See Part 1, Part 2 and Part 3 for background.

It turns out riding a motorcycle to all 39 counties in Washington State and take a picture of their courthouse……in less than 2 days was a bit optimistic. 52 hours is far more reasonable, you get far better pictures, and a perspective of Washington that I doubt anybody else has ever seen.

I also got this idea from a friend that this ride might make a good coffee table book. Here’s a short version to see if you think it’s worthy.

Enjoy.

Matt

The Route Map

Friday, May 5, 4:42 a.m. - Chehalis, Lewis CountyDragging myself out of bed at 4 a.m. I found I had only gotten about 3 hours of sleep and was in for a very long day. The Motel 6 was cheap at $39 including tax…..but the two skimpy pillows made me think they got them surplus from the airline industry. Riding 7 miles down the rainy road to my first county of 39 I felt butterflies in my stomach for a ride that I’d planned for over 6 months.Chehalis holds special meaning for me because it was my Great Grandfather, Theodore Hoss, that was a County Commissioner here nearly a century ago. He was an involved community member in nearby Centralia, was on City Council, and even ran for State and Federal Office. Also according to family legend involved in the Centralia Massacre as a Wobblie sympathizer.My first night shot of a building I’m sure he was heavily involved in construction photographed well with a 5 second exposure and my new Gorillapod. However, I made my first serious faux pas of the ride by losing my plug-in for my electric vest. It wouldn’t be until several hours later that I’d discover it was missing and I’d be in store for a chilly ride.

Friday, 9:30 a.m. - Anacortes Ferry TerminalBy this point I realized my schedule was too ambitious and where I had planned to get to the ferry a half hour before departure….I found myself driving up as they were boading and was the last one on. Doh!

Friday, 10:55 a.m. - Friday Harbor, Island CountyThis cute little courthouse was Spartan, but serves as county seat for the San Juan islands. Simple, no fuss, elegant. I had figured out the ferry schedule and had just enough time to snap the picture and turn around as they were reboarding the ferry. Once again I was the last one on and foreshadowed a long ride the next two days.

Addendum:  A few days after I initially posted this report and shared it with family, friends, and fellow LD riders I received an e-mail from Bob Higdon.  He’s the spiritual advisor and scribe emeritus of the Iron Butt Association and has been engaged in a ride to visit ALL of the counties of the entire United States. In excess of 3000 it makes my weekend blitzkrieg a small affair…however he still read through it with enjoyment.

However, in an e-mail he diplomatically suggested I had taken a picture of the wrong building in Friday Harbor.  Panicked I studied the picture evidence of his ride and concluded that we had taken our pictures at different angles and he had gotten principally the new wing with the original part of the courthouse to his right.  I had gotten principally the old part with a bit of the new visible on my right and behind.  We were both right.

Photo: Bob Higdon

Friday, 2:34 p.m. - Port Townsend, Jefferson CountyStunning.

Simply stunning.

The Jefferson County Courthouse is like visiting a castle. Port Townsend is probably the most grand courthouse of all in Washington and it’s residents should be proud of the landmark on top of the hill.It was one of my favorite courthouses and by this time I got a sense of the general architectural style of county building construction in Washington during the early 1900’s it was equally obvious that each county would choose some different feature or style to make their building distinctive.

Friday, 7:12 p.m. - Montesano, Grays Harbor County
This courthouse’s colors grabbed my attention. If this marine county had an official color…it would whatever shade of gray they’ve made this building. It just looks right.

Friday, 8:30 p.m. - South Bend, Pacific County
South Bend was a bit of a watershed moment on this ride. I was looking forward to what friends and family had reported as a stunning sight…only to find that it was in the middle of renovation. C’est la vie.Still stunning though and a testament that these old buildings need a lot of TLC and voters to approve their renovations. This is also one of my Top 5 and I’m going to have to return after they finish.

Friday, 11:24 p.m. - Vancouver, Clark County
When I rolled up to the courthouse I was clearly expecting something different. Classic architecture Vancouver is not, but I have I have to say that Vancouver earns a spot in my top 5 as well. The lighted key that’s a pinkish hue rotated through a spectrum of colors every few seconds and actually very subtle.By this point I knew I was so far behind my schedule that I spent extra time setting up shots.For you photographers out there….Olympus E-500 dSLR, 14mm, F/5, +1.3 stops, 5 seconds, ISO-100, no flash.I ended up calling it a night in Goldendale and got a well-deserved 8 hours of sleep with no less than 6 decent pillows.

Saturday, 2:45 p.m. - near Quincy
The only bikes that I rode with the whole trip were a sportbike and several cruisers between Ephrata and Wenatchee. They were a bit squidly for my tastes so I ended up making some room between me and them. Still a fun picture to snap under you arm while riding.

