We departed Tacoma at 9:25 AM which would put us in Seabeck by 12:00PM at low tide. Highway 16 took us over the old Narrows  bridge span and into Purdy where we took the highway 302 exit and crossed the Purdy bridge. The bridge is short followed by a nice ride up the Purdy spit. We had a great view as the sun was peeping throw the clouds. The tide was definitely receding leaving the oyster beds exposed. According to the tide charts we would have a -2 ft tide at noon. I was pretty excited to do some photography with the Eagles. From what I heard, they put on quite the show as they are hunting for food on the beaches. We continued on highway 302 past Rocky Bay and Case Inlet on our right. This is a great section of road that leads on through Allyn and Belfair. Highway 302 soon met with highway 3 where we turned right. We followed Highway 3 for a short 3.1 miles where we turned left on to Highway 300. This highway runs along the North side of the Southern hook of Hood Canal. The view is spectacular in this area. 3.3 miles up highway 300 we turned left in to Belfair State Park. I made it a point to do so since I missed it last time I came through here. As I suspected the stop was well worth it. It's a nice park and comes complete with camping facilities. As an added bonus there are fire pits and picnic tables near the beach for use by the public. I took notice of a box on the way out with a sign accepting donations. If you use the facilities and fire its it may b a good idea to drop in a few bucks to help the state maintain the park. I didn't as I just pulled in for a quick stop. As we road out I thought what a cool place to come camp. We road on another 10.9 miles from the park. The speed limit in this area is 25 mph but the view is great. Due to heavy rains there are many sections of road that are under repair. We came across a couple road crews working in the area. One section of the road was reduced to one lane as the other was undermined by water and crumbled away down a small cliff. They have barricades in place and the road is safe for travel. Be cautious for wildlife. We passed a dead deer on the roadside and shortly after I had a Coyote dart across the road in fron of me. Shortly after that I had a deer run across about 20 yards in front of me and within a block I past another one that was about to but decided to return to the forrest. Our next turn was right on to Belfair Tahuya road for a 4.3 mile twisting and hilly road. If this isn't back road riding nothing is. We turned left on to Dewatto Bay Road and followed it 4.3 miles to? You guessed it! Dewatto Bay... This is a gorgeous view on a clear day as you over look the bay and across Hood Canal on to the mountains in the back ground. The last time I came through here there was quite a bit of snow on them.

We continued on Dewatto Bay road for another 10 miles. I'll clarify, 10 miles of really nice winding back roads. After the 10 miles the road became the Seabeck Holly road. And it did so just after the town of Holly. Go figure! The Seabeck Holly road stretches for 9.7 miles and is a decent road. Not allot of turns but still nice. This road became Seabeck Highway right at Seaback Bay. At this point in our ride we were right on top of our destination. It was a short 2.8 mile ride up the South side of the South end of Hood Canal. We crossed a small bridge with a sign reading Little Beef Creek and soon another reading Big Beef Creek. Who comes up with these names. I wonder what possessed them to come up with these names. I can't forget that we had arrived at a small inlet called big Beef Bay. When I named this ride I could have just used Seabeck. I thought for a moment and decided the words "Big Beef" might attract more riders. As we pulled over to the left side of the road to start the photography outing I could help but crave a hamburger. Could it have been the signs? We spent about an hour or so taking pictures. There were about 10 bald eagles on the clam beds and 4 of them were juveniles who's head and tail feathers were just starting to turn from brown to white. Watching the large birds was nothing short of amazing. They were standing on the beds and then would take flight only to dive down into the tide pools and retrieve bullhead. They did so with killer accuracy and grace. I also noticed several Blue Heron in the area. I would talk too much about them as I had one come down and raid my Koi pond one year and eat over $150 of small Koi I just bought and put in the pond. They are on my bad list!

After some fun in the sun snapping photos we saddled up and headed up the Seabeck Highway for another nice 8.7 miles to the Big Apple Diner on Kitsap Way. This is a small old school diner right next to the Red Apple store. I say this so you don't think I led you to a grocery store. They are both called the Red Apple and reside in the same parking lot. I really liked this diner. Everything was like going back in time. Ordered the Big Apple Super Burger. The menu stated it was there largest weighing in at a nice 1 lbs. I felt obligated to try it and see if it measured up with what I have had before. The diner was very clean and the service and delivery of food was quick. I miss read the menu and didn't notice that you had to ask for mayo on the side. My burger ended up somewhat naked. I poured on the BBQ and Ketchup but it was still not right. It was good but it wasn't messy and they forgot to bring me the side of thousand Island dressing that was suppose to be delivered with the meal. I can't help but think the addition of Mayo and the "Secret Sauce" would have made an enormous difference taking it from a one napkin burger to a fist full of napkins meal. That said... I will have to come back and try it again. It was good so I don't want to shoot it down in flames just yet.

After a filling meal and the teasing with Mayo and "Secret Sauce", we headed back to Highway 3 where we past the Bremerton ship yards and continued on to Highway 16 east bound. So here is where I will be nice and say, this really was the meat and potatoes of the ride and save you the eye pain of a description of highway 16 east bound to Tacoma. For those of you who want a bit more, we road straight as an arrow for 24 miles until we crossed the new span of the Narrows bridges but only after we stopped and paid the $3 toll to cross.

All in all this was one of my shorter rides but, it was packed with some very nice back roads, some of the best views of the water and a chance to see some bald eagles hunting. Remember... Low tides are best. Preferably negative tides.

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