Day 1 - out of Seattle

Day 1 on the Road:

I think that leaving Seattle may well be the hardest small segment of my entire trip.  In the first 3 miles, I went up three or four of the steepest hills that I have ever climbed on a bike.

My first leg was from Janny and Erik's house to Edmonds, where I caught the ferry to Kingston.  I took the interurban trail as much as possible.  There weren't many fascinating sites, but I did pass a Sephardic cemetery en route.

Then it was onto the Ferry to Kingston.

From Kingston, I headed North to Port Gamble then West across the Hood Canal Bridge - that's a very long stretch of bridge, by the way.

Then I started heading North again, up past Paradise Bay towards Port Ludlow and Port Hadlock.  I had just started heading up a long hill outside of Paradise Bay, when I realized that I was running out of both energy and light, and lord knows, I'm not about to ride these twisty hilly roads in the dark.  So I thought that I'd just have to ask anyone that I saw if I could please throw up my tent in their yard for the night, as I was pooped, and the nearest campsite was about 10 miles away.

I approached the first person that I saw, a woman headed out to her mailbox, and she said that she'd have to go check with her husband.  About five minutes later she and her husband return and say that certainly I may set up in their yard, and by the way, had I eaten yet?

This is how I met Ann and Allen Barcus and their son Corey (who is my age).

So after I have set up camp, they invite me in and feed me wonderful food - salmon and rice with a side of tomatoes and banana bread and strawberries for dessert.  We proceeded to talk for hours and split a bottle of wine. Then the moon rose.  What a glorious view.

I crawled into my tent for the night.

In the morning, I woke up when a bird got himself caught between my tent and rainfly and started raising a ruckus.  He got himself loose again, but by that time, I was awake.

When I headed down to the house to use the bathroom, I found that Allen was cooking breakfast, and offered me some, wich I gratefully accepted - fried eggs, sausage and fried potatoes - I breakfast that I couldn't normally get away with, but with all the riding, I *do* get the advantage of burning off everything that I eat, and then some.

Allen and I then talked while I broke down camp and headed out - very interesting fun talk about a little of everything from electronics to bees and whatever else came to mind.

What a wonderful family.  You guys are definitely on my postcard list, and my xmas card list, if I ever do one again.

Day 1:
25.2 miles, at an average speed of about 8.5 mph (not including breaks - I've since changed the recording, so that it continued to count while I'm on the side of the road panting and getting ready for the next chunk of hill)
One ferry, one long bridge, more hills than I can keep track of, and 1 huge mitzvah for me.

This is definitely helping me to reinvigorate my view of humanity.