Sunny Seattle

What? Sunny? Seattle? You must be dreaming... Yeah, I think we were.
It was sunny! For all the days we were in Seattle (excluding the first night, but that was to be expected.)

A mere two hours after leaving Colorado Springs we were landing in a different world. We didn't have a plan for how we would leave the airport let alone food and sleeping for the night. But that's how this trip was going to be. We would just figure it out as we went along.

We grabbed a taxi who promised us a fix rate to the nearest campsite. Two miles later and $50 for the ride (what? lame!) we ended at our first and only KOA Campground with two huge cardboard boxes, a backback, a sick dready, and an unsure girl.

We were so tired and stressed that no pictures were taken of our crazy luggage and Blake putting his bike back together in the parking lot. We over payed for the tent camping spot and Blake ventured for food while I set up our tent and gear for the night. I knew it was a truly rough night when Blake came back with Wendy's. If you know Blake you know that is past a last resort option. I was totally ok with the cheeseburger and fries.

I remember calling my dad and letting him know we landed and were setting up camp. It was so nice to hear his voice and know that he was always a phone call away. We were doing this. We weren't talking about it any more. We weren't planning. We weren't even saying goodbye anymore. We were in it.

It rained that night. We were so close to the airport that I thought the planes were going to land on us every five minutes during the night. Blake was still sick and never had time to recover from his bike accident. I had my first melt-down. He was so good with me when I was worried about what we were doing. I was more concerned that we were camping near Canada! And in Canada. I knew it was the summer, but I had never been that far north before. What were we getting into?! We will freeze to death in our sleeping bags. I didn't sleep.

The next morning was the first official day on this journey. A new start to the trip. That day we walked through the market and looked around a little, then took the longest bus ride I have been on, checked into a motel, took a cab to the Honda dealership, jumped on that thing, and rode back to the motel together. That ride back was the moment I knew we were crazy. But the only kind of crazy that was good.

The next day we packed up the way we would for the next two months and headed back into downtown Seattle. It was the 4th of July. We checked into our hostel, The Green Tortoise, which was right on the corner of the Public Market. The hostel was incredible (I described it as something from Harry Potter in my blogpost while there.) After two months and 2,500 miles, that first hostel was by far the best one of any we stayed at. That night we went across the street to Victor Steinbrueck Park, which overlooked the water and watched several firework shows go off. It was the best 4th of July.

I'm pretty sure during our few days there we walked every block of the great city of Seattle. We went to the art museum, ate fresh fruits from the market, watched fish fly over people's heads with lots of yelling, grabbed a photo by the first Starbucks, went to the coolest REI for some gear, and on our way out of town we checked out the Troll Under the Bridge. We both loved Seattle. But I am convinced that's because we saw it on the only sunny days they had out of the whole year. It was beautiful.

The journey to get ourselves out of New Mexico and Colorado, and to make this travel dream reality wasn't always pretty and enjoyable. But when is life always pretty and enjoyable? Those rough times, and stressful situations only make the joyous ones THAT much more of a miracle and appreciated. Looking back, I would NEVER trade a second of what we went through and what we got to see and feel and experience. I could not have asked for a better partner on this journey. Blake is determined and sees everything in a way I don't, just as I see things in ways he doesn't. I had a travel buddy, my best friend, and my lover by my side every day, and to be able to have him know every feeling and know every sight of where we were is the best gift I could have asked for.

The next move was to get out of Seattle and on the ferry to Bainbridge Island.

From the Beginning

I'm horrible with goodbyes. Just aweful. I break down. I cry. I linger.

Blake knows this about me. So the night before our flight out of Colorado Springs to Seattle, while my girlfriends were helping me pack my life into what then seamed like the smallest backpack in the whole world, Blake came over to my parent's house and told me that then is when I would have to say goodbye. I am grateful to him for making me do that.

Saying goodbye to may family was a whirlwind. But I had really been saying goodbye that whole month of staying at my parent's house in Monument. They already knew all the details that I could give them about my trip and that we didn't know when we would see eachother again. I think I cried myself to sleep that night.

In Blake's world, he had gotten sick. Ugh. His "sick days" get pretty aweful. He's prepping to take his body on a tour down the west coast and he gets sick the week before we leave. In my mind this is crazy because we are going up north, to Canada, to Washington. Wet & cold. He better kick this cold fast. (The morning we left, Blake decided to have a personal relationship with the cement sidewalk on a last-minute bike ride as well... it was a good one.)

Also in our world, the week before take off, was the great fire burn-out in Colorado. It was kind of scary, and we had to think about post-poning the trip if the fires got close enough. Thankfully they never did. And we were already packed with the essentials...so we kicked back and played pool in the garage. We saw Micheal Franti at Red Rocks. Blake ran the Garden of the Gods 10 mile. My family brought home a new kitten. Blake got to spend time with his nephew, Cash. That last month was very much needed and utilizied. I miss every minute, but every minute of it solidified how excited we were to start this next journey.

