May 5, 2011
Day 5 Fall City to Hobart, Washington:
This day dawned drizzly, but as usual Dodie was raring to go at 5 a.m.. Of course, there could be a big element of needing to 'go' in that raring.
By 6:30 we were at the stage of folding the tent, and greeted a small crew who had arrived to work on park improvements. The crew was from the Snoqualmie band. Adam Osbekoff, the Cultural Project Coodinator & Energy Auditor for the Snoqualmie Tribe explained that a village had occupied the space prior to the ball park. His job is to ensure the cultural sensitivity of the work.
Most impressive to us was that the crew and everyone in the ara that we spoke to yesterday down to people walking dogs and/or just generally accosted by us for help or directions were universally friendly, and wished us a fun and safe journey every time.
Heading out of Fall City we stopped at a grocery where Dodie tried to contrive an eye patch to help with our latest minor health glitch, a possibly scratched cornea. The patch work failed, so no pirate cyclist image for now. Even two eyes on the road did not prevent us from stopping soon after with the realization that we were on the wrong road. We asked the Garmin for advice, and it replied 'Route Calculation Error'. Well, ya, we knew that!! Seriously though, a GPS that fails when you need it most is no joke. This error now crops up for nine of ten routing requests we try. Garmin will hear about it, should we ever make our way to a phone!
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CGOAB not only reports on trips, but is popular enough to assist on trips in real time. As we stared dumbfounded at our mega $$ Garmin and our inadequate State map, Jim Rupert popped out of a side road with a version of 'Crazyguyonabike?' Jim turns out not only to have read a bit of our blog but he also has much experience cycling in this area plus leading tours in Europe.
Jim strongly advised against our proposed travel on highway 18 and steered us instead to pass through Issaquah, Ravensdale, Enumclaw, and Sumner on the way to Puyallup and back on to our planned trajectory.
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We made it to Issaquah but had to stop for further directions once. At that stop the first person we asked spoke mainly Russian - not helpful, but we determined that we both spoke French = Connect! Unfortunately the fellow really was from Russia and had no idea how to direct us. (Neither did we bring up Moscow, Idaho!). Fortunately, 'Jack' who we encountered next walking his dogs was able to get us back on course.
In Issaquah we stopped at a restaurant called Pallino Pasteria in an area with Home Depot, Fred Meyer, Best Buy, etc. Pallino is quite large, with open seating. The 'Chicken Fruiteto Salad' at $8.95 was really super, and that is not just having had no breakfast talking. We also downed two other of their excellent choices. It's hungry work being lost. Plus, Joel, the manager, gave us added directions for getting to and out of town and was most friendly and articulate. Mention CGOAB and Joel says he will treat you specially here. The phone number of this location is 425-394-1090.
The road from Issaquah to Hobart was much like others in this area: Narrow shoulder, continuous stream of traffic, no services, no campgrounds, no motels. We think the nearest such services on our route will be at Enumclaw, about 26 km away. However, at 5:30 and with the narrow hilly busy road we are ready to quit. So here we sit on the steps of the Hobart fire department (nobody home) and beside the ball park. Assuming we do not get the boot, it's an ok place. There is a 'Honey Bucket' and a covered breezeway for the bikes and some grass.
There is also a hose spigot, and perhaps this netbook might later judiciously sip a little power from an outdoor connection. Best of all, there is 3G wifi, so y'all may soon be reading this in real time along with us!
Today's ride: 36 km (22 miles)
Total: 327 km (203 miles)
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