onto Highway 300 and rode along the North side of the South end hook of Hood Canal. This took us past the Belfair State park and through Belfair. Belfair State park is a great place to stretch your legs and rest as the view is great!

Once through the town of Belfair we Rode up Tahuya Rd 3.6 miles and then turned left onto Dewatto Bay Rd. These roads and this area were new territory for me. I have ridden out in this area many times but not the roads I'm covering in this trip. I have made it a personal goal to hit as many back roads that are unknown to me as possible. The effort has been paying off as I have really enjoyed them all. Dewatto Bay Rd. took us 4.2 miles to the tip of Dewatto Bay. We had to be careful in this area as there were mud slides that left debris on the road. The amazing part of this area is the view. There is a private road we took until we ran into the private road sign that led us to a spectacular view of an old building or shack perched at the end of a point of land with the snow covered hills as a back drop. The view was incredible. I highly recommend the small detour as its well worth it.  and another 10 miles parallel to Hood canal (Without a waterfront view) to our next turn onto Seabeck Holly Rd. This was another 9 mile stretch of road without a waterfront view but it was fun. We soon entered Seabeck and the view changed from tree lined road to a great view of Hood Canal as we approached Seabeck. The ride through Seabeck was short as it's a small town but we enjoyed the 3 miles of waterfront view as we paralleled the Hood Canal. We followed Seabeck Holly Rd. for another 1.3 miles and then turned left onto Newberry Hill Rd. This was one of the straightest   roads I have ever ridden. It wasn't to bad as it lasted 1.7 miles until we made our way onto Highway 3. The ride on Highway 3 was just as brief as we used it to get to Clear Creek Rd. This road had some nice scenery but it was 10 miles and maybe a few turns.

At the end of Clear Creek Rd. we intersected Highway 3 again. I know I could have stayed on Highway 3 but I would have missed out on some new roads. Since I have ridden highway 3 many times I opted to avoid it when possible. I highly recommend you do the same as these back roads turned out to be great! Highway 3 took us another 4 miles to highway 104 and another 1.3 miles into the town of Port Gamble. This is a great little town to stop in. There is limited resources for shopping and food as it is very small. It's just a cool little town. As you approach it you see 2 old green water towers sitting side by side with "Port Gamble" painted on the front. They should have added "Welcome to". As we made our way through the town to the end we parked and enjoyed the view. To our left was the Hood Canal and to our right was the water way of Port Gamble.

Leaving Port Gamble we remained on Highway 104 for about 4 miles where we turned left onto Hansville Rd. This was a mostly straight 10 mile stretch of road leading to the tip of the mainland and over looked Admiral inlet. Since we came this far I thought why not ride up this way until we ran into water. We did and it added 20 miles to the ride. I still think it was worth it. Once ran into water we headed back the way we came and back onto highway 104 for another mile. At the end of that mile we turned right onto Barber Cut Off Rd. This road stretched a whopping mile or so and became Kingston Rd and at this point we were in Kingston not far from the Edmunds-Kingston Ferry terminal. Kingston Rd. wound its way through the heart of the Port Madison Indian Reservation where it intersected Indianola Rd. that finished winding its way through the other half of the reservation. I have to say I really enjoyed these roads. My ride partner was amazed and had to ask "How do you find these back roads?" My answer was I spend allot of time researching new roads in my Garmin Mapsource software. It's probably the best way to plan rides in my opinion.

Once we were off the reservation Indianola Rd. intersected Miller Bay Rd and was our next left turn. Miller Bay Rd dropped us down 2 miles into Suquamish on Augusta Ave. and soon onto Suquamish Way and right onto Totem Rd. This too was a nice area. Totem intersected Highway 305 which took us another 1.3 miles where we exited onto Lemolo Shore Dr. NE. This road parallels Liberty Bay and becomes several roads along the way into Poulsbo. It seemed like the names changed every block or two. Same stretch of road that leads into Poulsbo. We entered Poulsbo and made our way to the park that over looks the docks. This is a great resting place as the park has restroom facilities. The town of Poulsbo is busy with folks who come for the atmosphere. Poulsbo is one of those little towns that everyone would like. You'll see why in the photo stream on this page. There are some great places to eat as well. So I'm told.

After  we took in the sites and snapped a few pictures we started our Goldwings and made our way out through Poulsbo and after a brief stop for fuel, back onto Highway 3. From this point on we rode Highway 3 around Silverdale and past the Bremerton shipyards. It was kind of cool seeing the big ships in our mirrors. Once through Bremerton it was back onto Highway 16 for 24 miles of straight highway back to Tacoma. I can't leave out the required stop at the toll both and the $3.00 fee to cross the new Narrows Bridge span. Soon to increase to $4.00. 

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