I remember standing by Pearl (my moped) in the front of the line of Harley's and other bikers, looking back at the tall city buildings of Seattle, and then looking forward to an unknown ocean, while waiting for the ferry to take us to Bainbridge Island. Blake was standing by his bicycle with other tourists. We were seperated for our way of travel, and this wouldn't be the last time. Looking back, I can only image how many judging looks we got for those entire two months. But in my mind, while in it, everything and everyone was blurry, except for my love and I. It didn't matter what other people thought, obviously, or I would have ran all the way back to Colorado at that moment.
I recall having the conversation of whether we liked Seattle enough to just stay there. And we did fall in love with it. Even to this day I'd consider going back. But what kind of adventure would that truly be?
So we boarded the ferry, locked up the bikes, and took our seats above. It was exhilerating. I was calling places in the area in search of shelter for the night. I had no luck. We got off the ferry and headed to Poulsbo, Washington. It was our first ride, 21 miles. We were tired when we got there. It was a cute, Aspen-by-the-ocean type town. We found a place to eat at JJ's Fishhouse. Of course we had our first bowl of clam chowder and steaming bowl of every kind of shelled seafood soup. During the meal I called around looking for a place to stay for the night; motel, hostel, couch, camping...no luck. We rested for a while and then decided to keep going, looking for some shelter. The night came and we were still riding. There was a park on the right, I have no idea where, and we quietly turned off the moped and snuck our way around the trail to a hidden area and set up camp. It was a rough night, but we were so tired we passed out right away. When we woke up, we realized we set up camp in a pond. Everything was wet and the sun was just coming up. We tried to dry everything out and pack up quickly before early runners found us. Heading back out, hungry and in need of some coffee, we stumbled into an old viking town. Nothing was open, it was early. We finally found an Irish pub with the best black coffee and breakfast I think I ever had up till that moment (of course everything seems like the best after camping in water.)
After fueling up and preparing, we rode 61.3 miles to Port Angeles. On this trip, we finally hit the 101! It was exciting to get onto the highway we would be on for a majority of this journey. Once we got to Port Angeles we found a cheap motel and headed out for dinner. Blake knows how to find the good places to eat. His idea was that we wouldn't be travelling that way again, and with his passion for food, it'd be an educational experience to try out some of the good places. We ate like royalty during this trip. Kokopelli's was incredible. I remember when we were eating there Blake got a text that he would be getting a new baby niece later in the year. It was a celebratory dinner (Marley Mae was born on December 20th, we can't wait to meet her!)
The next day we had round 2 at Kokopelli's and then headed onto another ferry to take us from Port Angeles to Victoria, BC. Again we were seperated getting on and off the ferry. We were both pulled aside by the border patrol of Canada. After being thoroughly questioned because of our funky way of travel we were finally released to see some Canada! We rode about seven miles to an amazing RV/camping site. It was warm and beautiful there. Blake and I both hopped on the moped and rode about 14 miles to Butchart Gardens that night. On our way we stopped at a winery and did a small wine tasting, then got back on Pearl and headed to the gardens. It was such a fairytale night; the wine, the flowers, the greens, the fireworks show... It was like another world. It was another world to us. It was Rivendale from Lord of the Rings to me. So magical.
The next day we headed back into Victoria to do some sight-seeing and shopping. We ate at an old English place for breakfast, James Bay Tea Room. It was fun to be in the sun and walking around. We shopped at a great recreational place for warmer clothes, pillows, bike gear, etc. We sat by the water and napped in the sun. We ate (again!) at Cafe Mexico. Blake and I headed back to the tent early because we knew that the next day would be long. We had to wake up at 5am in order to pack everything and ride into town to catch the early ferry back to Port Angeles. At this point we were still figuring out good and quick ways to pack up all of our things, it was taking up to an hour to get everything situated. We grabbed breakfast and fruit at a gas station and slept and brushed our teeth on the ferry. After landing in Port Angeles we rode through it (after a mini-melt down on my tired behalf) and took off towards Forks, Washington. Over-all the trip from Seattle to Victoria and back to Port Angeles was 159 miles of traveling.
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