Terrific Trio Fall 2014 Mini Tour

Wednesday, September 3, 2014

The first leg of the trip is to get to Port Townsend. Similar to a centepede, this leg has many other legs.

Leg 1a -- I need to bike from home to the ferry that will take me to Whidbey Island:

All packed up and ready for an adventure

The 9:00 ferry was just departing. I will be aboard the 9:30 as planned.

A beautiful day is developing as we cross over to the island

In a few short 15 minutes we are at the ferry dock

 

Ready to disembark in a moment

Leg 1b -- The plan is for Vickie to fetch me and my gear to plant one car at the starting point and drive to the ending point and plant a second car.

Vickie is there on time and starting on her morning latte

 

We add my bike to her rack

We meet Gerry in Anacortes and she has found us a cheap parking for the week.

 

We will end our tour here and reverse our tracks back to the car in Coupeville

 

But first we have to have lunch in Anacortes. It has been a busy morning and now afternoon!

We got to Gere-a-Deli at almost exactly noon to find the line at this popular cafe lined out to the door entry. We did not feel we had that much time to spend, so we went across the street for lunch -- we were the only ones there.

Leg 1c -- Drive back to Vickie's friend Joanne's to drop this car and pick up bikes that we stashed there.

Joanne made it convenient for us to set up our shuttle

Leg 1d -- Get to the ferry from Keystone to Port Townsend. My second ferry ride for the trip, thier first.

I cannot figure who would even try to ride a bike up this very steep ramp. But I suppose fearing litigation makes for such warnings. You never know who will try a stunt!

The day continued to get more beautiful and perfect for any activity -- driving, biking, walking or sitting and watching.

The annual wooden boat show is happening this weekend and Tall ships are arriving for it.

 

Tall Ship sails by downtown Port Townsend.

Leg 1e -- Get to our hotel between 3:00 and 6:00 before they close up. This is an old hotel and the "front desk" is actually the counter of the store below. The store clerk is also the front desk person for check in, and the store closes at 6:00.

The Water Street Hotel. Lovely old place where the bathroom is "down the hall". But we do have a sink in our wonderful corner room.

 

These are the step we had to carry our bikes UP to our room!!

We unloaded and carried our bags and gear up first. I got my bike as far as the first step and seemed kind of stuck. That is a loooonnnggg way up! A burly fellow was walking by and asked if I needed some help. That's OK, I said, I am waiting for one of my cycling buddies for help (those cycling buddies didn't really know that). Can I just do a quick trip up? he asked. Well sure then, I thankfully said. He handed me his cup of yogurt to hold (which made me feel like I was helping) and lifted up my (rather heavy) bike and brought it, seemingly effortlessly, to the landing where our room is. I have had several hightlights already on this trip, but for today -- this one is at the top. Thank you road angel.

Now if I can only find him tomorrow morning for the trip DOWN!

This will be the trip down in the morning. Vickie says I can just through the bike down.

All checked in and bikes securely in our rooms, we wandered around town for a bit. Well, of course I needed to do some sorting first!

Bike "sculpture" in town

Walking around the harbor made me a bit melancholy. Susan's Dad would bring us -- me, Susan and Susan's mom, as well as other family members at times -- by boat over here for dinner at the Chinese Restaurant. One year our friend Kim, from Vermont was visiting us and he brought us all here by boat. It was one of his favorite things to do -- and I thought about him and about Susan's mom a lot today.

At the Harbor. Can't see Gerry's face too well, but we had to put this in as our second of a series (we have one from another trip somewhere)

I say arrgh as I head the boat out to plunder.

One main stop for me in town was the tea shop we had visited when we were here in December. I wanted to get more of it for home. It adds a little to the gear I am carrying but oh well.

Pippa's tea house. I doubt I can miss a tea house on any adventure. If there is one, I need to go there!

Dinner and then home for bed. We are bushed!! And none of us have done even 10 miles of biking today. But you can see how full our day has been!! We did a great job of the logistics for this trip -- car shuttles, hotel rooms lined up, and maps ready to follow. We're good!

We will actually be riding bikes tomorrow.

 

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