Saturday, May 6, 4:16 p.m. - Waterville, Douglas County
If this town hadn’t been a county seat…I really don’t think there would have been a town. At the same time I thought this courthouse was extremely cute and oasis-like in the scrubby portion of Eastern Washington. The hearty pine on one side with a flowering tree in the foreground and warming sunshine of dryland wheat fields reminded me I was back home on the dry side of the state.

Saturday, 7:00 p.m. - near WaucondaAs the shadows lengthened in the evening I found myself heading for the mountains and very poor counties in the Central and Northeastern part of the state. This area just seemed like 50 years behind in time. Rustic and harsh while simplistically beautiful.

Saturday, 7:23 p.m. - Republic, Ferry County
While the courthouse was unremarkable it was the first time a local took any interest in my ride. The cat, who I named George to compliment my tour around Washington, was so bored in this town that I’m firmly convinced his, “Meow!” was feline-speak for “Take me away out of this sandbox of a town!”

Friday, 8:12 p.m. - Sherman Pass (5575 feet, and below freezing)
The ride had turned into a love-hate relationship at this point. The prospect of riding through the night without electric clothing was countered by moments of sheer beauty. I still had 600 miles to go and was facing a choice of whether to ride through the night or find another motel.Surely, it would get warmer as I got back toward Spokane.

Saturday, 9:02 p.m. - Colville, Stevens
Finally time for a posed portrait. 8 second exposure to draw out the details of the building plus a flash to balance me out. …..one of the tricks I learned on this ride!

Sunday, 2:00 a.m. - Ritzville, Adams County
After snapping the photo of Adams County I made a beeline for the Shell Station on I-90…that I prayed it would be open.It was and took a half hour for my frozen toes to regain their feeling. Downing a hot chocolate in the fluorescent glow of a mini-mart this was the roughest part of the ride. I was cursing this near-freezing temperature that shouldn’t be in the month of May and knew my bed was only 70 miles away.Inspiration struck after I decided to gut it out and perhaps the best inspired decision I made the whole ride was to use my glove liners as makeshift socks.It’s the small things in life that get you through adversity.

Sunday, 4:10 a.m. - Spiral Highway, overlooking Clarkston & Lewiston
My choice to ride the night paid off as I got to Lewiston. I was cold yes, but my toes weren’t yet frozen. The sky beamed brightly with the near-full Moon and Venus while the deep blue glow of the impending sunrise gathered momentum in the East.Running through the barren and lightless Palouse from Colfax I popped over a rise to this stunning view of Clarkston/Lewiston.The crisp morning air signaled that I was on the downhill slide of my ride. It was now only a 200 mile Sunday morning ride to a warm bed at home.

Sunday, 6:03 a.m. - Dayton, Columbia County
Sunrise in Dayton couldn’t have come earlier. As the sun climbed over the surrounding rolling hills I fell in love with this Courthouse and knew feeling was going to return to my extremities. Also, in my Top 5 the Columbia County Courthouse (for beauty….not function Mr. P) must have been restored recently and photographed well from all angles.

Sunday, 8:17 a.m. - Pasco, Franklin County
Also in my Top 5 is my very own courthouse. It was freshly restored in 2005 after our community wrestled with a bond measure to pay for it, but I think it was very much every penny of it! And the copper dome and gold eagle are unique touches I don’t remember seeing at any other of the previous 37 courthouses.This picture was not taken on this ride, but it was one of the very first took with my new camera in 2006 and part of the genesis of this ride.

Sunday, 9:01 a.m. - Prosser, Benton County
The hardest thing to do in the world is to ride nearly 1700 miles….and then consciously decide to ride past the exit to your home and squeeze in 30 more miles. I get to Prosser enough that I could have easily taken a photograph some other day and pass it off as part of this ride….but I would have known.This picture of a courthouse is actually a bit of a contradiction for a county that has moved much of its operations to Kennewick as an “annex”. The result is that Prosser and this courthouse feel much more rural than belies this increasingly metropolitan county.

Epilogue
52 hours and 19 minutes after I had started in a drizzly Chehalis morning I had successfully ridden to EVERY SINGLE county seat in Washington State and snapped a picture.One more thing on my life list crossed off.The question remains: Would a full length and researched write-up be worthy of publishing an honest-to-goodness coffee table book of this adventure? I’ve given some samples of some of the highlights. Would a book sell at a Barnes and Noble or Amazon and would it be something schools would want to put into their libraries for students?Would you buy one for $29.95 or whatever the prevailing rate is for coffee table books?The full story hangs in the balance with reader feedback.