Thursday, June 11, 2009

Coasting the Coast?

wow, aberdeen washington, eh? if anyone has been here it feels like its name should be Anytown USA. one long long strip of grocery stores, walmart, and rite aids. but needless to say the trip so far has been amazing of course, and very ecclectic!

Orcas island was so beautiful, and the weather has been sunny ever since. leah and i started the trip camping in moran state park. we stayed 2 nights to get our bearing and hiked a good 6 miles up and around mt constitution. had the best view ever of the san juans from the summit... theres hundreds of islands up there!

sunday we left our camp at about 6am! (wow, wasnt ready for that.) to catch the only ferry to sydney, canada that day. after the ferry we took a breezy 20 mile bike ride down to victoria city. we spent a bout an hour and a half there, ate a $5 hot dog, saw a castle, and desided we should be heading to the land of the free again. victoria doesnt have too much going for it, as far as we could see. our eyes were set on the olympic hot springs, far across the straights. ....

weve been staying since victoria in beautiful olympic campgrounds: some with water, some without, but most with composting only toilets. its been a rugged smelly trip! ive yet to have a shower for 5 days! i smell, BAD! ("sorry" to the woman and her baby next to me at the library.) leah took one in lake quinalt last night, and i decided to wait for the state park we are staying in. too cold for me. but one day soon ill bath in the lake!

our trip since the hot springs area has dipped up and down from 1000 feet in elevation twice. which i find myself saying out loud: " i am a machine, im a well oiled machine." its been my mantra on the hilly parts and really works! i kinda had this idea that i'd be "coasting" on my coastal bike trip... btw weve biked about 290 miles this week. average rides are about 60 miles a day!

the food has been sustaining, mainly convenience stores and cans of quick camping food, precooked rice, fruit and veggies. i do want to note my most interesting meal so far... yesterday in kalacola on the pacific coast we ate a lunch of: cold wheat bread with cream cheese (from the victoria ferry,) one cold can of pork and beans, cheetos handi-snacks, one strawberry pop tart, and some trail mix. now thats a well balanced meal of over 200 ingredients!

the only meal that comes close to that weird is when we dropped pasta on the ground while draining it and had to sift through all the leaves and pine needles. the meal had a nice earthy quality...

so, yes we are having a blast! and yes, everyone should bike the washington coast. im surprised at how easy it is and how many places there are to camp and see the beauty of washington. its a great state to be in. looking forward to one days rest. then 100 miles to the oregon border.

until later! hope everything is well!
to the theonistas out there i need some more chocolate shipped out to me ASAP. ill let u know my whereabouts!
and Audrey rocks for lending me her awesome panniers! xo

1 comment:

  1. Taylor, I am ready to send chocolate--just send me an address and your arrival date and I'll get some there!
    Sounds like such a beautiful time; I'm so happy for you!
    becky

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