2023 GART

it dripped rain all night. woke up to gray mist, couldn't tell if it was raining or not. as the man said, typical northwest morning.    and started packing, assembling my gear and setting it on the bike for the first time.  testing fate, i hadn't checked it back in knoxville or portland.  but everything went together well, and after a cup of tea, a banana and the remnants of a scone, i was ready. an obligatory picture, a hug and kiss, and i was off.  suzi went for a walk along the beach. the san duc and bogachiel rivers join to form the quillayute a few miles from the coast.  fed by snow melt, they vary according to season.  and, of course, you're not supposed to bring wood with you or even harvest it there, so the locals sell it.  but not to worry if you don't have cash, venmo is recognized. it's unfortunate, but the forests here are managed for lumber.  every mile or two, there's another tract...

seattle:  coffee, walk up some hills, rei, beer along the waterfront, and chihuly. dan arrived today with no problems along the way.  bike is assembled and we're set to leave in the morning, by 9 hopefully.    no hurry, we do have 75-80 mi. and 2,400 feet of climb to do, but lots of daylight to do it. oh, and the green turtle.  we spent all three nights at the hostel.  we stayed at the the companion hostel in san francisco a few years ago.  suzi and i had a private room for the first two nights.  we had to move to a room for 6 (3 bunk beds) for the last night: we had our last dinner at ivars' acres of clams down on the waterfront. the sunset was worth the price of admission. not a bad send off and farewell to the olympic peninsula. 

a hike in a rain forest at lake quinault.  a magical, mystical experience. dinner is at a local bar & grill in forks.  suzi gets sent back to the car to fetch her i.d.  then car camping in the national forest at mora campground, just a mile and a half from the pacific coast.  and a late evening walk on rialto beach where the drift wood comes in the size of large tree trunks and the beach is small, water smoothed stones.  it's difficult to walk on and one really needs to be aware of the tides.  there's a steep wooded hillside that comes down about a hundred yards from the shore and there are warnings about where to go when the tide starts coming in.  suzi returned in the morning to walk down to 'hole in the wall'.

woke up to see the sunrise.  a sliver between the coastline and the heavy hanging cloud bank.  it was a surprise, because we watched the sun set the night before, one usually can't see the sunrise and sunset from the same location.  but there it was.  that's what happens when you're far enough north and near the solstice, i guess. we slept the night in the car, true car camping.  the back of the rogue with the back seats down fit suzi well enough, a little bit short for me.  after i woke and saw the sunrise, i went into the front seat to catch a little more sleep.   when we woke, it was warm enough, the wind had died down over the night. breakfast at the blackberry cafe.  disappointing for the lack of fresh blackberries, they were frozen from last year.  but there are flowering blackberry canes everywhere, another couple of weeks and they will be drowning in fresh, ripe ones. rode the discovery trail i...

we both started out sleeping in the tent last night, but in the middle of the night suzi got up and moved to the car.  between the hard ground and the cold, it just wasn't any fun.   after suzi left, i grabbed the thin foam pad she'd been using and i slept much better.  but in the morning, suzi started out pretty slow. i had a longer haul today, 70-75 mi. to the ferry and on into seattle.  suzi was going hiking, then drove to the hostel in seattle, drop off gear, take car back to airport, and finally light rail it back to the hostel. full day. i finally found some cherry trees to grab a little fruit off, breakfast thanks to the city of sequim.  had to dodge the morning birding club on the replacement railroad trestle.  the trail followed 101 to a couple of miles from discovery bay, then it was all highway.  some pretty good climbs to test my legs. then sight seeing was over and it was onto 104 and so...

i wasn't born for waiting. the calm before the storm, ha.  somehow i got that backwards.  anxiety's child.  like sundance kid, i shoot better when i'm moving. suzi and i departed early this morning.  big shout out to elijah andrews, who got up at 4 this morning to drive us to the airport.   shipping the bike as baggage couldn't have been easier - and more economical.  boxed the bike, weighed in at 49.5 lbs, under the 50 lb limit, so it was treated as a standard baggage item, now only $30.  in seattle, i had to drag it through the baggage area, on to the shuttle bus to car rental and put it in the back of the nissan rogue we rented.  perfect. we stopped in tacoma at the brewer's row for our first of many beers to come.  then on down to familiar ground in portland.  we had a wonderful visit with matt and diane.  matt continued to amaze us with his cooking skills and wine cellar.  diane does breakfast and is the baker and tho...