Malcolm and Gertrude's (and Hunter and Beau's) bicycle adventures: Days 6-8: Seattle to Toledo

The sky was grey and stormy as Hunter and I left Seattle, so we bundled up and prayed for a nice weather window. Instead of returning to the ACA maps via the Bremerton ferry, we decided to ride South through Seattle to take the ferry to Vashon island, and past that to ride to Olympia to spend a day with our friend Henry. On our way out of town, we were joined by my cousin Marine, who is doing her master's at UW. It was really great catching up and spending time with her as we attempted to bike through the road by Seattle's downtown waterfront, making painfully slow progress towards West Seattle and the ferry terminal. Luckily, the skies cleared somewhat and we had some nice sun as we pedaled.

Once we got to the ferry, we hung out for a bit (we missed the ferry we'd planned due to traffic) bid adieu to Marine, and relaxed, looking forward to the ride on Vashon. It's about 15 miles through winding roads, rolling hills, and lush greenery. We learned of a sheepdog competition happening that day, which explained how packed the ferry was.

As we exited the ferry and went straight up a comically steep hill, every other biker passed us, followed by a boat-full of cars. We eventually made it, and after that, the ride was amazing. It had the greenery, it had the curvy roads, it had gentle rolling hills. It also had very mild traffic, as every 45 minutes or so a new wave of cars would pass by. After passing through a very cute downtown, we decided to follow the signs to the sheepherder competition, in hopes of seeing some action. The back roads we followed were very hilly, but cars were quite kind in passing us as we puffed up the hills. We passed by the competition, which was very packed. We saw some herding in the distance and kept on plugging.

Blurry Vashon

The ferry to Tacoma

After getting to the end of Vashon, we had lunch in a beautiful city park in Tacoma, and planned our route. By then it was 2pm, and we still had 40+ miles to go on our Google-planned route through Tacoma, DuPont, and Olympia. We didn't think it would be wise to bike down busy roads around 5, and also wanted to get to Olympia sooner to spend time with friends, so we decided to have Henry pick us up 20 miles from Olympia. What a good decision that was to be.

Biking through Tacoma was absolutely amazing. We went past perhaps the most beautiful golf course (and I hate golf, so that's a big, water guzzling compliment), down nice roads, and through an amazing forest.

Tacoma city park!

Stupid, but pretty golf course

After Google tried to route us through an army base, we took a short detour back through the forest and entered DuPont, which was the most generic, soul-less all-American town I have ever seen. After passing by rows and rows of half-built DuPont (the town's corporate namesake) and Amazon warehouses, we cycled through spotless (and person-less) streets, past a kid's softball game and American flag flying suburban homes, down to the requisite strip-mall road bordering I-5, and out of there.

Or so we thought. Our carefully planned google maps bike route had us go over I-5, merge with southbound traffic, then pop on a JBLM road that paralleled the highway to the point Henry was to pick us up. The problem was, that JBLM road was 1) closed on weekends, and 2) inaccessible without some kind of permit. For the second time that day, Google maps had failed us. As there was literally no other way to leave Dupont than by the highway, walking down railroad tracks paralleling said highway, or circling around, bushwhacking into, and infiltrating a golf course for several miles, we decided to reconnect with Henry and ask him to drive a couple miles further down the road to get us. After getting a scoop of ice cream from the DuPont café, Henry arrived, loaded us into his car, and we drove to Olympia.

Henry lives on a property that I can only describe as magical. Was it the somewhat haphazard plants bursting from all angles, the yard that seemed to go forever, the fire pit, slackline, and yard games, the eerily pet semetary-type shrine, the art studio / woodshed combination, or the house itself? I'm not sure - perhaps all of it. Also at the house were other friends, including Matt, Maggie, and Even. We made lots of food, played lawn games, and hung out, and it was a lovely evening.

The next morning, we set out for a busy day. First was breakfast at a cool employee-owned restaurant, then a tour of town (Olympia is weirdly very punk), a stop by the farmers market, a hop and a skip to the grocery store then REI, after which we returned home for lunch and more relaxation as Henry putzed around the garden. After some time, we got back into the car and drove to a park, walked to the waterfront, and hung out in the sun (me) and watercolored (Henry & Hunter). We then got sushi with Henry's friend Teresa, and returned home for some zzz's.

Regretfully, the only photo I took in downtown Olympia

Kurt Cobain's ashes supposedly were spread somewhere in/near this pond

Leaving Olympia, we rode about 20 miles before reconnecting with the ACA route. Today was the first day Hunter and I both felt like we hit our stride - we're already feeling stronger, the road didn't feel as hilly, and the weather got quite hot. We could really notice the change in ecosystems as we left the coast, and enjoyed great views of Mt. St. Helen's as we aimed for the Toledo city park. This was our first shorter day, and it felt amazing. We took lots of breaks, got a milkshake and fries as we entered town, and still had the tent pitched by 4. After relaxing and stretching, we made some dinner, and I wrote this as Hunter read. Visiting many friends was amazing, but also slightly exhausting, so it felt good to have some quiet time. The next few days are also pretty short as we head back to the coast, so I'm looking forward to lots more relaxation!