And away we go!

To the start - Reno to Sekiu, WA

We departed Reno at about 0730 on Sunday August 2. Based on a recommendation from our good friend Bill Reeder, we stopped for lunch at Pappy Ganders restaurant in Merrill Oregon. A lot of local color and a bit of a greasy spoon. By the time we arrived the bulletin board in the
restaurant announced that pancakes and french toast (local favorites) were out of bounds. With
the exception a wrong turn, quickly recognized and corrected and taking the wrong exit in Springfield OR, we arrived without incident at Jim's sister's place.

Following a quick detour to the nearest Starbucks on Monday morning, we resumed our journey
north. Len mentioned a couple of days before that a part of one of his panniers had fallen off
in his wife's car and since we were traveling through one of the bicycling Mecca's of the U. S.
(Portland OR), we pulled off the I-5 to see about a little more coffee and a bike shop.
Amazingly, at a bicycle trade show, the owner was given a sample of the very pannier Len was
using and he gave it to us. Len scavenged all the useful parts including the part he was
missing. Good people are everywhere.

On the way to the bike shop, Jim spied a restaurant with a name appropriate to Pat's generous
proportions and love of grub (Fatty Patty's). On the return trip to the highway, we stopped
for a photo op and a good laugh.

Once we left I-5, the route offered spectacular scenery in the forest of the western Olympic
Peninsula and the rugged coastline. We arrived to a beautiful sun lit afternoon in Sekiu
(pronounced see'q) in time for Pat to take a short bike ride and for Jim and Len to do a little
last minute fine tuning and cleaning of our bikes' drive trains. Dinner at the Bay View
restaurant was preceded by a glass of wine on a nearby beach. The sunset, as you can see in the
photos was spectacular.

Day 1 - Wa'atch Beach to Sequim (pronounced squim) 92 miles
We look for a place for the ceremonial dip of our rear tires in the Pacific Ocean. We are on
Cape Flattery which sticks out into the ocean like Jimmy Durante's nose. It is the Matah
Indian Reservation bordered on the north by the Strait of Juan de Fuca.
We are blocked by mangy dogs, broken down cars and shacks. We can see the ocean, but don't
relish walking past those dogs in our bike tights. We settle for heading to Neah Bay were we
see dozens of golden eagles flying, perching, and standing on shore in low tide.

As we pedal we can see Vancouver Island across the Strait. Overcast sky, cool weather and
smells of the salt air. The road is fresh chip seal. No roll for our wheels and shakes to our
wrists.

Sequim is three worlds away from the Makah Indian Reservation. We have Home Depot, Costco,
and Starbucks. Bill tells us it is a retirement area because it is a "banana belt." Banana
belt has a different meaning to someone from Seattle than those of us from Reno and San
Francisco.

Day 2 - Sequim to Anacortes
We awoke to "mist" as our friend Bill from Seattle calls it. Len and Jim, who rode first that
day would call it rain. The route took us along highway 101, wide but heavily traveled by cars
and trucks to route 20, again heavily traveled but with a much narrower shoulder. We were
accompanied by Bill's mist for that 30 mile segment of the ride. With exceptional luck, we
arrived 10 minutes before the 0930 ferry for Whidbey Island was to depart. Bill and Pat
driving Bill's little yellow Smart Car (picture the 6'4", 240 pound Bill in a Smart Car for a
laugh or two) and Pat's Element made the 0800 ferry and were enjoying breakfast while Len and
Jim slogged through the mist.

Jim and Len dried out a bit on the ferry and arrived at Whidbey Island with no sign of the
mist. Len took over driving the Element while Pat joined Jim for the ride to lunch. Within a
few miles, we were again joined by the mist and unfortunately, Pat was ill-prepared. Before
reaching Oak Harbor, Pat and Jim dried out and enjoyed a hot cup of clam chowder at the Island
Cafe.

