Daisy and one of the stumps left after logging hit the Pacific Northwest.

Originally, Jason was supposed to write this blog post about our adventures in and around Bellingham, WA.  Luckily, he dragged his feet a bit and I am sneaking to write this while he is at work.  I am glad to write about Bellingham, as it will always hold a special place in my heart.  Where else can you find rivers, bays, islands, mountains, and multiple co-op / natural food stores?  I am sure other places exist, but I was born and raised in Bellingham, so I know its nooks and crannies.  It is my favorite.

Green everywhere! What a wonderful sight.

One of our first activities after arriving in Bellingham was to take a hike. The Cascades mountain range meets the water near Bellingham, where we call it the Chuckanut mountains.   We didn’t have to travel far to get to the trailhead.  Our hike started with a sharp ascent, but soon we were in the cool, wet forests of the Pacific northwest.

We saw the stumps of some massive trees that were cut when the area was logged, motivating us to learn more of the local history at the Whatcom Museum later in the week.  For you Bellingham-folk reading this, if you have not been to the Whatcom Museum for a long while, it is certainly worth it.  They have an entire section dedicated to the work of Bellingham women in the early 1900s, and of course many photos of logging and accounts of the early European settlers.

Another piece of logging’s legacy in this area.

Jason on the shore of Cedar Lake.

We spent time visiting with some wonderful friends – some that we have known for many many years (thanks Toby, Kristen, Nathan, Millie!!!), and some new ones.  Rachel, we’ll cook next time we’re in town!

We poked around some more tide pools at Larrabee State Park, and scampered over the sandstone rocks.  Luck was with us – the weather was stunning.

The beautiful view at Larrabee – Washington’s very first state park!

It was bittersweet to leave after only a few days, but the big trip is rapidly approaching and there is much left to do here on the East Coast.  I presented at a conference in Baltimore this week, and we are working through a massive to-do list that must be complete in six weeks.  Yikes!

To complicate matters, the last service dog we trained has a nasty case of kennel cough and we are rehabilitating him for the next 2.5 weeks.  He is such a sweetie, and we cannot stand to hear him cough.  He is being pampered on a big fluffy dog bed, and has spent the last two days doing nothing but sleep.

Hamlet made himself right at home. It is a gift to have him back for a few weeks!

The California sun! A shock to our systems after the cold East Coast winter

This spring break we are taking a whirlwind trip of visits on the West Coast.  The first few days we are spending in San Diego, because Jason has an academic conference here, and then we will head north to Seattle and Bellingham to see friends and family that we will miss on our big trip.

The trip certainly started out eventful from the very beginning.  We had booked separate flights because Jason’s company paid for his trip and I was self-financing.  My flight was supposed to leave State College at 6:00 am, but it was cancelled in the wee hours of the morning.  Some quick talking to costumer service earned me the last seat on a comparable flight out of Harrisburg.  Phew!

That afternoon, miraculously in San Diego, we went to the Midway Museum.

The Midway Museum – a remarkably large aircraft carrier.

It is a massive aircraft carrier that has been retired, and is now open as a museum.  They let folks peek into all the nooks and crannies, and set up some lovely displays to illustrate what life was like on a floating city.  Our favorite part was the bunks for the sailors.

The next day was our real day of adventure: We spent the morning poking around tidepools in the warm California sunshine, and then spent the afternoon reliving the first day of our Mexico to Canada bicycle tour from nearly two years ago.  We also scouted out the route from San Diego to the border that we plan to take this year.

Jason loved the life in the tide pools

Some interesting seaweed at the tide pools.

 Our drive out of San Diego was a highlight of our time here. It was incredible how much of the route we had vivid memories of.  I remembered the exact part of the road where we wondered if we would ever reach the top of the climb… and the many spots we stopped to eat snacks!

On our way back to San Diego we also saw a thwarted roadside fire.  By the time we got there it was mostly just blackened plants and firefighters, luckily, but we got the chance to take a photo.

The end of a roadside fire.

While in San Diego we have gotten to share meals with some of Jason’s friends.  It is surprising how much fun you can have with people that you only see once every year or so.  I am looking forward to seeing more friends in Bellingham and Seattle.  I fly north this evening, and Jason will join me tomorrow night. I better get outside and enjoy the sunshine while I can!

We realized on Friday that there were only 77 days until the start of our tour, so we decided to ride 77 miles this weekend to kick-start our training.  The weather in State College has been so awful that we have been taking the bus to school, bringing our riding time down to nearly zero.  This weekend, however, was sunny and warm.  Perfect!

The snow is finally off the road! A beautiful day to ride.

We took off from school early on Friday and took a mostly peaceful 30 mile ride.  At one point, however, we got chased by three very aggressive turkeys in the middle of the road!  They were huge, with scary blue and red faces.  As we approached we saw them try to attack a pick-up truck.  We pedaled past as quickly as we could, but they pursued us for a moment even after we were safely away. That certainly got our blood pumping!

A lunch reminiscent of the Pacific Northwest

We rode a 47 mile loop on Saturday through farmland and small Pennsylvania towns.  The wind was pushing us along for the first half of the ride, so we made excellent time on the way out.  We stopped for lunch at a small church – yay for smoked salmon and bagels!

The terrain in central Pennsylvania is surprisingly varied, even in the valley that Penn State sits in.  On one side of the valley lays an abundance of small hills divided by streams.  On the other side the scenery is open and windswept.  We certainly noticed the wind when we turned around and came out of the trees.  A strong headwind accompanied us back.

Winter is still here – I cannot wait until there are leaves on these trees again.

My favorite part of the ride was stopping at a little country store just north of the small town of Centre Hall.  They sell pickled eggs and beets for 50 cents an egg.  Each egg includes one pickled beet.  We stopped for a rest to eat the bright pink eggs.

A pickled egg to match my socks!

During our tour, a 47 mile day will be typical, or even a little short, so we will need to get in shape to handle this kind of mileage regularly.  We were tired by the time we got back home though, it is only the beginning of training after all!

We hope to start doing overnights in late March when the weather is better and we return from a spring break trip out west.  Until then, we will try to fit in day rides anytime the roads are clear.

The streams were full from the snow melt everywhere we went.

Here is a map of the route, for the interested.

47 mile loop