We are back on the road for a few more days. I should not that we didn’t get a chance to do a “shakedown” trip because we got COVID when we were staying in Bellingham, so those first few days to Lopez were our practice run. The main takeaway was that we had too much stuff! As we set back out from Lopez Daisy and I’s bikes were both about 20-25 lbs lighter. This is something that is easy to feel!! We left behind the kids’ bikes (each almost 15 lbs), ate a bunch of our extra food, and recalibrated some of our gear. We felt faster, and were much faster. It felt great!

We took a ferry back to Anacortes at around 9:30 am. The road from the ferry terminal to town seemed much shorter this time! We stopped at Safeway to get the food we’d need for the next couple days. We were heading back to Bellingham and we knew what food was available on the route. This made it a lot easier to calibrate for resupplies. We stopped at the John Storvik Playground again so A and H could enjoy the slash pad. (They were required to eat their lunch first!) Then, we left town via the bike path. There were fewer cyclists and pedestrians in the morning, but plenty of folks were still out enjoying the path and the bridge over the bay. H missed this entirely due to a massive nap, so she didn’t see the mama and baby seal playing in the water which A was absolutely delighted by. We stopped several times to try to just H’s head to help her sleep more comfortably. I don’t think we’ve yet found the perfect setup, but are getting closer.

We stopped again at Moka Joe for a snack. H almost slept through this too, but woke just as we were about to leave, so we ended up staying longer. :). We were able to ride over the pedestrian walkway on two bridges, instead of walk, and zipped along the highway for a mile before getting back off onto the quiet roads. We found that the kids loved retracing our path back towards Bellingham! They knew what to expect: where we could stop for snacks, and where the playgrounds were (that last one being most important!).

The adults enjoyed that we got to come back towards Padilla Bay and actually see it. Last time everything was shrouded in mist and we were under a light rain. Now we had a bright and cloudless sky! We took the couple mile bike path along the edge of the water. It followed along the dike separating the water from the farm fields. It was high tide and we noticed that the water was clearly higher than the fields. This made us ponder the valley’s future after the sea level rises.

We rolled into the Bay View State Park campground and set up in a hiker/biker site. There was one other cyclist there, who said he had been on the road for ten years! We ate a massive amount of GF Mac and cheese for dinner (3 boxes), plus veggies, and went down to the water to enjoy the sunset.

We just spent most of a week on Lopez Island. We were just going to rest for one or two days, but we had so much fun it was hard to get away! We enjoyed the many beaches, visiting with Daisy’s friend Lena and her family on their farm, flying kites, and going fishing and crabbing!! What a blast!

Today we took the ferry to Lopez Island! It was magical to be out on the water, and we are always impressed that these ferries are considered part of the WA state highway system.

But, before we got on our way we had a fun-filled morning. All of the animals needed visiting before we left! We also had a great time chatting over breakfast, and then we learned how to play Spoons. In this game you pass cards around the table in a circle and try to get four of a kind. After that, you grab a spoon! There is one less spoon than the number of people, so the spoon-less one was sent to pack up the tent (do the chores) until the next round was complete. This was a fun way to pass the time during clean up! Jude’s family would play this game during Thanksgiving to choose who would do the dishes. Excellent!

On the way to the ferry we bought lunch supplies from a grocery store and made good time. We were all in excellent spirits after an extra fun morning. While waiting for the ferry we ate lunch in the shade — it was hot and sunny! (Although not nearly so hot as at our home in Golden, with a high around 100°!) We rolled our bikes onto the ferry with a few other cyclists and enjoyed the boat ride. We were greeted on Lopez Island by Daisy’s parents – Sparkle and Grandude! (Those are their grandparent names.) A and H were very excited to see familiar faces, and H informed Grandude that the ferry was a type of boat. (One of many facts Grandude was sure to learn!) We put our heaviest items (excepting the children!) into their car and made plans to meet them at the cabin. This was key to being able to make it up the long, steep hill from the ferry dock without needing to push and walk the bikes up! Daisy must have previously been carrying a very heavy load, or was very excited to be on Lopez, because she zipped right up the hill!

After getting settled, Daisy and the kids met Lena and her family for some fun time at the beach while I went over to use the library wifi for my class. Grandude and Sparkle cooked us dinner and we slept inside (not a tent)!

Everyone got a good night’s sleep and we were ready for another day of cycling. We were particularly excited for today’s ride because there would be a bike path across Fidalgo Bay and then we would be meeting a family on Warmshowers and camping in their back yard!

When we got on the bikes (by around 11 again…) There was a very light, persistent rain. The bay was covered in low clouds, and we were glad to have the rain covers for the kids! Just as we were pulling out of the hiker/bicycle campsite a car pulled up and a man said “Hello Daisy Philtron!” It was Jude, the father of our host family for the night. He works right up the road and drove by to say hi since he knew from Daisy’s text we were there. With a warm welcome like that we knew we would have a great time in Anacortes!

The road was pretty flat, and there wasn’t too much to see with all the rain/fog, until we came up to the twin bridges. We were happy to find the separated bike lane next to the highway! At the top we stopped to take in the view.

At the bottom of the bridge we stopped at a gift shop and got a few bags of chips. We had been telling H that we would stop at a coffee shop, but they kept being the PNW drive-thru ones with no inside section to get out of the rain. The rain stopped and we got back on the road with a new coffee shop in mind: Moka Joe. This one had plenty of seating, drinks, and food to make it lunch-worthy. I had to eat two sandwiches since the kids didn’t like one of theirs. Got to fuel the body when it’s pushing all that weight! ;)

The bike path across the bay was amazing! The kids got on their own bikes and rode this section – actually they rode all the way into town, which is a few miles. We viewed the local wildlife, including various birds and seals. This is the largest nesting ground for great blue herons in North America. We were warned that the path could have lots of shells on it, and could give flat tires, but someone must of recently come out to clean it because it was perfect.

In town we found a much-needed playground. A and H climbed and slid, and then decided they needed to get wet at the splash pad. 65°F and cloudy, but kids don’t care! They had a blast and then we got them dried off and warmed up. It wasn’t too far to our destination. We rolled into the Apple family’s yard and received a warm welcome from Carrie. Our kids got a guided tour from their kids of the garden and various animals: hens, bunnies, and a cat! They were delighted. We had a great dinner, conversation, oh and showers, too! Thank you Carrie and Jude and family!!