Our entry into the U.S started with vampire and werewolf fun, via burgers at The Brick and the Little A'Le'Inn.

We arrived by boat in Port Angeles on the Olympic Peninsula. It was a fairly barginacious $55, but foreign bikers beware, you do of course have the usual customs hoopla to deal with. We chatted to a couple on a Harley (Hello Carole and Kenny!), spotted orcas from the boat and grabbed a litre of Captain Morgan in the duty free shop, so our Chalice Well water bottle is now serving as a booze carrier instead.

Stopped in Joyce, a fantastic general store, pretty much unchanged from 1911, selling anything you could ever want, from Butterick dress patterns, hemp bracelets, food and beer, to toys and gas. Well worth a stop to stock up.

Into Forks, for all those Twilight fans out there, Yes, the very same. Good grief, there isn't a lot there but the Forks Outfitters sold anything you could ever want (hello new spatula, magic waterproof mending tape for James's trews and donuts). After a much needed hour or two spent in the laundromat, we headed onto La Push and Mora; Quileute lands. On the Pacific coast, Mora is amazing - it's rainforest right on the beach, with huge piles of bleached  driftwood enshrouded by sea mist, all quite magical. Our day was topped off by hearing coyotes yipping throughout the night, after a brief flame foray, when a rogue spark from a campfire burnt a hole in Imogen's jacket liner. 

Headed more into the rainforest and the Olympic Park, it's well worth the stop off as the scenery is amazing, with the most mystical trees, covered in moss, and many endemic species of animals, including the Olympic Marmot and Chipmunk, plus Blue Grouse (it's not really blue, sigh), elk and black-tailed deer.

To Port Townsend and Fort Worden, where film buffs may know it was where An Officer and a Gentleman was filmed. We met some bikers, old college buddies and son Jamie, who invited us out to dinner at Doms Marina Grill, on them. We loves you guys! It was also Imogen's first G&T since leaving Blighty, those that know her will know that is quite a thing!

A good tip is to get the ferry from Port Townsend to Widby Island, with possibly one of the cutest towns ever, Coupeville, which then also had the great fortune of selling one of the best ice creams ever. It was a bit of a turning point for us; we have been so careful with money, wild camping where we can and being uber frugal, that when faced with the frankly extortionate cost of the ice cream, finally thought "Fk it, if we want ice cream, let's jolly well HAVE ice cream". Travelling IS hard work, but you don't need to be a martyr all the time whilst doing it.

We'd read about Grand Coulee Dam, so decided an early morning ride through the mist  and the fabulously monikered town of  Concrete was called for. Apparently we had also come across THE ROAD for bikers in the area, through the stunning North Cascades and dropping down into Winthrop. Yep, so this is where all the Harley riders go. It's the weirdest town, restored to its 1890s heyday by a Mr  Wagner, with wooden boardwalks and false fronts on the shops. With the temperature easily 20 degrees higher, we stopped at Grand Coulee and we're glad we did - it's super interesting, a visitor centre filled with fun facts (Washington provides nearly all the potatoes for McDonald's, all thanks to irrigation, and despite it being legal, cannabis can't be grown with federally produced water) plus a free laser show over the dam in the evening, apparently it's the largest laser projection in the world.

Following in the footsteps of Imogen's favourite TV shows, the Pierats started off with X-Files fun in Canada, sourcing areas where various episodes had been filmed and even though Northern Exposure was set in Alaska, it was actually filmed in Roslyn, Washington State, our next "official" stop. It still looks EXACTLY the same, including KBHR and the Rosyln's Cafe mural, cue many photos. Unfortunately today was the day of our first puncture.

We'd free camped near the Ginko Petrified Forest, and a thorn sneaked into the back tire. Having had a restless night, with coyotes howling outside the tent, to discover a flat was a blow. The fix wasn't quite good enough, possibly due to the hot wind drying the glue too fast, so it lost air again whilst we were snarfing burgers at The Brick (no sign of Holling and Shelley though!) Whilst scrabbling on the ground, trying to fix the puncture again, a guy came by with iced tea and a compressor, then another visitor, Lynda, popped by, offering her land for our tent if needs be. Well, we needed! Getting late and the tire still not playing ball, we threw ourselves on the mercy of the travelling gods. What a fun evening! Huge thanks to Lynda and Rich feeding us pizza and beer, helping with the bike AND giving us breakfast after a much welcome shower.

The joys of travelling and the people you meet really makes the journey.