Jim was having some minor mechanical difficulties, so he and Bill drove ahead to Anacortes to
find a bike shop while Pat and Len finished the ride to the Fidalgo Country Inn where we were
welcomed by the friendly staff and spent the night. The people who work in bicycle shops must
be the nicest folks in the world. Despite having a repair schedule booked to August 15, the
mechanic fixed Jim's bike while Jim and Bill sat in the Starbucks across the street where Bill
showed Jim how to use Google and his Blackberry to set up something called Latitude. Now, if
you're a friend of Jim's in Latitude, and Jim has a cell phone signal, you can follow his
progress across the U. S. in real time! Pretty amazing. All you need is a Google Gmail
account. Send a request to Jim (djames68@gmail.com) and any time you want you can see where he is, you can check Latitude from you Google home page. He promises to be discrete. Jim discovers on day 5 (nice to be able to write this with 20/20 hind or is it fore sight) that Latitude has its deficiencies in that anyone looking would have thought we were in Canada - not yet. The day ended with a Mexican dinner served at a small family-operated restaurant in Anacortes.

Day 3 - Anacortes to Rockport

Route 20, Route 20...will we ever get away from the traffic? Jim's Garmin finds the bike path.
Seems to both of us that we are headed back to Anacortes, but I trust the GPS. Anyway the scenery is beautiful with swallows circling around us and the mud flat channels catch my eye. I have to tell myself to pay attention. The last time I was biking on a levee I rode into the water
because I was looking around.

We make it to Sedro-Woolley and then ride 22 miles along the Skagit River. River colored with
glacial milk. We are treated to the sounds of the river, fields of grass and the start of the
Cascade Mountains.

At the "T" we turn left and right there is a huge concrete silo with "Welcome to Concrete". I
have to take a photo. Concrete the town where Tobias Wolfe lived with his mother and step
father and is described in his book, "This Boy's Life."

The local restaurant, right next door to the Concrete Food Bank, has a sign that makes sure we
know the building is made of concrete and just clad in wood. I ask for the senior discount for
the grilled cheese sandwich and split pea soup. The waitress is kind and offers to give us the
biker discount so we don't have to show our IDs.

On to Rockport and our cabin. The cabins were used for workers in the lumber mill and then
turned into a road side camping, cabin site. Tootsie, the granddaughter of the mill owner
chose the kitten photos for our beds. Beds? More like hammocks.

Surprise restaurant, Buffalo Inn. Served buffalo, elk and pork. It was good food and a Mendoza
bottle of wine. What were we thinking? We got to pedal 92 miles tomorrow and over Washington Pass.

Day 4 - Rockport to Winthrop
The day began on the Skagit River with overcast skies and cool temperatures. Perfect bicycling
weather. This is the first long day (92 miles) with a 5000+ foot climb to the tops of Rainy
and Washington Passes. Although the map made it look like a brutal climb, it actually turned
out to be quite easy. In the morning we followed the Skagit River to its source in five
glaciers high in the western Cascade. Along the route we encountered three other cyclists
heading our way. One, a solo on a mountain bike was headed for Maine. The other two on
recumbents towing trailers planned to finish in... well, none of us ever asked (just figured
it wasn't too far). Hard to imagine pulling that much weight up these hills on a recumbent
bicycle, not to mention the hazard of a steep descent! After we crested Washington Pass there
was a 20 mile downhill accompanied by an increasing blast of hot air from the high desert.

Winthrop WA, our destination, looks like a Hollywood set from an old western film. Lots of
places to eat and the expected tourist amenities. We saw numerous bicyclists and 10 times as
many motorcycles. The accommodations at the Cascade Inn were acceptable although Pat had a
little trouble finding it and Jim, thinking he had stopped in town for ice cream and a beer
finally went looking for him. Miffed but otherwise none the worse for wear, Pat related that
he called every hotel in town looking for us but none (including the place we were staying;
guess I didn't make much of an impression) acknowledged our presence. We enjoyed a good bar-b-que dinner at an outdoor cafe a short walk from our hotel. Dinner was accompanied by a solo guitarist - an added treat.

Photos to follow. It's late. Len's asleep and we went 112 miles today with two big climbs - not the Tour de France, but it could be.