Days 1-5: Vancouver to Seattle

Vancouver was a delight to bike through. Immediately upon beginning our trip, we were treated to (in my eyes) common-sense bicycle infrastructure. Every 8 blocks or so, the road we cycled was blocked by a "bikes only" section in the middle, completely disencentivizing through traffic while at the same time creating a safe bike corridor and a quiet neighborhood. Whenever we crossed a busy road, there was a dedicated pedestrian/cyclist light, which promptly stopped traffic at the push of a button. After pedaling through a wealthy part of town with mansions bordering the road, we started to exit the city. Entering a more industrial area, the first river we crossed had a huge bike/pedestrian-only path underneath the light-rail.

After that, we very quickly hit a beautiful road with the river on our left and industrial businesses on the right. There were lots of "bikes on roadway" signs, and the drivers were amazing! If there was any sign of an oncoming vehicle, the trucks, semis, and cars behind us would patiently slow down and wait until the road cleared up, after which they would cautiously pass, giving us a wide berth. This behavior held as we exited Vancouver entirely and hit the countryside. After crossing over the highway, we entered Surrey, Canada's fastest-growing city. We biked through not-unpleasant urban sprawl for what felt like forever, before entering what appeared to be wine country, with large fields of grapes on both sides of the road. Standing tall above the stunted bushes were huge mansions - I suppose wine-making is a fun hobby if youre that rich. After a very steep hill (and some pushing of the bikes) we finally exited Surrey, and arrived at the U.S. border.

Hunter and I gleefully biked past the very long line of vehicles and entered a building to be processed. There were two lines: one for walker/bikers (3 people + us), and one for people with visa issues (12+). We all stood and stared at the single CBP employee helping people, surrounded by 9 empty processing desks.

I must say, the U.S. does not attempt to be a welcoming country. In fact, we are actively unwelcoming. For context, Hunter and I were The only white people in line. The CBP officer would wave people over, begin processing, get up, walk around, sit back at their desk, stare intently at their screen for a few minutes, stroll into what I can only imagine was a break room, stamp forms, disappear for a 10 minute break, then reappear and begrudgingly wave up the next group. This wouldn't be a problem per say if the place was understaffed (maybe the officer was following an efficient protocol) - however, there were at least 3 other CBP officers drifting around aimlessly with scowls on their faces, beautifully illustrating brownian motion like motes of dust on a sunny afternoon, which only increased the unwelcoming atmosphere.

After waiting an hour for the three people in front of us to be processed, the officer waved Hunter and I up (again, the only white people waiting), gave us a quick glance, and within a minute (and no mid-processing walkabouts) handed us our paperwork. We excited and pushed our bikes to the border. Lo and behold, our officer had forgotten to stamp our form. Not a problem! The person at the border looked us up and down and waved us through without verifying anything. If that isn't the textbook example of a racist system, I don't know what is.

Un-stamped paperwork at the ready

Regardless, after crossing the border, we had lunch in a gas station parking lot, biked through a town right as school got out and shared the road with lots of busses, and made our way towards Bellingham.

After our first day of biking, what better way to rewards ourselves than with a rest day? My best friend Clay lives in Bellingham, so we spent that evening and the next day eating at Aslan Brewing, getting ice cream, biking to some waterfalls, and walking around town. It was beautiful! In my mind I had pictured Bellingham as a smaller Seattle - instead it was a delightfully crunchy small town.

On our way out of town, we rode down chuckanut drive, a beautiful, winding road hugging the coastline. Luckily, traffic was non-existant - I wouldn't feel safe riding on a busy day.

We then went through some fields and the super cute town of Edison, before taking the Padilla Bay Shore Trail.

Preach, snowperson, preach

lol

The Padilla Bay Trail

We then hopped on the highway (thankfully with a large shoulder), and took a well deserved break at a coffee shop.

Revitalized, we continued on through deception pass state park, with beautiful views of the Strait of Juan De Fuca, and very narrow shoulders.

Past the park, we rode on semi-busy highway 20 before continuing on and camping at a hiker/biker site at Fort Casey Historical State Park, a Stone's throw from the ferry to Port Townsend, and were lulled to sleep by the loud fighter jets of the nearby naval reservation.

Bright and early we boarded the ferry and then rode an amazing trail 9 miles almost to Port Hadlock.

After that was slightly more stressful as we raced to make the 3pm ferry to Seattle. Spirits (and bodies) very dampened by a sudden downpour, we soggily and furiously biked to Bremerton. One accidental freeway adventure later, we exited via an on-ramp and continued on our path, losing precious time. After upping our average mph from 9.6 to 12.6 for the last half-hour, we regretfully missed the ferry by 3 minutes and decided to get some quiche and a muffin and an iced latte while we waited for the next one. After that ride, we rode through Seattle to Hunter's friends Marianne and Austin's house, before taking another rest day! (Again, we are taking it very gently till Portland)

Watching the first game of the world cup!

That's it for now. Tomorrow, we ride to Olympia, and we rest again!