Day 5

Today we had a rest day. We rode 26 miles to Kalaloch Beach to spend
the night at the Lodge here. In my mind, Kalaloch was a beach town,
like Bethany Beach with salt water taffy, fudge and a cheap Mexican
restaurant. And the Kalaloch Lodge had a sauna, a bar and maybe a spa.
No.
Kalaloch Beach IS the Kalaloch Lodge. Well this is a picture of the
beach. But there is no town. We have been making some great meals out
of convienence stores. We have a sweet cabin with a fireplace, beds
and kitchen! I'm so excited just for a pillow.

The beach is so awesome. We walked down and sat in front of someone's
fire.
Tomorrow, we ride aroud 60 miles. We're planning to cut across the
Quinnault Indian Reservation and get back to the coast.

Sent from my iPhone

We've reached the beach!!

Blackberry stop!

Day 4

Yesterday we rode 52 miles from Fairholm to the Hoh Rain Forest. The
campsite was...strange. It was luke camping in a parking lot. Them
there was a huge hillbilly party from 12-3 am. The memorable quote of
the night was, "hey your dog just bit me!!!" at around 2 am.
Today will be a short day. We have a 5 mile climb out of the rain
forest and then another 21 to Kalaloch Beach where Al sprung for a
cabin in the lodge. I'm hoping for a sauna and a hot tub and possibly
some Mexican food.

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Eat right or else

Day 3
We rode about 56 miles today. We made a stupid call and decided to eat
a little and ride to Port Angeles for "breakfast." It was 17 miles
away per the map. 17 miles on a road bike to get breakfast is
perfectly fine. 17 miles on an 80 pound touring bike (which turned
into 26 miles to take the sweet bike path) takes 3 HOURS. Breakfast
became lunch at a Thai place that served mini sizes. I think it
killed a little piece of my soul. I can't recover the calories that I
need if I skip breakfast. Everyone was hurting. We did a lot of
climbing on trafficy roads. But the end was worth the means for a
bunch of reasons.
1. A picture of me next to a road sign for Forks! We'll get there
tomorrow
2. Port Angeles where Bella and Edward had their first date after he
saves her from the rapists.
3. Crescent Lake where we are camping. The water in the lake is so
blue, it looks fake. I'll post a picture later. There are no showers
at the campground so Al, Nik and I jumped into the 60 degree lake.
Shower + I washed my bike shorts, I love to multitask.
Now I'm laying on the ground because I just finished stuffing my face
with fritos, bean dip and chocolate milk.

Tomorrow we will get the nutrition right.

Campsite in Sequim, WA

Day 2

Today we rook the ferry from Edmonds, WA to Kingston, WA and started
our ride. I felt way more comfortable on the bike today. We rode up
the 104 to the 101. There was a lot of big truck traffic but still it
was a great ride. This is a picture of the view from a roadside
espresso place that served (delicious) Lavender Mochas.

We rode 42.5 miles today. Solid first day. A big thanks to Multnomah
County and all her hills. We did some major climbing today and I felt
damn good even with my 50 pound ass on the bike.

Mt. Rainier

This is a view of Mt. Rainier from the bike path out of Seattle.

Day one

Today we rode about 26 miles from Seattle to Edmonds, WA. This was my
first real day of riding on a loaded bike. It's definitely
different...I've never been the best bike handler so I'm trying to
work on it. After a couple days, I'll be fine.

This is a picture of my new Gore shorts. I bought myself a nice pair
of Gores before we moved and have been saving them for this trip. When
I went to pack, they were gone. So I've been complaining to Nik and
also blamed Nik for losing them. Then continued to blame Nik while I
rode in my cheap old Trek shorts today. I cursed him every time the
crotch got caught on my seat and basically every chance I got.
(Obviously, he didn't lose them.) So today when Pam and Al got here,
Al hands me these amazing new Gore shorts (better than the ones i
lost) that Nik had him bring for me. And some hot pink arm warmers! I
love my boyfriend.

Tomorrow we take the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston and ride about 45
miles to Sequim.

I have a feeling that this trip is going to be feuled by Mexican food
and ice cream.

Seattle!

Seattle has been awesome. We have done nothing but eat and walk
around. Today we ride to Edmonds, WA to meet Niks parents and tomorrow
we take the ferry from Edmonds to Kingston to start the ride!
I hope I can still pedal a bike after all the Mexican, ice cream and
sushi I've had in Seattle for past 3 days...