Today A melted Daisy’s heart when she said “I don’t want to stop biking or camping!” Daisy’s long term plan of getting the kids outside and loving the outdoors is working! I think H’s mindset bounces around. Every few days she asks when we’ll be back in our Colorado house.

Last night we heard some raccoons, which kept us (adults) awake some. It was interesting that we didn’t hear any last time we camped here, about a week previous. They were just looking for any food that was left out, and didn’t bother our bags or anything, thankfully. Even with that interruption, the night was long enough to feel like we got good sleep.

We woke up by 7:30 (not too late!) and Daisy started cooking GF pancakes for breakfast. Daisy was excited to be able to eat them, and they were enjoyed by all. Of course, I expected the kids to eat them without trouble, since each pancake had 8(+) chocolate chips! I was glad to not get started late since it was going to be a hot day, for the PNW, sunny with a high in the mid-80s.

We had a “fast” morning ride to Edison and found that very little is open in this town mid-week! I parked the kids at the school playground with Daisy and went back to order something for lunch after 11. Soon enough we were fed and the kids had gotten out their energy. (One would hope they would also get out their energy by helping pedal the bikes…)

Between town and the Chuckanuts we turned off-route for a half mile ride to a farm stand. We were so excited to find fresh veggies to add to tonight’s dinner! We had a nice chat with the owner.

The ride through the Chuckanuts was pretty and also fairly uneventful. We again experimented with different ways to keep H’s head from falling off during her nap. When we arrived at Larrabee, this time we got placed in the ‘overflow’ campsite. This appeared very nice, with plenty of flat space and big picnic tables. We later realized that it was very close to the train tracks!! That resulted in more interrupted sleep. I think 4 came by during the night, but I lost count. :)

After cooling off in multiple ways (part 3 was when I took the kids for a cold shower, since the hot water was scalding), we took an evening walk around the campground. It was fun to see everyone’s camping setups and the different RVs. This was the first time we saw an RV with two TVs on, simultaneously! One outside and one inside. We just couldn’t believe it. A way to truly enjoy the outdoors, no doubt. As we settled in for the night in our tent I enjoyed the view of the trees – we kept the rain fly off to stay cool.

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)!