Prep Day 1 6/11
Well, it took longer to get going than we thought. We finally worked out a battery charger for Lindsey's phone, got some front racks for our bikes, met Cindy's awesome boyfriend Patrick, and biked up the steepest hill in seattle (good practice). We also bought our first set of groceries (20.40 for 2 days).
Cormac also decides to cut his hair a little shorter, and makes the grave mistake of asking Lindsey to help. In the end, Cormac decides to shave his head altogether.
Travel Day 1 6/12
Yay! We're on the road.
We get started at 9:30 AM, a little later than planned and head to Mukilteo (sp?) to catch a Ferry to Whidbey Island. Lindsey gets in touch with an old friend Sarah who had just moved back home to the Island, and we met up with her and her boyfriend Tucker.
We go to Sarah's parents' house which is about the most gorgeous spot ever. Sarah and Tucker are about to get married (good luck to you guys), and her mom is growing all the flowers and a lot of the food for their wedding, and the large garden's amidst the green rolling hills makes one want to kick up their feet and relax.
We continue to north on the Island and do our first night of camping at Fort Casey.
Did you know that it costs 14$ to camp at state camp grounds? We didn't.
Anyhow, we set up our tent all by ourselves, and Cormac builds a fire and grills some toast.
We biked ~40 miles (we hadn't gotten our odometers to work yet), and we felt pretty good to get going.
Day 2, Deception Pass and Heading East
The first stop of our day is Deception Pass, which our Seattle host, Cindy, said is one of the most gorgeous places in the world. Turns out she is right.
From the long bridge that connects whidbey Island to Anacortes you can see lush islands and steep cliffs and sail boats, and man was it gorgeous. We decide to stop and have lunch.
After some hemming and hawing we decide to walk our bikes on the sidewalks over the narrow bridges, and we finally hit root 20 and start going East (and get on our maps, which start in Anacortes).
We hit some minor hills and get to a camping ground in Bayview where we meet Nolan, a Biker (motorcyclist, that is) from B.C.. Nolan likes to do short tours and hit up campgrounds to build a fire for the night. He shares his camping space with us (and a couple of beers) for free. We wish that we could have hung out longer, but after watching the sunset over the pacific (bayview is well named) we are too pooped to stay up too late).
Day 3 Things get interesting
We get an early start, and we have got flat ground ahead of us and a tail wind and we feel great. We bike down the south skagit river highway, which has a river on one side and lush hills on the other, and huge trees completely covered in moss. We feel like we are getting somewhere, we feel like this is why we are doing this, we feel like there is nowhere we would rather be. We also meet our first other cross country cyclist, Brook and her friend Hillary (who is doing the last couple of days). They give us some fantastic advice about where to stay, what roads to avoid, and just offer some general encouragement.
Shortly after this, Cormac notices a horse looking right at a bird, and it looks like they are having a conversation, when he goes to point this out to Lindsey he accidently bumps into her, and sends her off a steep shoulder. Lindsey is fine, but her bike isn't so good. Her front wheel is facing the wrong direction, and her front break is all bent up. We put the wheel back in place easily enough, but when trying to bend the brake back into place, Cormac totally snaps it in half. It turns out Aluminum is not great for bending and rebending.
Shortly after this, we are able to flag down the nicest cop in Washington, who looks up the closest bike shop, and gets their number. Sadly, they are in Burlington about 45 miles in the direction where we just came from, and it is Sunday, so there are no buses running.
Just as Cormac and Lindsey are formulating a plan to bike to Concrete (the next town east), spend the night and catch a bus the next day. Stan, he guy who owns the land with the horses that like to talk to birds (they are not his horses, but it is his land), comes out, as he is closing his fence, Cormac asks him if he happens to be going to Burlington any time today. He says no, but when he hears about our plight, he offers us the brakes right off of his bike. Sadly they are too old for us, but he happily offers to take us out to Burlington. We have to rush out there to get there before the store closes at 5 (everything closes early on Sun. around here).
Stan takes us in the little camper that is on the back of his pick-up, and we get there just in time.
Even though the bike shop is booked with repairs until the 23rd (this must be a fringe benefit of being the only bike store in at least 45 miles), they immediately take our bike. They do have to root around for brakes, and though they are worried they might not have the brakes we need, they finally find some top of the line shimanos, and pop them on, and Re-true lindsey's tire, and basically give us another tune up for free, only charging 6$ for labor (I think they felt guilty that they only had really expensive brakes to sell us).
Feeling like we should celebrate the over coming of our first accident and the overwhelming kindness showed by Stan, Lindsey and Cormac go out for a nice dinner (we invited Stan, but he had to get back). We go to Train Wreck Bar in Burlington (google this place it is awesome) where Cormac gets a bacon burger with Calamari on it (awesome) and Lindsey gets a crabcake burger. DE-LIC-IOUS. We hang out at the bar, digest, and watch the Lakers win the playoffs.
We finally get back on the road and head a few miles to Sedro Woolley (which we had already been through earlier that day, before we had to be driven all the way back to Burlington), and stop at the campsite there, where we run into non other than Brook and Hillary. They share their spot with us (Camping again for free!) and then we go to a bar, where we play a game of pool, east-bound v. west-bound (east bound wins!).
Day 4 Part 1
Hillary and Brook cook us an awesome breakfast of eggs, peppers and garlic on bagels (with ham for Cormac) and we take them out for a cup of coffee before heading on our way. (my time is up on the public computer so I have to go, will finish later).
