Out Spokin': Circling the U.S. Chapter 42: Washington Southbound

Monday, September 23 - Tuesday, October, 1, 2019

Heading South in Washington

Our first two days in Washington we paid dearly for not planning better and for staying an extra night in Victoria when we knew we wanted to get to Tacoma by Tuesday night, a distance of about 110 miles from the Port Angeles ferry landing site.

Monday morning we caught the first ferry to Port Angleles at 10:30, in the rain. We could only hope that the rain would stop by the time we arrived at our destination, but hoping doesn't control the weather and it was pouring when we set out on our bikes around 1:30.

The plan was to ride about 40 miles, leaving us with a 70-mile day on Tuesday, a long day, but certainly doable. We assumed we'd find a cheap motel about the time we wanted to stop for the night. We should have done our homework.

The rain came down hard for the first couple hours, obscuring our view of the waterfront alongside us. We had our rain gear and discovered that shower caps from the hotel fit nicely over our helmets. It wasn't cold so we were doing okay, riding along the Olympic Discovery Trail. With no traffic to contend with our biggest worry was navigating around puddles.

The rain let up by the time we got to Sequim (pronounced "Squim") around 4:00 and we looked for a coffee shop to figure out the rest of our day. Certainly we had another twenty miles in us.

We found a coffee shop but it was packed. Then we found a Chinese restaurant. We were the only customers and the proprietor had to leave for a dentist appointment but she brought us each a cup of wonton soup and let us stay on our own. I changed out of my soaked socks and started looking online for a place to stay in 20 miles. There was nothing, not even in 10 miles. No campgrounds, no motels. Maybe in 30 miles but that was too risky. The days were getting shorter. I said, "We'll just have to hope something turns up," and we got on our bikes and set out from Sequim, into the unknown. But I had doubts, and as we left town and passed a Holiday Inn Express I pulled into the parking lot. I said to Rob, "Maybe they know of something down the road." The woman at the desk was helpful. I think she really did try to find something for us, but there just wasn't any lodging to be had the way we were going. The Holiday Inn Express was not cheap - $172 - but what choice did we have? At least they had a hot tub, and there was a family restaurant next door.

Tuesday, September 24, we started out as soon as it was light enough, a few minutes before seven, determined to ride the 90 miles to get to Tacoma to see our friend Rachelle before she left for Peru on Wednesday. Our longest day so far had been 78 miles. Could wer do it?

If you're looking for pictures from the day's ride, forget it. No time.

The day started with beautiful riding along the Olympic Discovery Trail for about 15 miles, mist and fog rising above the water we passed. We weren't on any published bike route, but we had plugged our destination into googlemaps and selected the bicycle option and printed the directions. It worked well, finding bike paths and roads that bypassed major highways.

We stayed focused on our mission, only stopping to grab a bite to eat and go to the bathroom. Sadly, when we popped iinto a Jack In The Box in the hopes of getting milkshakes (well known for their powers to rejuvinate tired cyclists) their machine was broken. Too bad for us.

We took a "foot ferry" from Bremerton to Port Orchard.

The foot ferry only took about 10 minutes, over before it had begun. We were supposed to pay cash - four dollars - and had exact change as required, but nobody collected our money.

Almost to Tacoma, as the sun was setting, our route took us on nicely paved bike paths with eight and ten percent hills. Try doing that at the end of a long day. After entering Tacoma, still five miles to go, and darkness descending, a bike mechanic came upon us and offered us an escort to our destination. I hated riding in the dark. The day was not at all fun, but we finished exhausted and proud.

Rachelle fed us homemade chili and gave up her bed for us. I hurt so much the next day, I didn't even want to think about getting on a bicycle. Rob felt the same. Fortunately, we didn't have to. Rachelle wasn't leaving until later in the afternoon on Wednesday, so after going out for breakfast she showed us around Tacoma.

Rachelle and Rob in front of the historic Union Station with "New Beginnings" by Larry Anderson.

Inside Union Station we looked at art glass pieces by Dale Chihuly, a great artist but evidently not a nice person.

The Glass Bridge features more work by Chihuly, who lives and works in Tacoma.

The Tacoma waterfront.

Another view of Union Station and the Glass Bridge.

After we left Rachelle, we found a library where Rob worked on some letters of recommendation. Having found no Warm Showers hosts for the night, we booked a room at a Quality Inn nearby. While we were hanging out in a coffee shop, a gentleman about our age came in. He sat down at the neigboring table and said, "I'm a Warm Showers host. You can stay with me tonight."

I said, "That's too bad. We've already paid for a room at a Quality Inn."

That was a bummer. Especially since I think I saw his profile and meant to send him a request.

