By now those who religiously read my blog (can't imagine) you have probably figured out we are home now.  So this is how the trip wound down. 

June 5th
I didn't mention that yesterday, Barb had mentioned that she liked the Bob (trailer) as is slowed me down going up hills so that she enjoyed them more.  She could keep up with me on the flats, but I was faster and she didn't "enjoy" them as much.  Being a guy, I filed that away and on I went!  Unfortuneately, I didn't take the time to decrypt the message, which basically said...."Your going too damn fast!!!"  But Hey, I figured it out in a couple of days....  Enough of that for now, back to the trip.....

Last shot of the Hotel Cathlamet

Needed something for my birder to identify

 

You can't see this, but the windows on the right side of the blue house have stained glass that look like shutters

 

Cruisen down the Columbia on Highway 4.  didn't have time to take pictures when the logging trucks passed.  Must've looked cute, cuz one of the trucks honked at me.....

And the old familiar Cascade Peaks come into view.  this is Mt St Helens....guess you wouldn't call this a peak,

 

A real shot for the birder.

 

 

And another shot of the non-peak

 

 

 

 

For those who couldn't read the back corner of the barn, I blew it up.  I suggested to Barb that maybe next trip she could take this stuff and tow the Bob.....didn't seem to go over too good.......

Well we rode, some hills, but a lot of flat to Toledo, Washington.  About a half mile out of town I broke a spoke.  Barb wasn't feeling too good as we had been pushing it a bit.  Did 56 miles today.  So I decided to forgo fixing the spoke and we went to the neareast (actually the only) cantina in town and had a great Mexican dinner.  The town of Toledo has a community park that has camping, with hot showers and everything.  Perfect for the evening.

 

As I fixed the spoke, Barb went out and made friends with the neighbors.  We also caught some great sunsets. 

June 6th
My friend Wayne came down to meet us and ride portions of the route with us.  Of course we said, as long as you are driving and parking, you can schlep our stuff for us, so we were mostly weightless today.  I must admit I was having a bit of the horse to the barn mentality for the past few days, and it was starting to bug Barb a little bit.  But more on that later.

Oh and by the way, figured out how to get to my old posts, just hard to see on the smaller Surface screen..

Definately Washington vegetation

Couldn't pass this up, never seen Llamas used in junk yards before......

Shade anyone???

 

 

And the big peak, Rainier

I saw this and almost headed back to San Diego.  With all the hills and in-fact training I have done for the past 6 weeks, we had to walk the little bit at the top and that was WITHOUT Bob!!!!

 

More of Rainier

Wayne taking his dutiful poses.

 

So with that we were on the way to Spanaway, where we finally packed all our stuff into Waynes van and headed to his house in south Tacoma.  Had a great Italian meal and slept well.  we did 75 miles today.

 

June 7

It was this morning that I finally figured out I had been pushing too much and the trip was going too fast for Barb (remember the unencrypted message???)  So I promised to go easy today and if we didn't make it home I was fine with that. 

 

Wayne took us back to Puyallup and let us of....kinda like stray cats, I think he was trying to get rid of us....  Actually, he drove to Tukwila and parked his van and rode down the Interurban trail to meet us. 

 

As we were going through Puyallup, Barb needed to stop for her daily wardrobe change.  I happened to pick a parking lot at a thrift type store.  As Barb was changing I noticed all these young ladies milling around working on bikes and various other things.  One of them said Hi, and feeling accomplished I yelled out we were finishing a bike trip from San Diego to Woodinville.  They got real excited about that as they were just starting their bike trip to Boston.  They were equally excited to get their picture in my blog (go figure) and also with their banner.  We had a fun chat and off we went. 

The Interurban trail, nice not to have to fight traffic....kinda reminded me of the redwoods.

And something I have missed, Bellevue rush hour traffic....NOT

When we got to Tukwila, it was obvious we weren't going to make it home, so we rented the least expensive room in Bellevue.....THE HILTON.  Beautiful accomodations.  I always wanted to take a bike up the glass elevators.  We had a great dinner and enjoyed the comfortable room. And if you can imagine, Barb was in much better spirits in that we were savoring the last bit of our trip.

 

June 8
We did only 18 miles today to finish.  Our son Brent rode out to meet us.  Of course being the last day we took time to go to a coffee shop in Redmond.  There we met Bill and Lorrie (damn, we forgot to get their picture...oh well they know who they are) 

This is Brent and Barb.....still smiling, in fact if you look closely, they have the same smile..imagine that.

As we got into the "hood" we were met by Tom Lisa and Donna, at the top of the LAST HILL!!!!!!

 

Then our neighbor Colleen came over to greet us.   Followed later on that evening by a neighborhood party at Steve and Micky's.  The party was something special as we have lived in this neighborhood with most of these people for over 20 years.  I have to take that work "special" in stride cuz this neighborhood has parties as the drop of a hat....and picking up the hat....and..... But Thanks to All as they have supported us throughout our EPIC JOURNEY!!!!!!

And as we pass from this experience to our next we thank all that contributed to our successful trip, and sharing this with you was a contribution in itself as sharing lifes experiences is what it is all about. 

