Fall colors in Snowmass

 Back home after some disrupted travel arrangements. Southwest canceled our flight Eugene - Denver and we flew from Portland 2 days later, with bikes to follow by FedEx. Then failed to put our clocks forward an hour at Union Station Denver resulting in missing Bustang to Glenwood springs. Disaster averted by getting Lyft to catch the bus at Idaho springs . A costly mistake. 

Fall colors and mountain biking spectacular .

Part time bus driving starts tomorrow. Will work the odd day till Thanksgiving when full time jobs recommence for us both. 

Decision made to rent Meadow Ranch with Agustin in downstairs appt acting as caretaker. Will be in UK and Europe end April till end Sept. 

Corvallis and Eugene

Duncan and Katy gave me a birthday present of a picnic at a winetasting vineyard a two hour cycle ride from the house. D&K were working and the kids at school so Mary and I had a day on our own. Stunning weather, a wonderful bike ride, coffee and croissant in Philomath, And then a ride to  Lumos . Winery. Delicious picnic provided by Duncan which we had carried in our panniers.

We’ve been busy a lot of the week helping to clear up their garden and yard. Colossal amount of garden refuge to the Corvallis dump in a U-Haul truck. Like 1200 pounds of it!

Today we found, having been driven to Eugene Airport by Duncan and kids ( Katy  in Portland overnight )  that the Southwest airlines flight to Denver has been canceled  So now at a climbing wall in Eugene (one of the very first in US) and Oli and Maggie taking full advantage of it.

Back this afternoon to Corvallis with the family before making another attempt to fly home on Monday, but from Portland instead. No explanation for cancelled flight at last minute except to say that it is weather related. Extraordinary that they can do this with no notice. A bonus though to be with the family for another day.

Corvallis - a day with the family

 The last blog post for a bit. Still a cycling related one so just relevant to what has preceded.

We had a tour of Corvallis extending.to visits to an old pig barn, a historic covered bridge site, a swimming spot on the Willamette River, lunch at the Laughing Planet,  and a

ride through the OSU campus. 35 miles or so . A good effort by Oli, and Maggie on the 3rd wheel. Duncan fresh from the Pyrannees had no trouble.

Marysville, WA to Seattle and on to Albany and Corvallis

 A fun but relatively unexciting day. Breakfast in the motel and we were cycling by 7.15. Found a good route as recommended by Kevin which followed the Interurban bike trail for much of the way. Got to Kevin and Sun Young’s house by 4.30 and enjoyed fun evening with them on their back deck . 

Left there before 7am and an easy largely traffic free 45 minute ride into downtown Seattle and the Amtrak station. A poor breakfast on a nearby cafe, and train left punctually at 9.50. Now writing this up while enjoying the gorgeous scenery to the west including fine views of Mt Rainier, Mt St Helen’s and Mt Hood. We get to Albany just after 4 and will ride the 12 odd miles to D&K’s house in Corvallis hopefully in time for dinner. 

Highs and Lows

 San Juan Islands:  most striking thing to us is the total lack of billboards or even signs advertising businesses  on the road. The tourist office in Orcas explained that businesses were not allowed to sign post the buildings except  on the building itself. This means that your impression of the town is of a 19th or 20thC street— no neon, no billboards— no tackiness!!! It was wonderful!  (Not so easy to find the grocery store or library— but who was hurrying????)  Oh yeah, the library has a plate of freshly baked brownies to entice you over to the “banned book section”.  Satanic Verses was checked out but after a brownie or two, I’m resolved to read it!

San Juan Islands were wonderful—- cannot recommend them enough.

As well, no national chains, eg no BurgerKing, McDonalds, TacoBell, Kroger. Every business appeared to be a one-off and locally owned.  Hence, amazing customer service. For example, I asked the beverage clerk if I could buy a single beer, instead of a six pack.  He replied, “Madam my store is YOUR store.  If that’s what you want, then I can make it work.”  Love it!!

We loved Olga’s Rising coffee shop on Orcas where she served freshly made frittatas containing veggies. I asked her how the frittatas were so tasty and she explained that you need to roast each vegetable separately til they caramalise.  So delicious— will have to try that at home!

Anacortes to Marysville

 Refreshed from a comfortable night in the Marina Motel and a good breakfast a few blocks (a mile actually in the wrong direction!) away at Calico cafe, we found our way out of the town and eventually on to the Centennial bike trail ( a 1989 Rails to Trails project ) which took us a lot of the 55 miles to our pre booked motel in Marysville. A slightly difficult route to negotiate from trail to motel avoiding heavy traffic but we got there by 6 . 

A delightful and relatively traffic free day’s riding.

Dinner at a Coconut King restaurant across the road and about to spend our 2nd night in luxury. Just as well we didn’t start off that way. Still 50 odd miles to North Seattle, but even with a south wind against us again, that shouldn’t be a problem. 

Pic 1 The centennial bike trail- paved the whole way . Very easy and relaxing .

Pic 2 The Adrift restaurant featured in the 2011 crazyguy post.

Pic 3 Our route for tomorrow.

Pic 4 A garden that drew our attention at our morning coffee stop in Conway.

