Day 64-69 – Anacortes -> Seattle, WA

Saturday, November 13^th, 2010

Today I left Bellingham and headed south to Seattle to visit with my sister and brother-in-law. On the way I stopped in Anacortes. Anacortes is a small city on Fidalgo Island, covers 14.2 square miles and has a population near 17k. The majority of the island is surrounded by the waters of the Puget Sound but it is still connected by land to Washington State on its eastern shore. My first impression of Anacortes was that of a beach town. Marinas had their place on the shoreline housing motor boats and sailboats. Others marinas were tailored more to commercial operations such as whale watching and ferry services to the various islands in the Sound as well as British Columbia. Here it seemed like people trade their mountain bikes for beach cruisers and quads for kayaks. It feels like a pretty nice town. Other islands are visible from the shoreline, however as nice as that is the views are somewhat diminished by the plumes of smoke coming from the Tesoro oil refinery and pipeline across the water. It is quite puzzling why gas costs $3.20 per gallon here with it's own refinery in town.

It was a typical overcast day with temperatures in the low 50s. Being close to the water makes it always feel chillier than it really is. I felt I needed something warm to eat. Good thing I was close to Bob’s Chowder Bar. The sign in the window read “Voted Best Chowder” which I took as a challenge to my taste buds. I walked inside to a menu of different chowders but ordered a bowl of whatever was their famed chowder. I sat down at one of the few seats along the window facing the street and spooned into a bowl of New England style clam chowder. I have to admit that anytime I’m about to try something that has been labeled “the best”, I’m skeptical. Now besides fish tacos, one of my other weaknesses is chowder. This had the perfect balance of texture, consistency and flavor. Bob’s Chowder Bar serves the best clam chowder I have ever had. If you like chowder like I do, get some at Bob’s! Before I left I bought a quart to take with me to Seattle.

After fighting the traffic and trying to find a place to pick up some beer I finally got to Becky and Rick's place. I had to park on the street so I grabbed my two bikes from the roof and a couple of bags to bring inside. We spent the rest of the day drinking beer, eating pizza and watching football followed by a movie. It was the perfect way to relax. It felt good to be in a house again.

Day 65 - 69, Sunday through Thursday

I realize that I've been behind in posting for awhile. I arrived in Seattle last Saturday and have been spending time with my sister and brother-in-law. I've been enjoying the lazy days in rainy Seattle. It's been snowing in the Pass's nearby so I'll be checking the road conditions and planning a day trip to go play in the snow. Yesterday my sister and I found a butcher who sells rabbit so we could make some rabbit stew. It was pretty awesome. We also bought some wild boar so if anyone knows of a recipe for boar, let me know. Other than that, it's gonna be slow goin' for a little while and I'm quite happy about that!

Day 63 – Mt. Baker, WA

Friday, November 12^th, 2010

The sun finally broke out today. By the time I got out of my car it was already 50 degrees. It felt warm in comparison to most days and it was tempting to put shorts on but it would’ve been too much of a hassle to actually find a pair of shorts to wear. I ate breakfast at the McDonald’s that was attached to the WalMart. I surveyed the area around Bellingham on my phone while eating a #7 combo, a sausage, egg and cheese McGriddle, hash brown and several refills of coffee. In unrelated news, I finally got around to washing my hair and the 63 days of growth on my face in the back corner of the parking lot this morning. That alone gave me a nice recharge. I’ve gone without properly bathing now for longer than I care to share, so I won’t. I only mention it because I’m sure it will embarrass my mother.

Out of Bellingham I drove US-542 (aka Mt. Baker Hwy) to Mt. Baker. The total drive was about 75 minutes and almost 60 miles. On the way I stopped in at the Glacier Ski Shop. The sign out front said open Saturday and Sunday. There were no cars in the parking lot and when I walked inside to a dark shop I found out they were closed. Even though they were closed, I stayed and talked ski equipment for almost an hour with a guy named Drew, I’m guessing he was the owner? He could’ve shut the door on me but he was more than willing to talk shop. I’m going to give their website a plug here, www.glacierskishop.com. If you’re ever out by Mt. Baker, stop on by.

