December 7, 2012
Victoria BC to Sequim, Washington
At 6:22 a plaintive voice penetrated my sleep. 'Steeeve, 'Steeeve'. I knew that our ferry to Port Angeles would leave at 10:30, and I had set the alarm for 7:15. Plenty of time to eat breakfast with Karyn and Erhard and cycle the short distance along the bike path to the dock.
The fact that Dodie was awake and ready to go was, I hoped, a sign of first day only enthusiasm. Waking up before dawn for the next 60 days could be a bit harsh. Erhard cycles to work each day along the bike trail so we rode along together into town, accompanied by the many other commuters who take advantage of this wonderful asset for the city.
When the time came for us to part ways, we gave Erhard a big kiss that would have to last 60 days.
Since we have lived nearby for 35 years, Victoria is our city and we know it well. Still the familiar sights pique our interest: the harbour, totem poles, the legislature, the Empress Hotel. These are all things that hoards of tourists in Summer travel to see.
We arrived at the ferry naturally an hour and a half early and had fun hanging out with the few other travellers who were there. One small group was from France, and of their number one was reading out the entries from a guide book. It was strange to hear our region extolled in Parisian guidebook-ese, especially since here we were trying to leave as fast as possible.
At last we were allowed on board, with scarcely a glance from the US immigration agent. The bikes took up positions with a good view, on the deck.
These positions were soon shown to not be the best, as high winds out on the water threatened to blow our stuff overboard. The boat wallowed through the medium swells, and we soon considered regretting the hot goulash, provided by Karyn, that we ate from our thermos.
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Once ashore in Port Angeles, it was easy to turn immediately east and hop onto the Waterfront Trail, which is part of the Olympic Discovery Trail.
We immediately ran into a line of well placed benches, each with memorials for someone departed.
Dodie chose one as a place for some of her parents ashes. She carries them everywhere and has them continue their journeys, with us. Strangely, the bench chosen at random was not dedicated to a local person but rather to Yitshak Rabin.
We must have a knack for finding memorials, because we next came upon one dedicated to public service workers lost in 911. This included a girder from the twin towers. It was a bit shivery to touch it. Our luck ended with the path being blocked by construction. So we had to make our way up to Highway 101, which will be our main route for some time further south.
This time we were able to find a way back to the trail, and that took us all the way in to Squim. Travelling along a trail, free from traffic, is always a thrill for us. This one offered views of the now snow covered Olympic mountains, the quiet forest, and secluded houses.
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Sometimes we descended to stream beds and for a short time felt deliciously isolated. I thought of mentioning to Dodie that it was just us and the bears, but wisely kept my mouth shut.
In one of these stream beds was a long wooden bridge and boardwalk. The surface was very slippery. As I pedalled along the bike suddenly came out from under me, skittering away sideways. I kept going, though forced now to run rather than pedal. When I noticed the difference, I turned around and snapped a photo of the downed bike. Dodie, up ahead, had missed the whole debacle.
At the far end of the bridge an information board confirmed my impression of wildlife being around. The species listed were just the usual for this area, but our thinking is still conditioned by Europe, where this list of animals nearby would be impossible, at least until Russia.
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The ups and downs with the streams were no real impediment, but we found ourselves appreciating our new low low gearing. We think it was very helpful for our knees, because now we normally had the option of choosing a lower gear rather than trying to push too hard. A few slopes were still walking material. Even if we could have used the low gears to power up, I think the strain on the rear spokes could easily have been too much.
We cruised placidly along, but first noticed the temperature dropping. The bike computer had had it pegged at 4 degrees all day, and though it didn't actually move, we felt a big difference. This was probably due to sunset, because all too soon we were cycling in the dark. Two years ago we had also been caught in the dark on this trail, but this time we were armed with 300 lumen lights. Fortunately Sequim appeared fairly quickly, and we found the Sundowner Motel. At $39.99 for a large, clean, if dated room, this is probably the best deal we will find on the trip.
We ditched the bikes inside and marched off into the night to find the AT&T shop at the edge of town. Sequim isn't very long so we can't be far from you, the AT&T man had said on the phone. To us, though, it felt like a pretty fair hike.
Once there, the man told us that AT&T, or maybe his branch, only understands iPads and no other tablets. He even refused to dial 611 (customer service) for us, since this could entail no sale for his shop. As to my dripping nose from the hike in the cold wind, he denied even having a tissue. Sometimes American capitalism can be so weird!
We hiked back and dined on more stew, from the well named Highway 101 Diner. We are planning to go beserk and go back tomorrow (at 6:00 a.m., Dodie now informs me!) for pancakes and eggs instead of our staple oatmeal. We are not tired from the short cycles we have done so far, but I am beat and my face is burning a bit, from the chill and wind burn. We will get used to it, no doubt. A streetside thermometer read 22 degrees F as we did our hike, but I think it was just kidding us!
Today's ride: 45 km (28 miles)
Total: 80 km (50 miles)
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