Rob got a flat tire on the way to the motel, but it wasn't too flat and we just pumped it up and got there okay. When he changed it the next morning he found a huge piece of glass. Then I had two flats, both in my rear tire, but not in the same place. The first was from a metal wire. The second was a piece of glass, but when I looked over my tire carefully I found two more pieces, all probably pickecd up and festering like an abscess from our 90-mile day.

After the third flat tire we had smooth riding, getting off the urban roads filled with the detritus of car accidents onto roads with clean shoulders. For 14 miles we rode along a paved bike path connecting Yelm to Tenino.

It's always fun when we find ourselves on well-maintained bike paths.

In Tenino they turned an old quarry into a public swimming pool.

Our route heading south through Washington makes no sense to anyone but us. First we had to find the best way to Tacoma. Then what? We wanted to go to Portland, both to visit the city and a friend. But our friend let us know that a weekend visit would be best. We couldn't make it from Tacoma in tow days, so we had nine days to meander. We decided to wander over to the Pacific Coast and then ride inland along the Columbia River to Hillsborough, where Marianne lives.

It took us two days to get from Tacoma to the coast. The scenery was uninspiring. We passed through small towns and passed by farms. We had a low cloud cover so if there were mountains in the distance to give us a nice view, we didn't know it. It rained some.

Thursday we rode 56 miles to Rochester where we stayed with Warm Showers hosts Jeff and Barbara. We pitched out tent in their yard and had the use of their kitchen to cook our meals.

Friday, September 27, we covered 49 miles, arriving in the small city of Cosmopolis where Warm Showers hosts Marnie and John took us in for the night. Dinner with them was definitely the highlight of our day. Their daughter Erin was visiting from Seattle and gave us an insider's view to what living in the city is like, how much it has changed in recent years, losing its friendliness.

John grew up in the house he and Marnie are presently living in. His grandfather built it in 1913 with cash he earned from running a tavern in town back in the days when a sawmill employed 3000 people. John loves living where he grew up, says that there is no time of year when he doesn't want to be there. Before dinner we were treated to a clam dip Marnie had made from razor clams she and John had dug up. We learned a lot about razor clams and how to dig them. The clams are enormous, and digging them is a popular activity. It can only be done on select days and, once word gets out, the beaches fill with clam diggers. After cleaning them, John and Marnie will either bread and fry them, or chop them up for canning.

When I asked about all the driftwood we've been seeing John told us that it makes swimming along the coast very dangerous. People will get clobbered and killed by one of the huge logs. It's also unsafe to swim because of the strong riptides. It was good to know although Rob and I probably wouldn't have gone swimming anyway. It was too cold.

One of the great things about staying with local folks is learning about the best routes for bicycling, even if our hosts are not cyclists themselves. John and Marnie warned us about riding across the Columbia River on the 4-mile bridge to Astoria. I started checking cyclists' comments about it online and it didn't sound good, two narrow lanes with a narrow shoulder and a hill. I began looking for an alternative.

Marnie, Erin, and John

Saturday, September 28, Marnie gave us free rein to cook breakfast with anything we could find in her fridge, so I cooked up bacon and eggs for Rob and me while she was working on a potato salad for a family gathering later in the day. We finally left at 9:30 and rode a whopping 32 miles to Westport, a small town on the ocean with a state park campground, Twin Harbors Campground, a few miles away. We set up camp and explored the town and nearby beach.

How serendipitous it was to come upon this sculpture of a razor clam the very next morning after learning all about them from Marnie and John.

Then we found what we thought were razor clam shells on the Westport beach. We were impressed by their size.

Doesn't it look like the tree once grew in that spot?

Building driftwood structures must be how Washingtonians entertain themselves on the beach.

The Westport harbor.

We had our first taste of dungenous crab several weeks ago in Republic, when Patty, our Warm Showers host, cooked up a delicious fettucine alfredo dish with crab she and her husband had caught. Since then I've been trying to have it whenever possible. But the couple dishes I've tried have been so heavy on the sauce I missed the taste of the crab. A restaurant in Victoria served it as an entree for $68. Even with the favorable exchange rate we weren't going to go for it. Then we found a cranberry winery right next door to our campground that was also a restaurant and it had a crab dinner for $32.

The entire meal was incredible. Thank goodness Rob decided to order it as well. It would have been painful for him to watch as I tackled mine. It took a long time. Taking apart a crab of that size was much more work than lobster, but it also had much more meat. There was meat in each of the eight legs and big chunks in the body as well. It came with red potatoes, carrots, and zucchini, all cooked to perfection, so much better than the standard potato and cole slaw that comes with lobster.