Well, it took longer to get going than we thought. We finally worked out a battery charger for Lindsey's phone, got some front racks for our bikes, met Cindy's awesome boyfriend Patrick, and biked up the steepest hill in seattle (good practice). We also bought our first set of groceries (20.40 for 2 days).
Cormac also decides to cut his hair a little shorter, and makes the grave mistake of asking Lindsey to help. In the end, Cormac decides to shave his head altogether.
Travel Day 1 6/12
Yay! We're on the road.
We get started at 9:30 AM, a little later than planned and head to Mukilteo (sp?) to catch a Ferry to Whidbey Island. Lindsey gets in touch with an old friend Sarah who had just moved back home to the Island, and we met up with her and her boyfriend Tucker.
We go to Sarah's parents' house which is about the most gorgeous spot ever. Sarah and Tucker are about to get married (good luck to you guys), and her mom is growing all the flowers and a lot of the food for their wedding, and the large garden's amidst the green rolling hills makes one want to kick up their feet and relax.
We continue to north on the Island and do our first night of camping at Fort Casey.
Did you know that it costs 14$ to camp at state camp grounds? We didn't.
Anyhow, we set up our tent all by ourselves, and Cormac builds a fire and grills some toast.
We biked ~40 miles (we hadn't gotten our odometers to work yet), and we felt pretty good to get going.
Day 2, Deception Pass and Heading East
The first stop of our day is Deception Pass, which our Seattle host, Cindy, said is one of the most gorgeous places in the world. Turns out she is right.
From the long bridge that connects whidbey Island to Anacortes you can see lush islands and steep cliffs and sail boats, and man was it gorgeous. We decide to stop and have lunch.
After some hemming and hawing we decide to walk our bikes on the sidewalks over the narrow bridges, and we finally hit root 20 and start going East (and get on our maps, which start in Anacortes).
We hit some minor hills and get to a camping ground in Bayview where we meet Nolan, a Biker (motorcyclist, that is) from B.C.. Nolan likes to do short tours and hit up campgrounds to build a fire for the night. He shares his camping space with us (and a couple of beers) for free. We wish that we could have hung out longer, but after watching the sunset over the pacific (bayview is well named) we are too pooped to stay up too late).
Day 3 Things get interesting
We get an early start, and we have got flat ground ahead of us and a tail wind and we feel great. We bike down the south skagit river highway, which has a river on one side and lush hills on the other, and huge trees completely covered in moss. We feel like we are getting somewhere, we feel like this is why we are doing this, we feel like there is nowhere we would rather be. We also meet our first other cross country cyclist, Brook and her friend Hillary (who is doing the last couple of days). They give us some fantastic advice about where to stay, what roads to avoid, and just offer some general encouragement.
Shortly after this, Cormac notices a horse looking right at a bird, and it looks like they are having a conversation, when he goes to point this out to Lindsey he accidently bumps into her, and sends her off a steep shoulder. Lindsey is fine, but her bike isn't so good. Her front wheel is facing the wrong direction, and her front break is all bent up. We put the wheel back in place easily enough, but when trying to bend the brake back into place, Cormac totally snaps it in half. It turns out Aluminum is not great for bending and rebending.
Shortly after this, we are able to flag down the nicest cop in Washington, who looks up the closest bike shop, and gets their number. Sadly, they are in Burlington about 45 miles in the direction where we just came from, and it is Sunday, so there are no buses running.
Just as Cormac and Lindsey are formulating a plan to bike to Concrete (the next town east), spend the night and catch a bus the next day. Stan, he guy who owns the land with the horses that like to talk to birds (they are not his horses, but it is his land), comes out, as he is closing his fence, Cormac asks him if he happens to be going to Burlington any time today. He says no, but when he hears about our plight, he offers us the brakes right off of his bike. Sadly they are too old for us, but he happily offers to take us out to Burlington. We have to rush out there to get there before the store closes at 5 (everything closes early on Sun. around here).
Stan takes us in the little camper that is on the back of his pick-up, and we get there just in time.
Even though the bike shop is booked with repairs until the 23rd (this must be a fringe benefit of being the only bike store in at least 45 miles), they immediately take our bike. They do have to root around for brakes, and though they are worried they might not have the brakes we need, they finally find some top of the line shimanos, and pop them on, and Re-true lindsey's tire, and basically give us another tune up for free, only charging 6$ for labor (I think they felt guilty that they only had really expensive brakes to sell us).
Feeling like we should celebrate the over coming of our first accident and the overwhelming kindness showed by Stan, Lindsey and Cormac go out for a nice dinner (we invited Stan, but he had to get back). We go to Train Wreck Bar in Burlington (google this place it is awesome) where Cormac gets a bacon burger with Calamari on it (awesome) and Lindsey gets a crabcake burger. DE-LIC-IOUS. We hang out at the bar, digest, and watch the Lakers win the playoffs.
We finally get back on the road and head a few miles to Sedro Woolley (which we had already been through earlier that day, before we had to be driven all the way back to Burlington), and stop at the campsite there, where we run into non other than Brook and Hillary. They share their spot with us (Camping again for free!) and then we go to a bar, where we play a game of pool, east-bound v. west-bound (east bound wins!).
Day 4 Part 1
Hillary and Brook cook us an awesome breakfast of eggs, peppers and garlic on bagels (with ham for Cormac) and we take them out for a cup of coffee before heading on our way. (my time is up on the public computer so I have to go, will finish later).
Dan and I hiked and camped on Whidbey Island at Deception Pass last year. Gorgeous!
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