Picto Diary - 05 to 08 July 2026 - Northwest Motorcycle Trip (Part 1)

Above: Burley Inn Best Western. Burley, ID. 05 July 2026
Out and About on the Duc.

Burley Inn is owned by a friend of mine, Park Avenue. I’ve been staying here, a convenient stop, for years. If you’re motorcycling to the Northwest, Burley Inn is about 200 miles north on I-84 from Park City.

Today I left Park City, riding my 2021 Ducati Multistrada V4 motorcycle, around 2:30 p.m. and arrived at Burley Inn at approximately 6:00 p.m. This stopover makes tomorrow’s 400-mile ride (06 July 2026) to Walla Walla, Washington, much more palatable. A Perkins Restaurant is attached to the Burley Inn property, so I enjoyed meatloaf with a side of corn for dinner before turning in early.

A few months ago, my friend John Galt invited me to join him and Wyatt Earp (the three of us are members of the John Galt Riders) on a motorcycle ride starting from Walla Walla, Washington, on July 7, 2026.

The proposed route runs northwest through Yakima before looping over White Pass near Mt. Rainier, with the first night spent in Silverdale, WA. On July 8, after visiting the US Naval Undersea Museum near Poulsbo, we’ll pick up US 101 westbound, ride to the tip of the Olympic Peninsula, then head south to Aberdeen, WA. The following day (July 9), we’ll ride to Astoria, OR, stopping at the Columbia River Maritime Museum in Astoria and the Tillamook Air Museum further down the road before continuing on to Corvallis for the night. On July 10, we’ll ride east toward Bend, OR, where we’ll split up. My friends will continue northeast via John Day, Oregon, back to Walla Walla, while I’ll head southeast to Burns, OR, then south to Winnemucca, NV. The next day (July 11), I’ll ride from Winnemucca back to Park City.

The entire loop for me, Park City to Park City would be around 2500 miles.

Above: OR SR 11. Between Pendleton, OR and Walla Walla, WA. 06 July 2026.
Out and About on the Duc.

The road had shrunk to a single lane thanks to a chip-seal operation—nature’s way of turning asphalt into a rolling parking lot. I filtered past at least fifty idling cars like a shark through a school of sleepy whales, then tucked in behind the two pictured motorcyclists at the front of the pack. Ah, motorcycle privilege. When I pulled up, the rider on the right glanced over and deadpanned, “Come up to join the boys, huh?”

I reached my hosts’ home in Walla Walla forty minutes later. Dagny Taggart and John Galt—yes, those names— whisked me off to dinner at Hattaway’s. I offered to pay, as any polite houseguest should, but Galt waved me off. “You got Ruth’s Chris in Palm Desert earlier this year,” he said. “Tonight’s my turn.” Hattaway’s was excellent, a perfect example of the surprising number of fine-dining options in Walla Walla. Restaurants and wine are natural soulmates, and this town has quietly become an oenophile’s paradise over the last 25 years. Nearly 150 vintners now coax world-class grapes from the deep, fertile loam that Mother Nature delivered courtesy of a single, apocalyptic ice-dam failure on Glacial Lake Missoula some 15,000 years ago. Nothing says “fine dining” quite like sipping a silky Syrah grown in soil left behind by the largest freshwater flood in North American history.

Above: Enumclaw, Washington. Mt. Rainier. 07 July 2026.
Out and About on the Duc.

Breakfast at the Maple Counter in Walla Walla with Dagny and John, then it was time to hit the road. We picked up Wyatt Earp about fifteen miles down US 12 in Lowden.

Several years ago, riding White Pass in the opposite direction, I rode straight into one of the most memorable downpours of my motorcycling life. Today? Not a drop. Mount Rainier stood in full, snow-capped glory—looking smug about the perfect weather.

Forty-five minutes after this photo was taken during a street-taco lunch, we rolled across the Tacoma Narrows Bridge heading north toward Silverdale. Every time I cross this replacement bridge, I can’t help thinking about its unfortunate predecessor, “Galloping Gertie.” That poor bridge earned its nickname the hard way when it twisted itself into oblivion in a “mere” 40-mph wind on November 7, 1940—one of the most spectacular engineering face-plants in history.

Above: Best Western Motel Silverdale, WA. 07 July 2026.
Out and About on the Duc.

I was upgraded to the only room at the Silverdale Best Western with an outdoor porch/patio. Spoils of being a Best Western Diamond or Platinum of whatever. For some its status at Four Seasons. For mwah (sic)? Best Western.

Above: Best Western Motel, Silverdale, WA 07 July 2026.
Out and About on the Duc.

For the Silverdale stop, I arranged a rendezvous with David Hedderly Smith—card-carrying LSDMer, former Park City fixture, now happily ensconced in Poulsbo, Washington—and his delightful wife Carolyn.

Drinks first, followed by dinner at the Silverdale Yacht Club. Classic. David, a hands-on car collector who wrenches on his own machines with surgical precision, piloted his iconic DeLorean down to Silverdale where my crew was holed up. Picture this: David grinning from the cockpit like a time-traveling mad scientist, Carolyn striking a pose at the front bumper, and my motorcycle brothers—John Galt and Wyatt Earp—flanking left and rear like a leather-clad honor guard. Pure silver-screen cool meets Pacific Northwest grit.

Despite graduating from the rarefied halls of nearby Lakeside High (alumni roster: Bill Gates, Craig McCaw, Paul Allen, and yes, the one and only Adam West), David remains refreshingly grounded—no ivory-tower pretense, just good old-fashioned competence. In his Utah incarnation, when he wasn’t jetting off to Alaska to tend his gold mines, this PhD geologist (University of Utah) moonlighted as a Canyons ski instructor, carving perfect turns by day and swapping stories with the ROMEOs at Wasatch Bagel in the pre-dawn winter hours. Early-bird wisdom, hold the drama.

Above: US Naval Undersea Museum, Keyport, WA. 08 July 2026.
Out and about on the Duc.

We enjoyed the fabulous DEI theme of this museum. Each exhibit highlighted the great strides the submarine service has made to incorporate people of color and women into its ranks. It is gratifying to know that our military institutions prioritize skin color and gender when making personnel selection. I wonder if Secretary of War, Pete Hegseth has visited this museum? He would be proud to see it.

Aside: Oh yeah...there was also some stuff about subs in the museum.

Above: Clark's Restaurant, Cosmopolis, WA. 08 July 2026.
Out and about on the Duc.

Inclusion in George Motz's Hamberger America as one of the top burger spots
in Washington state. Galt orders Super Jumbo Deluxe Onion Cheeseburger.