Greg & Camille Go Bike

A set of red threes greeted us on the alarm clock this morning. Our plane to LAX left Philly at 6 am, so we jumped up to get ready to take the first shuttle from our hotel at 4 am. Our good friend Paul was really kind to drop us off in Philly the night before (don't ask us how we got all the luggage and people to fit in one Subaru Impreza).

Some quick luggage math:

• Camille's bike + box + gear, has wheels: 53.5 lbs (checked in)
• Greg's bike + box + gear, does NOT have wheels: 68.5 lbs (checked in)
• Clothes, electronics, camping gear, and other bike stuff in the panniers: ~40 lbs per person (carried on)

Between us, we were carrying over 200lbs. The bikes and bags weighed us down, but we slowly made it to our gate after some TSA suspicions about our gear.

We officially navigated as far west in the US as we'd ever been when we landed in LA for our layover. Greg was mesmerized with the smoke-cluttered skies approaching the Rabbit wildfire. The limited visibility drew a sharp contrast with the mountains, canyons, buttes, deserts, and crop circles we surveyed for the majority of the flight over.

Another 3 hours took us to Vancouver where we recovered the suffocating bikes from oversized baggage. Bless the free YVR luggage carts. Unfortunately, one of Greg's rachet straps sloppily accompanied his bike box on the conveyor belt. We'd worry about any missing pieces later.

We called for a driver to bring us to Our Community Bikes just a few miles away where we would assemble our vehicles and donate the bike boxes (we're planning to get cardboard ones from another bike shop in San Diego for the ride home). It took a good hour to get them up and running, and luckily every piece was accounted for.

Time for exploration on 2 wheels! Amazing views of water, mountains, and forest rewarded us for our extra trek across the bustling Vancouver peninsula. Tourists littered the streets.

steam clock, poke, water side downtown

nature - pacific northwest feel

peninsula park, lots of bikers, everyone party at the beach, many families on vacation

water fountain, fireworks show

more hella party at the beach

amazing bike paths but why is there elevation

picked up some groceries for dinner/breakfast

eat, shower, sleep

Still recoving from the long day we had yesterday, so let ourselves sleep in.

Out the door at 7:30 am

Early morning features a mix of neighborhood riding and bike trails

River road had lots of bike friends and great views of the river. Lots of log floats. Nearing the end of our time on River road, the trees that had been lining the road gave way and provided not just a clear view of the water, but also far off sky scrapers and mountains.

Bunch of bridges and more neighborhoods and trails. Too many hills :( Camille still getting her balance with the panniers. Saw interesting orange berries the size of grapes. Should have taken a picture. (snapped one later but don't think it's the same thing)

Stopped for lunch at the top of a short but steep hill in a neighborhood. Snacked on canned tuna, carrots, dried durian and some cereal. Dropped the cereal and were amazed at little ants dragging it away.

Safe biking along the side of moderate traffic roads. Stopped for groceries, including Vadi. Big mistake. Not a snack food... Mandatory Tim Hortons stop. More of the same moderate traffic roads.

Turned into farm land. Still lots of cars but safe. Approaching the border, one mongo hill hit us hard. Oof.

Lots of confusion at the border. Where the heck do they want us to go. Someone directed us to the CBP building. Don't think that's right, but we'll check it out anyways. It wasn't right. Why the heck does the pedestrian crossing zig zag in such a crazy way?

Apples are contraband. Tried to eat all the apples. They didn't even ask about the apples. Not a fan of the border agent: why did you bring your bags in? why did fly into Vancouver? only stayed a day? don't go biking on highways like those crazy Europeans!

ACA route tried to dump us on the highway. Route is clearly wrong, it's a side path next to the road. Highway didn't even appear to connect.

First sightings of the ocean today. Blaine was a really cute town, we approve. Biked along the water for much of the day. Lots of beach goers at Birch Bay State Park. We were struck by all the mountains off in the distance over the water, spanning the entire horizon over the water.

Stopped and rested for a bit on a log. Tried the Vadi again. No. Never again. Booked a hotel for the night at Bay City Motor Inn.

20-something miles to go. Lots of biking on lower traffic roads through the woods. Nice detour on closed off utility roads (allowing bikers and pedestrians).