That pretty well wraps  up the blog posting. Maybe I can persuade Mary to summarize the highs and lows of the trip? I have! All highs though I think. She’s forgotten already about those testy hills and our snoring camp neighbours!

Homeward bound

10 days on the trot in a tent is a record for us. We woke up at dawn at 6.30 to another beautiful day and it was hard to leave. Had hoped to get a good breakfast in Eastsound, but Wednesdays apparently are not good in this part of the world. Good coffee and muffins though and sufficient to get us to the ferry to Shaw Is. with 15 mins to spare. 

BUT with one ferry down - a labor shortage problem - a world wide one it seems - we had a wait of over an hour. Unloaded all our panniers and tents at the Shaw Is. harbor and had 2 glorious hours cycling round this small but attractive island. Most of it in fact. We hear Bill Gates and Opra Winfrey have places here. We see why. 

All the cycling pics above are on Shaw Is. Including the one of Mary powering up one of the hills. We’ve had a lot like these in the last 12 days and not often with no panniers. Such days may feature more in the coming years I suspect. Anno domini! 

Then ferry back to Lopez Is which was due to connect with another ferry to Anacortes. One further twist though . Because of the one ferry short problem , we missed the connection in Lopez Is. Spent the next 2 very happy hours either on a ferry or back at the Orcas Is. terminal with a cold beer with the sun setting before us. Just as well we’re not having to pitch tents, and will go straight to our motel. Bliss. 

I’ve found my 2011 posts on the crazyguy site showing the moment we dipped our wheels in the Pacific . See pic from that blog entry. The Paul referred to was someone I’d met by chance on a ski lift on Aspen Mtn months earlier, who, as an owner of a Seattle radio station, had offered to give us a send off with a camera crew. We were trying to raise funds for a Parkinson’s Research charity. He was true to his word and was there at 7am that morning . The start of another great adventure. We’re now approaching the end of another! 

The above written on the ferry back to Anacortes. The Washington State Ferries lay on a fantastic service. As cyclists we paid $12.50 each for the first journey Anacortes to Lopez Is. That ticket is usable for an unlimited number of journeys in the Islands thereafter including the return to Anacortes. How’s that for value? 

Now safely in the Marina Motel Anacortes after a 6 mile ride in the dark from the ferry terminal. Good road shoulders though and we have strong lights back and front. A bed feels real good. 50 odd miles tomorrow to Marysville half way to Seattle. We’ll return to Calico Kitchen down the street for a slap up breakfast first. Weather continuing fine, but we’re likely to be facing a south wind all the way to Seattle.

Orcas Island - Day 4

 The last of our 3 nights on this great campsite on the edge of  Cascade Lake on Orcas Island. We celebrated by drinking beer beside a roaring log fire reading Robert Service ( who started off his working life as a bank teller in Victoria , BC just over the water from here ) poems - The Shooting of Dan McGrew and The Cremation of Sam McGee - which we printed off in the library this morning . Highly recommended if you haven’t read them. 

A quiet and blissfully relaxing day exploring more of Eastsound and the north of the island. Still some steep hills to negotiate but our legs must be getting stronger. We’ve booked motels for the next 2 nights the first in Anacortes from where we have the 100 odd miles to get us back to our wonderfully kind Warmshowers guests Kevin and Sun Young in Seattle. We’re booked on the morning Amtrak train with bikes to Albany, OR on Saturday from where we’ll bike the 20 odd miles to Duncan and Katy’s house in Corvallis. So , D & K , we’re still on track for being with you on Saturday evening.

Only 3 pics worth posting. Note 1. A snow capped Mount Baker.

2. Mary had to move her tent . Snorer in next site which is the problem she’s usually trying to avoid in the first place!

Orcas Island - Day 3

 Monday Sept 19, 2022. The Queen’s funeral. What a great lady and what an extraordinary public service she’s performed. And regrettably I missed completely all coverage. We have been out of wi-fi and cell phone internet service all day and I haven’t even heard how it went. Particularly poignant for me as one of my early memories in 1952 was huddling round a radio, as a family,  listening to the BBC news bulletin announcing the death of her father the late King’s George VI and remembering what a big event it was for my parents.

Most previous bike touring trips that Mary and I have had, have been goal oriented. It has been a joy therefor, apart from having occasionally to catch a certain ferry, to have a more relaxed program. We explored the east side of the island pretty extensively visiting the idyllic Doe Bay and the Obstruction Pass State Park hiking down to the remote beach from the trailhead. We didn’t cover huge mileages but the constant descent down into bays and inlets and back up again meant that we probably had total ascents of over 3,000 feet. But leaving gear at the tents was a game changer. And the same tomorrow when we’ll head towards the north end of the island stopping in Eastsound for coffee, laundromat and library on the way. The weather staying brilliantly fine, but always a cool breeze. As near perfect cycling conditions as you’re likely ever to get. And no bugs. What a bonus. 

We’ll be in this same campsite tomorrow night before loading up again to ride back down to the south end of the island , catch the ferry to Shaw Is. and then back to Annacortes the same day on the late afternoon ferry from there.