By now those who religiously read my blog (can't imagine) you have probably figured out we are home now.  So this is how the trip wound down. 

June 5th
I didn't mention that yesterday, Barb had mentioned that she liked the Bob (trailer) as is slowed me down going up hills so that she enjoyed them more.  She could keep up with me on the flats, but I was faster and she didn't "enjoy" them as much.  Being a guy, I filed that away and on I went!  Unfortuneately, I didn't take the time to decrypt the message, which basically said...."Your going too damn fast!!!"  But Hey, I figured it out in a couple of days....  Enough of that for now, back to the trip.....

Last shot of the Hotel Cathlamet

Needed something for my birder to identify

 

You can't see this, but the windows on the right side of the blue house have stained glass that look like shutters

 

Cruisen down the Columbia on Highway 4.  didn't have time to take pictures when the logging trucks passed.  Must've looked cute, cuz one of the trucks honked at me.....

And the old familiar Cascade Peaks come into view.  this is Mt St Helens....guess you wouldn't call this a peak,

 

A real shot for the birder.

 

 

And another shot of the non-peak

 

 

 

 

For those who couldn't read the back corner of the barn, I blew it up.  I suggested to Barb that maybe next trip she could take this stuff and tow the Bob.....didn't seem to go over too good.......

Well we rode, some hills, but a lot of flat to Toledo, Washington.  About a half mile out of town I broke a spoke.  Barb wasn't feeling too good as we had been pushing it a bit.  Did 56 miles today.  So I decided to forgo fixing the spoke and we went to the neareast (actually the only) cantina in town and had a great Mexican dinner.  The town of Toledo has a community park that has camping, with hot showers and everything.  Perfect for the evening.

 

As I fixed the spoke, Barb went out and made friends with the neighbors.  We also caught some great sunsets. 

June 6th
My friend Wayne came down to meet us and ride portions of the route with us.  Of course we said, as long as you are driving and parking, you can schlep our stuff for us, so we were mostly weightless today.  I must admit I was having a bit of the horse to the barn mentality for the past few days, and it was starting to bug Barb a little bit.  But more on that later.

Oh and by the way, figured out how to get to my old posts, just hard to see on the smaller Surface screen..

Definately Washington vegetation

Couldn't pass this up, never seen Llamas used in junk yards before......

Shade anyone???

 

 

And the big peak, Rainier

I saw this and almost headed back to San Diego.  With all the hills and in-fact training I have done for the past 6 weeks, we had to walk the little bit at the top and that was WITHOUT Bob!!!!

 

More of Rainier

Wayne taking his dutiful poses.

 

So with that we were on the way to Spanaway, where we finally packed all our stuff into Waynes van and headed to his house in south Tacoma.  Had a great Italian meal and slept well.  we did 75 miles today.

 

June 7

It was this morning that I finally figured out I had been pushing too much and the trip was going too fast for Barb (remember the unencrypted message???)  So I promised to go easy today and if we didn't make it home I was fine with that. 

 

Wayne took us back to Puyallup and let us of....kinda like stray cats, I think he was trying to get rid of us....  Actually, he drove to Tukwila and parked his van and rode down the Interurban trail to meet us. 

 

As we were going through Puyallup, Barb needed to stop for her daily wardrobe change.  I happened to pick a parking lot at a thrift type store.  As Barb was changing I noticed all these young ladies milling around working on bikes and various other things.  One of them said Hi, and feeling accomplished I yelled out we were finishing a bike trip from San Diego to Woodinville.  They got real excited about that as they were just starting their bike trip to Boston.  They were equally excited to get their picture in my blog (go figure) and also with their banner.  We had a fun chat and off we went. 

The Interurban trail, nice not to have to fight traffic....kinda reminded me of the redwoods.

And something I have missed, Bellevue rush hour traffic....NOT

When we got to Tukwila, it was obvious we weren't going to make it home, so we rented the least expensive room in Bellevue.....THE HILTON.  Beautiful accomodations.  I always wanted to take a bike up the glass elevators.  We had a great dinner and enjoyed the comfortable room. And if you can imagine, Barb was in much better spirits in that we were savoring the last bit of our trip.

 

June 8
We did only 18 miles today to finish.  Our son Brent rode out to meet us.  Of course being the last day we took time to go to a coffee shop in Redmond.  There we met Bill and Lorrie (damn, we forgot to get their picture...oh well they know who they are) 

This is Brent and Barb.....still smiling, in fact if you look closely, they have the same smile..imagine that.

As we got into the "hood" we were met by Tom Lisa and Donna, at the top of the LAST HILL!!!!!!

 

Then our neighbor Colleen came over to greet us.   Followed later on that evening by a neighborhood party at Steve and Micky's.  The party was something special as we have lived in this neighborhood with most of these people for over 20 years.  I have to take that work "special" in stride cuz this neighborhood has parties as the drop of a hat....and picking up the hat....and..... But Thanks to All as they have supported us throughout our EPIC JOURNEY!!!!!!

And as we pass from this experience to our next we thank all that contributed to our successful trip, and sharing this with you was a contribution in itself as sharing lifes experiences is what it is all about.