Saturday, October 10, 2009

Seattle

First I want to apologize to anyone who checks daily for the lack of posts.  We have had some great weather the past week and have taken advantage of it by exploring Washington. 

We started in Bellingham where we met a great girl who has posted on this blog twice now.  Lara cycled from Boston to the west coast a few years ago.  We were able to talk for a while and she could relate to our ups and downs of this trip.  I believe she is planning another trip right now, and I hope she keeps us updated on her adventures.

From Bellingham we traveled 55 miles or so to Mt. Vernon.  When we got there, we were planning on staying at an RV park, but when we got there, it was full.  We had two options:  We could find a hotel, or we could set up camp somewhere.  This is pretty normal, but this was the first time we were near a major city with no farm land or countryside near by.  After looking at an area behind a McDonalds and deciding against, we traveled another mile until we found the future site of a Harley Davidson dealer.  We put our bikes in the high weeds and carried our tent about 100 feet off the 4 lane road into an area where they had hauled the trees cut and the dirt that was moved for the future building.  Through these trees, we could see part of a Wal*Mart and to our right was a Jack in the Box.  No bears or moose. 

The next day we stayed on a sail boat in a Seattle marina.  Seattle is a beautiful city.  The city is very clean considering the weather they get.  Every bus that travels through the city is electric like the majority of the busses in Vancouver.  They look like the Delorean from Back to the Future with huge antennas that follow power lines above the street.  We also went on a tour of Seattle that took us underground.  When Seattle was first built, it had a lot of trouble with the rain, the tide, and then a huge fire that wiped out 33 square blocks.  When they built the city back up, they built on top of the old city.  They built it above the old city.  It's very strange, but some of the old city is still under and the tour took us through that city.  Another stop we made was to the pike's market where we saw a number of fish throwers.  I don't know why they throw the fish, but everyone seemed to enjoy it.  Our final stop before leaving was to REI.  REI is an outdoor athletic store for those in Ohio.  REI Seattle is huge.  They have a 5 story rock climbing wall in the store amongst other great ways to demo their products.  I would highly recomend stopping or calling an REI if you are ever planning a camping, sking, biking, or hiking trip.  The workers are extremely helpful and all love what they are doing.  Seattle was another city I will come back to at some point.

While we were on the tour of Seattle, one of the guides, Gail, asked if we needed a place to crash for the night.  She rides a bike to work everyday, around 7 miles one way.  Gail was great!  She made us burritos and popcorn and was cracking us up all night.  If you ever take a tour of underground Seattle, ask for Gail as your tour guide.

We are now on our way to Portland.  I will update tomorrow more details.

Thanks,
Steve

7 comments:

  1. My roommate is from Portland and knows lots of people. If you guys need a place to stay give me a call and he can probably set you guys up.

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  2. oh yea and my friend sam said to give him a call

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  3. Oh, I'll get right on that Youstel!! *(ok, Sam....Sam....Sam....oh, I forgot his last name. Oh. wait, I don't even know what it is. Maybe I'll just shout it out when we get into town!)*

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  4. Don't forget to check out Jughandle Creek. Mendocino is so awesome. http://www.tripadvisor.com/Hotel_Review-g32180-d590415-Reviews-Jughandle_Creek_Farm_and_Nature_Center-Caspar_California.html

    If you had not stayed here, I would have spent 8 minutes next door and come home. Instead I danced and had a wonderful time. I'll be hooked on your blog until you dip your toes in the Atlantic. My niece works for Kimpton there - maybe I can hook you up so you can celebrate the end of your journey in style!

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  5. Hey I was out riding my bike when you caled. Go figure

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  6. I'm a few days/weeks behind here. I can't believe they let you back into the country! haha
    Just wanted to say hey!
    -Shanna

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  7. outdoor ADVENTURE store, bebeh! rode my bike to work yesterday--16 mile round trip. :) think of you two often when i am on the bike....livin' for what many is just a romantic dream.

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