Made to Washington!
Woke up yesterday, scrambled to finish taping up the bike in the box and got to the airport. Paid the fees, checked the box, the bag of gear and immediately fell asleep on the plane. Arrived in Seattle and got my bag out of the baggage claim in no time, and went to the over-size baggage area to claim my bike box where the employee was just unloading everything. I spotted Kevin, wandered around the parking lot looking for his truck, and we took off, stopped at a few places including an outdoor store where I picked up the necessary isobutane/butane mix for the stove.
On the way to Kevin's house on Whidbey island, we stopped at Deception pass. A breathtaking view from a bridge that connects the main land to the island, with views of Canada and the Olympic peninsula. Arrived at Kevin and Maddy's cozy, wooded house outiside of Coupeville. They have 6 beautiful horses that I fed carrots and hay by hand.
Assembled the bike today, no damage it looks like! Loaded up the panniers and went out for a ride. Decided instead of trying to ride to Bellingham (~60-70 miles from their house) I would just do a local ride, and stay another day, since there were still some hikes to check out, and doing that long of a ride the first day might not be a good idea. I rode north along the island, and was amazed at how much I saw on my first day: I saw a Delorean, some buffalo on a farm, another 12 valve cummins veggie truck. The coolest of all was a fellow touring bicyclist on the opposite side of the road. We spotted each other and began waving. We slowed as we passed each other and exchanged hearty 1-2 sentence hello's, offering hope that he stays dry. It was so exciting to see another rider out there (even though we have seen several touring cyclists driving around town since I've been here), to appreciate what each other is going through was an invigorating feeling. Got back to the house fed the horses and ate, while waiting for Keving.
When Kevin got home from work, we drove to deception pass, and this time hiked Eagle rock. What amazing views from atop this small mountain, overlooking deception pass and the Olympic peninsula. I took a bunch of great shots, especially of the sunset over the mountains that hopefully I'll post tomorrow when I get to Vancouver.
Going to do some hiking tomorrow, and get dropped off in Bellingham, where I'll ride to Vancouver.
No comments:
Post a Comment