After a few more days on Lopez relaxing, we set off again. In the afternoon we rode about 5 miles across the island to a state park to camp. The hiker/biker camping area was absolutely gorgeous. Set in a forest, a main grassy area is surrounded by six short paths to secluded individual campsites. Beautiful. And we couldn’t believe no one else was there to enjoy it. We set up the tent to mark our spot, then walked down to the beach with our kites and dinner supplies.

We met up again with Lena + family and the kids instantly started running and playing together. It has been so awesome to have friends here with kids of similar ages! Us adults sat down to chat and make dinner, when we weren’t comforting a crying child or untangling kites, of course. There were about 20 boats moored (a popular spot) and we saw one of the ferries go by. A wonderful evening.

Before our friends went home they walked up to the campsite with us to see the tent. When they arrived there was much excitement! We included them in our tradition of tossing the sleeping bags, etc., into the tent to much delight. The kids ran around the tent several times and jumped and hugged many times. Plans were made to get together again at the end of the week before we head back to Colorado. We walked them to their car, then read a Fairy book to settle into our tent.

We started the morning with chocolate chip pancakes for breakfast again. The kids and I visited the Larrabee playground while Daisy did the camp dishes. We were expecting a relatively easy day into Bellingham. We had less than 15 miles to ride and we were carrying almost no food and very few snacks. We would say that our bikes were “light,” but you might still disagree.

There was very little morning traffic on Chuckanut so we didn’t bother with that first (southern) section of the interurban bike trail. We rolled into Fairhaven Park for a break at playground #2 for the day. We took the bike path along the water to Boulevard Park and stopped for a snack/lunch at Woods coffee. While H and I ordered the food, A and Daisy went down to look for creatures and shells at the edge of the water.

Our next stop was Trader Joe’s for snacks and dinner supplies. We were then ready to bike up Alabama Hill and pick up our car, repack it with all our stuff, and head back to Lopez Island on an evening ferry from Anacortes. While Daisy and I took turns stuffing all our equipment in our car (we’ve nicknamed it the “adventure Prius”), the kids enjoyed cooling off in a sprinkler. It was great to meet Andrea, our Home Exchange host, and have a few minutes to chat. (Thanks, Andrea, and family!) Finally we were all packed and ready to go. In the car, H had a bit of a melt down that forced us to look for a spot to stop and eat outside, but then she fell asleep before we found somewhere suitable and we decided to drive straight to the ferry terminal. (Toddlers!) Our ferry was 90 minutes late, but I don’t think the kids minded, since they got to play on the beach.

Our plan is to take a couple days on Lopez, and then explore some of the other islands in the San Juans. Although Daisy spent one summer working in Friday Harbor, I haven’t been to any of the other islands. Also, we will have a chance to see some Orcas from the ferry.

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.