The drive up to Mt. Baker offered tremendous scenery as it passed through the Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie National Forest, which extends more than 140 miles from the Canadian border all the way south to Mt. Rainier. The two lane road worked its way up the mountain through a thick forest of old growth firs and pines to a base elevation of 3,500’, starting at almost sea level in Bellingham. In some places the trees formed a canopy over the road, creating a dark, shady environment. Views of 10,000' snow covered mountains could be seen in the clearings. The snowline came on at once with clear, dry roads and perfectly clean trees that quickly turned to burms of plowed snow and branches flocked in white. Mt. Baker has it all, the beauty of a PNW national forest and a ski resort which averages 647 inches of snow annually. During the 1998-1999 season they received 1,140 inches. That’s 95 feet of snow! There were probably 30+ cars in the parking lot at the base of the resort. Everyone was there for the same purpose. Men, women, boys and girls, as well as few dogs came to make their way up the mountain, just to come back down again, whether it be on skis, snowboards, snowshoes or sleds. I had to fight myself to leave my snowboard and related gear packed away inside the bubble on my roof. My car box is so perfectly packed that I would never be able to fit everything back inside again. It was hard to watch others make turns without being able to join them.

I finished the day back in Bellingham. I made it to the downtown area to visit another ski shop. Bellingham is a nice area, almost city-like, with views of both the mountains to the east and the Puget Sound waterway to the west. I walked around the downtown area for about two hours, or eight quarters worth of meter time. At one intersection I came across a protest, well not so much a protest but a group of about 20 people walking around waiving signs. I love a good protest so I went to find out what the cause was. Given where I was, I probably could’ve guessed what people were angry about. Here are a few of the signs I saw: “The RIGHT is WRONG”, “Jesus Christ was a Socialist”, “Free people, not markets”, “We want healthcare!” and “Eat your babies” to protest the end to federally funded abortions. Everyone there was peaceful and willing to talk to me, and even ask me for some spare change. Now, I’m not going to turn this into a political rant, those of you who know me, know where I stand. Let’s just say that it might be difficult for me to “fit in” around here.

Day 61 & 62 – Spokane to Bellingham, WA

Wednesday, November 10^th, Thursday, November 11^th, 2010

Not a whole lot to update for the past two days as I spent most of the time driving. I woke up yesterday and waited patiently outside of a Krispy Kreme Donuts for that red light to come on indicating a fresh, hot new batch of donuts. It’s more cost effective, per donut, to buy six rather than just one or two so the woman behind the counter filled a box with three glazed, two custard filled and one sour crème. The first two, ok three donuts were fantastic. Nothing beats a hot Krispy Kreme. I should’ve saved some for the road but I knew they were best hot. The last two I kind of had to force down, both from being full and because the sixth one, of anything, is never as good as the first. It’s the age old law of diminishing returns. I knew it going in but I wanted to try to prove it wrong, just this once. I was now caffeinated and over-sucrose-enated so I decided to just walked around Spokane for a few hours. It was crowded with both people and cars which is to be expected with a population over 200k, it’s just been a while since I've been in a town larger than 1/10th this size.

I left Spokane a little after 3pm and headed north on US-395. I made it as far as Coleville before I had enough driving. I don’t think it was more than 75 miles but it was about as much as I wanted to do for the day. I spent about two hours in Arby's reading some magazines and the local newspaper. I'm sure by now you all know where I spent the night, it rhymes with hallfart.

Today I got a decent start to the day. I stayed on US-20 going west just about the entire way to Bellingham. Most of the day was cloudy, with some intermittent snow and rain, with temps in the mid 40s. During the first hour I think I saw more logging trucks than cars. There were a lot of little towns and apple orchards along the way. Once I reached the Cascade Mountain Range it was a lot of up and down driving. After a while the pressure changes were starting to bother my ears. There is something about the Pacific Northwest. I don’t quite know how to describe it but every time it catches me off guard. I think it’s the combination of the high, rugged mountain peaks, the almost perfectly straight and tall varieties of firs, spruce and pine trees, waterfalls and flowing rivers and the abundance of lush green color. The route I chose along the northern cascades was beautiful but gas stations are few and far between. I filled up with the most expensive gas of the trip in a town named Winthrop. Regular gas was $3.40 per gallon and it took me a while to figure out how to use the circa 1940 gas pump.

I continued on US-20 until it connected with I-5 which I took north to Bellingham. It was raining and I was catching the beginning of the rush hour commute. I found a Barnes and Noble to kill some time outside of my car and write something. It’s almost 6:30 so I guess its time to find a place to get a bite to eat and to stretch my legs a bit.

Mileage update: 8,390