A dude in a full camo tent snored so loud all night, next door! (Although it may have been hard to see him, we could hear him, har har.) That didn’t seem to keep us from sleep though. We started off with more pancakes and got on our way. The hills this morning were quite steep! A few we kicked the kids off to walk for.

We stumbled upon a nice little park with a well trimmed field of wildflowers. We stopped there for snack and to take a little break. From there it wasn’t too much farther to the Deception Pass bridge. What a view!! We had to hold on with both hands so we didn’t fall off, so I’m sorry we don’t have a picture for you. ;).

After the bridge we entered the state park and went down and up and down and up … And eventually found the hiker/biker sites. Of course A and H chose the farthest one, but I can’t blame them since it was also the prettiest! Very private/quiet and not too far from the camp store and espresso(!) trailer. By the way, that store has all the camp essentials one could want, I was very impressed!

We made egg burritos for lunch and went down to the beach. There were some waves here, I think because the currents were swift in the area through the pass. We saw stones of nearly every color on the beach. Then, A and H went to the other side of the parking lot to play in the mud at Cranberry Lake. We had a quiet evening.

We tried getting an earlier start this morning because we were planning to visit with some of my (Jason’s) family in the afternoon. Breakfast was peanut butter on tortillas with chocolate chips, instead of chocolate chip pancakes. Less dishes to clean! We did get out of camp about an hour faster.

Once on the road we alternated between a brutal sidewind and a glorious tailwind. We were traveling along the farms in the flood plain along the bay. Daisy was kind enough to lead and block some wind for H and I, since I am as tall as a sail no matter what. We enjoyed seeing the different colors of wildflowers along the road. Then we turned into the highway for a short section that took us over Twin Bridges. Noisy, but there is a separate pedestrian path on the bridge.

After the bridge we were back on quiet roads and chugging along enjoying the scenery. This area is one of the largest great blue heron nesting areas, but we didn’t see any today. (Last year a group of about twenty flew over our campsite in the morning.) We saw plenty of bald eagles and other birds though!

We stopped at our favorite coffee shop in the area for special treats and a break to draw/journal. (Hey, it might be the only coffee shop in the area, but it is good!) Then just around the corner is an amazing bike path that is an old railway bridge across the bay. We passed through during low tide today, and can see how shallow the water usually is! All that was left was the channel in the middle. Luckily, we still got to see a seal.

We continued the ride along the path into town, stopped for groceries/lunch, and then finished the ride out of town to Washington Park. It is west of town on the tip of land past the ferry that will later take us to the San Juans. That is where we turned off last year, but this year we will continue further south tomorrow.

In the afternoon we visited with family! Aunt Cathy came to the campsite to chat, and then we went over to Julie and Bill’s for dinner. We missed the weekend festivities, but got to visit with a few additional relatives and partake in the leftovers, which they had catered themselves! Yum!! (It goes without saying that it was better than our camp meal would have been.) We also enjoyed (especially the kids) the boat tour. A and H both took turns sitting in the captain’s seat and turning the rudder. It was wonderful to see everyone!

Today we rode 18 miles in five and a half hours. Does that sound fast?! Well, it was definitely so much easier (and faster) than last year. Let’s just say we go at a very different pace now than we did before kids. Our primary goal is to create positive memories for the kids and help them fall in love with cyclotouring. Today we definitely were successful in that mission!

After a very yummy breakfast of chocolate chip pancakes we packed up and rode down Chuckanut drive, one of the most beautiful roads in Washington. It is a narrow road that hugs the cliff between the mountains and the bay. The cars here are very used to cyclists and were all extremely polite. We felt safe and enjoyed the ride.

Next we rode along the beautiful and very flat Skagit valley. We visited a beautiful farm stand that we also visited last year. The owners even recognized us! We got to chat with someone who spent the morning tagging kestrels in a nearby nest. She showed us photos and the kids really enjoyed learning about tagging birds.

It’s a holiday weekend, so there were festivals and yard sales all over the place. There was even this balloon arch going up that we got to ride under. The kids got a blast out of that.

After lunch in the quaint town of Edison, we battled some headwinds until we reached the Padilla bay interpretive center. This is a wonderful, and free, little center that teaches about the tide flats. There were some amazing touch tanks!

We got our favorite hiker biker site at Bayview State Park and spent the evening on the bay splashing in the waves and wandering the campground looking at everybody’s setup.

It was Canada Day and there was a surprising number of Canadians down here celebrating. Even though the campground said it was full, we found seven empty sites! I think that the reservation system has some inconsistencies but oh well! As cyclists we can always camp in Washington State Parks, even when the campground is full.

First day back on the bikes! It feels great to be back on them. We had a bit of a slow start and a few moments wondering where everything was going to fit, but we made use of every pannier. Everyone was in high spirits and enjoyed riding the Interurban Trail out of town. There were several steep spots that required the kids to walk while the grown ups pushed the bikes. The trail was lined with blackberry bushes in flower. I was wishing that the blackberries were ripe already!

The trail is on an old railway bed and much of it cuts along the edge of a cliff. It is hard to believe the trees can hang on to the side of such a steep hill.

We camped in the walk-in site area at Larabee State Park. We had reserved this site months ago when we were just barely planning the trip. We made a good choice on the site. As you can see it is right in the middle of some forest! H and A helped me set up the tent and then we performed our traditional tent filling ritual: the tossing of the bags.

After dinner some Bellingham friends visited us to play and walk down to the beach. It was fun to see them again! Sunset isn’t until around 10 pm here so we made our best effort to go to sleep while it was still light. We were all pretty tired and everyone was out by 9.