Dooger’s Ride to Eat 1-13-2008

On BWMLT.com in the Northwest forum, Brian (SanJuan2) suggested a clam chowder run to Dooger’s in Long Beach, WA.  A number of folks thought this was a splendid idea and the plan was to meet at Doogers at 12:30 PM.  Four riders from the Seattle/Tacoma area decided to meet at South Sound BMW in Fife to ride down together.   Others were traveling from other locations in Washington and Oregon.  We originally thought there was only three riders but one additional rider decided to surprise us by showing up unannounced.  That’s Denny (AvonFloater) on the left and Bill (PrestonBill) and Brian on the right.  I must be too ugly for pictures to register in digital cameras because I am not in any of them  .  My BMWLT.com user name is jwd98056.  Kinda’ catchy ain’t it .  If you could see my picture you would see that the four of us look like a First Gear fashion show with three Kilimanjaro and one Denali jacket.  At least I was wearing Motoport pants , I wasn’t looking closely enough to see what the others had on. 

In spite of the fact that BMWLT.com started out as a K1200LT oriented forum it has managed to spread it’s wings into the area of other BMW models.  Our group was made up of two K1200LTs, an R1200GS and a K1200GT.  I should note however that Brian just sold his K1200LT and Rufus was home in the garage.  After a brief chit chat and introductions we mounted up and headed out with Brian in the lead on his GT.  The Google Map shows the RTE route including the trip to and from my home.  The group met up at waypoint marker "B".  My total mileage for the RTE was 348 miles. 

JD’s RTE Route to Doogers

View Larger Map

Brian was taking the scenic routes whenever possible as some of our meanderings on the map indicate.  Even with that we had plenty of less interesting road to travel.  There was a lot a pretty scenery though and enough interesting road to keep us smiling. 

When were got to the berg of Brady we took a little break.  We were doing well as far as time was concerned.  Brady is one of those "Don’t blink or you’ll miss it." kind of places.  We stopped at the Brady Food Mart.

A hot cup of coffee and a little bull session got us refreshed and ready to get back on the road.  We even had a nice chat with a  local who was interested in our different models of BMW.  His health prevented him from riding any more but he had owned many motorcycles over the years that he did ride.

Back on the road and looking forward to some nice weather.  So far we had only seen a few patches of sun but the sky to the South looked like it was clearing.   As we wound our way down US-12, WA-107 and US-101 we gradually rode into clear blue skies.

Along part of this route the devastation from the late December storms stood out in stark contrast to the beautiful weather we were currently enjoying.  This was the result of the same storms that eventually caused the I-5 flood closure.  There were so may trees blown down I am sure they will be working months to clear it all away.

We had more fun and spirited riding and eventually arrived in Long Beach.  We managed to ride right past Doogers but got turned around in short order.  We turned out to be the last to arrive.  We got most of the road gear off and went in to enjoy some very good clam chowder, some very good service and some very good comradery.  A couple members of the group managed to score free refills on the clam chowder and Brian even got a free take home Doogers Chowder Kit.   Our waitress was a real gem and we all thought Brian was guilty of over exerting his boyish charm .  As you can see once again, by the empty space at the table, I must be too ugly to register on digital cameras.   However my ice tea can clearly be seen in the pictures. 

Everyone finished lunch and started gearing up.  The Puget Sound Group decided to take a more direct path to get back home.  That way we would be home before dark to avoid as much horned rat exposure as we could.  The others did as the road and their machines called.

I will throw in one more picture in from an attempt to get a picture of myself.  Brutus is obviously photogenic. Unfortunately, even with the sun out, I was only able to capture my shadow.  Consider yourself lucky . 

We pretty much back tracked to the Brady turn off and just stayed on the US-12 to WA-8 to US-101  and finally back to I-5.   Each of us pealed off I-5 as we took the exits for our homes.   When I turned off in Renton I waved at Bill as he was the last one of us still blasting up the car pool lane.

Brian has since reported that the chowder he made from the Doogers Chowder Kit was awesome.  I would certainly recommend Doogers to anyone looking for a great bowl of chowder and some great small town atmosphere.