Biking through the Lummi Nation reservation. After reading on the sign that it's both a Lummi and federal offense to destroy the sign, Greg noticed the bullet holes through the tribes insignia (?). Awful. Reservation had a lot of sections that looked a bit rough (lots of trash) but also some homes that had interesting character (interesting decisions with vegetation).

Mountain view road. Beautiful views of Mount Baker (?) in the distance for the next 20-30 minutes.

Stopped to figure out where we were getting groceries. Did pink haired lady in a very tiny car take a stealth selfie with us in the background?

Lots more bikers on the way into Bellingham. Passed by bike park made of sand. Stopped at co-op for groceries and sunscreen (Greg probably needed that hours ago). Finally arrived at hotel. Clean up, food, blog notes and bed.

We started the work day at 5 am just before the sun rose. This would be our first time working from Pacific Time.

We were tired. Greg woke up around 2:00 AM PT, AKA too early ET. Camille delayed another 2 hours, but that still wasn't enough. Right when they opened at 4:30 am, walked to Cruisin' Coffee for caffeine and breakfast sandwiches. Greg knew he wasn't awake when he walked through the sprinklers through the booth.

Did the workday at the motel. Got our bikes fixed. Jake to the rescue at The Bike Lab! Munched at the Brown Lantern, fish & chips and calamari to satistfy Greg's fried seafood craving. Biked around the island near the ferry ports and picked up groceries at The Market again. Greg did laundry.

Greg got up too early and started working. Thank The Market for coffee. We worked until check-out, did our best to clean off our mess from the rain, and then hustled over to the library to finish out the work day just a few blocks away.

The library wasn't too busy but patrons were putting it to use. Camille was hoping to hop on some of her meetings outside, but the prime real estate with wifi access and seating was occupied by an overeager teenage couple. Luckily there were study rooms available, so she was able to take a few meetings there.

We rolled out of the area around 2:40 pm PT/5:40 pm ET

Views of the water and mountains all around. Speaking of mountains, climbing. Mt. Eerie towered over us. Deception Pass with narrow shoulder and windy roads. Snacks by the lake & Flybrary. Pictures before the bridge & island hook. Some people camping on the beach! Lots of families enjoying the outdoors.

Route 20, farmland, Farm Stand market with grass volleyball court. Jets flying overhead, route around navy base. Get to skip all the traffic, heck yeah. Downhill to the coast: views of the ocean on one side, lake with windsurfer on the other. So blue! Can see the cliffs. Steep hill to climb back up, more farmland.

Cove cruising, lovely views. Residential area, good enough shoulder, low traffic. Approach Coupeville, cute town, lots of local shops. Check in at Tyee Restaurant & Motel, fairly busy at the restaurant. Groceries for dinner from market across the street.

We woke up on the twin bed not very well rested. This week has been pretty packed even with the rest day. It was comfortable in the motel room, and wifi behaved enough for us to work until checkout. Once 11 AM PT rolled around, we rolled the bikes just down the street to Cedar and Salt CoffeeHouse where we finished up the work day.

We took far too long to decide on a place to stay that night and ended up settling for an inn just a few miles after our ferry ride into Port Townsend. The other options were too pricey, too far away, or reported to not have good service in the area.

About 4 miles of farmland and oceanside views took us to Fort Casey State Park. A long line of cars greeted us as we approached the terminal still an hour before the scheduled departure. Greg discovered his front tire was a little low, so he topped it off while Camille got a head start on exploring with the extra time. We moseyed into the park area where we peeked at the fort and Admirality Head Lighthouse. On the way back to the ferry, we snagged some gummy bears and a postcard from the park office.

Another biker couple accompanied us onto the ferry along with a few pedestrian passengers, followed by all the vehicle traffic. Just behind us was John. He had done much bicycle touring in his youth and had since traded his mode of travel in for motorcycling. Having grown up just north of Seattle, he had many recommendations for sights to see by bike in the area.

Popping on the shore. Pizza slices on the bench. Kah Tai Lagoon. Deer. Safeway groceries. Approach the port, secret bike path on the other side of the fence took us along the shore, past an old paper mill, and through some wooded paths. Arcadia Country Inn awaited on a farm plot with a quaint b & b feel.

Arrived at the inn around 7 PM PT

AirBnb until late check out. Long bike ride to Bremerton. Meet Max at campground at night.

Day trip to Mt Saint Helen

Day trip to Mt Rainier