I ordered a glass of cranberry cinnamon wine that was such a great accompaniment I had two.

In New England and Nova Scotia they say that back when lobster was more plentiful than today, workers had it written into their contract to limit how many times a week they could be served lobster. I wonder if crab has the same history. But I think it's the butter that makes the differnce. And the butter that was served with our crabs was not just plain old butter. It had a delicious seasoning to it. I asked the chef about it. I'm going to try it with lobster. Here's the recipe: sautee minced garlic; add chardonay wine, add the butter, add fresh lemon juice.

We were so satisfied with our dinner we passed on dessert.

The next morning Rob and I took some time to walk to the beach next to our campground.

On Sunday, September 29, we followed the Washington coast south. Following are a few pictures taken along the way.

Seeing all these logs made me wonder if any of them would find their way into the ocean and onto a beach somewhere.

Usually I underestimate our mileage for the day, but on Sunday I made the happy mistake of overestimating it. I thought we had over 50 miles but when we got to the town of Raymond, after 30 miles, we found out we had only another ten. Which was great because we stumbled on the Northwest Carriage Museum and decided to stop in where we found restored carriages from the days before automobiles. We saw one that had been used in the movie Gone with the Wind and another from a Shirley Temple movie.

Traveling by stagecoach came with challenges. See below for tips on how to meet them.

This sleigh was manufactured by what became the John Deere Company. I took the photo for our friends in Iowa, one of whom works for John Deere.

Adding displays of clothing and other period items served as a nice touch.

It hailed while we were inside and the rain kept up while we rode 5 miles to South Bend where we stopped to wait out the rain.

I don't mind rain when it forces us to take time out in a cafe with internet and a waterfront view.

The rain stopped and the sky cleared and we had a campsite on the water in Bruceport County Campground with a stunning sunset that lasted forever.

When we woke up it was so cold all we thought was, we'd better get going south. I had trouble keeping my hands warm as I packed up. I started the day riding with many layers - neck gaitor, hat, mittens, long-sleeved shirt, riding jersey, sweater, wind breaker, wool socks, tights over riding shorts. As the day warmed up I peeled some of it off.

The riding was fine, rolling hills, much of it with waterfront views. But Washington State doesn't appear to put any effort into roadside rest areas so we had over twenty miles before we came to the Willapa Wildlife Refuge where we stopped for lunch and a short walk.

After 40 miles we arrived at our Warm Showers destination in Long Beach with time for a walk on the beach. We were walking barefoot, and the water felt warm, but Rob didn't want to walk in it because there was a lot of brown foam, probably algae. Dan, our host for the night, told us that in the winter the jelly fish come from Japan and wash up on the beach inches thick.

The beach in Long Beach was lovely...

... but not the water.

That's our Warm Showers host Dan and his girlfriend Dorothy. Dan is legally blind but doesn't let that keep him from cooking for his guests. For dinner we had curried shrimp and vegetables and breakfast was scrambled eggs with mushrooms, bacon, and waffles with real maple syrup. Dorothy is a wine connosieur with an extensive wine collection that she shared with us.

That's us, leaving the next morning.

Dan lives on the bike trail that runs along the beach so our day began with a ride through the dunes.

The Lewis and Clark expedition was a major event in the history of the area, good news for American pioneers, not so good for the people who were already living here.

After riding through the dunes along the beach we came to Cape Disappointment and two lighthouses overlooking the mouth of the Columbia River.

The mouth of the Columbia river near Ilwaco.

To get from Washington to Oregon you have to cross the Columbia River somehow, somewhere. Our choices were either to cross the bridge to Astoria or to bicycle inland and take a small ferry across the river. For a variety of reasons we wanted to go the bridge route, but we kept hearing about how dangerous it was to bike over. Dan gave us a solution. For fifty cents we, and our bicycles, could ride the bus.

We caught the bus in Ilwaco. Downtown Ilwaco is typical of many small towns we've been to with empty storefronts sprinkled along the main thoroughfare. However, the waterfront bustled with fishing boats and tourist shops. We enjoyed a picnic lunch on a bench in the sunshine looking out over the harbor. I found a small bookstore where I bought a used book, All the Pretty Horses, by Cormac McCarthy.

Riding a local bus with bicycles can be a risky affair, as they only have room for two bikes on the rack and then it's up to the driver if he or she will let you take it inside the bus. We thought we'd be okay if we got to the bus stop early. We thought we were getting on at the beginning of the line. When the bus pulled up with two bikes already on the rack, only one came off. But the driver was kind. He let one of our bikes ride inside the bus, as well as another that came later. At the next stop, he turned a bicycle away. As so often has been the case on this trip, luck was on our side.