Monday, the second of July came. We packed our things in cardboard boxes for the plane and headed to the airport with Shawn and Mary, Blake's parents. I was glad it was them to take us because they are strong enough to not make it too emotional, and they are supportive. They stayed in line with us as we encountered the first of MANY bumps to our trip (just having to unpack and leave behind some camping gear that we couldn't take on the plane.) Mary's tears and Shawn's big hugs helped us know we were loved and I knew they would come get us no matter what if anything happened. Ok, let's get on the plane.

Show at Red Rocks in Denver. 

Spending time waiting for news of the fires. 

My sister, Bella, and new kitty, Oliver.

Doing some reading, trying to prepare for what's ahead.

Hours before leaving.

Our life, packed away in cardboard.

Goodbye, Colorado! We will miss you.

Fort Bragg, California

I was going to start out with an apology and explanation for the few and far between blogs...

But I deleted the sad story because that's not really how I feel. I don't really care that it's been since northern Oregon where I got on a computer! That's how this trip should be. Aside from the usual iPhone apps of Facebook and Instagram (yes I have some cool pictures up on those too) this trip has been tucked away in my heart and my memory between my lover and I. And I like it like that.

We are now in Mendocino County and looking for a temporary living space and some jobs. This does not mean that the journey has stopped - it's quite the opposite actually. We need to refuel our bodies and spirits, naturally after being on the road for 42 days! But we are also thinking about future adventures.The decision has been made to settle for a bit and make some money for the second half of the trip.

More good news is that I get to use the library regularly! It is closed about half the week though (I'm finding this a normal business decision here in Fort Bragg.) As I have 19 minutes left on my computer timer I'm going to have to catch you up on our earlier adventures on a later date. I thought I could hash it out but looking at my now 1,300 pictures and  pages of journaling I want to respect the journey.

As of today we are camping south of town a little and getting over some colds. We have been blessed with meeting friendly people in town as well as getting to have a few dinners with new friends. It's a semi-quiet town with regular fog rolling in off the coast. There's a sense of calm and local flavor all over town. I'm looking forward to getting to know it better and see what it has to offer Blake and I while we rest up here for a bit.

 

 

Dream Big Ride Far, Friends! We miss and love you all back home.

Seaside, Oregon

One Whole State Later

I don't even know where to start because it's been SO MUCH. Geeze - looking back at the last blog was my first day in Seattle. I feel like looking back like that is similar to looking back at when I was 4. Now I am 24 - 11 days later. 

I'll have to do the fast version of photos and description because as of right now I have 834 pics on my phone...and I have already deleted all the bad ones. If you're following us on Facebook then you have seen a few of them already. There is so much that has happened between the camping, hostels, motels, long ride days, great meals, sight-seeings, new people and on and on... We hardly know what day it is. And it doesn't particularly matter most of the time. Which is a whole 'nother thing to get used to! I can say that we are enjoying it too much at times. There is nothing familiar in anywhere that we go or anyone that we talk to... except for each other. The weather is not familiar. The smells are surely not familiar. The accents aren't familiar...

Now I understand that traveling abroad gets you soooo used to these things...but neither of us have done so. Born and raised Coloradians (and still proud of it!!!) are NOT accustomed to ANYTHING the coastal towns have to offer. 

But that's why we are here! Because we don't know. Because we aren't familiar with it. With being at the mercy of the sun in the sky, or the milage between towns, or the capacity of a bed or tent site, or even the drive in our selves. Because we aren't familiar with any of it. 

So bring it on!

 It was so funny getting on the ferries to head to Bainbridge Island and Victoria from Seattle because Blake was riding on and off with all the bicyclists and I was riding on with all the motorcycle bikers. Of course he looked good and he fit in well with all the leather-clad bald guys on roaring choppers. I kept my cool.

Hauling all of our stuff around isn't that bad. We are getting used to opening and closing our bags ALL the time looking for things and organizing. It's amazing what little essentials you need on a day to day basis. And even I feel like I am blessed to have things I don't need...but still have. 

Riding from Poulsbo to Port Angeles we were able to get onto the 101 - the only highway left to take (at least for now.)

Victoria, BC was great. We went to the Church & State winery and did a wine tasting on our way to the Butchart Gardens. Which was like any garden I've ever seen on beautiful, pollinated, great-smelling steroids. We happened to catch the firework show (which ended up being an actual show) that night. It was also Gay Pride Parade day...something neither of us will forget. I was wondering why everyone in Victoria was all dressed in bright rainbow colors and dancing around town.

 We stayed in and just outside of Forks, Washington after leaving Port Angeles. We camped and cooked our food on the fire in the rain forest the first night (with the most un-Godly coldest showers ever!) and then rode into La Push that next day. It was our first time seeing the Pacific on this trip. It was cold and smoggy and windy and smelled of rotting fish...and I loved it! We grabbed clam chowder and hot chocolates and then headed right back to Forks to stay in a hostel. This one was 20 miles south of Forks which made the next day of riding to be only 84 miles before Hoquiam. This hostel cracked. Me. Up. Basically a guy turned his house into a hostel by adding a few signs here and there and some bunk beds in the extra rooms. I was laughing inside so hard at the situation. But the guy, Jim, ended up being on this crazy diet basically leading him to eat only his own farm-grown and locally produced food sources. Of course we were and still are very interested in it. So it was a funny situation that turned into a source of information which we are already interested in. 

(Of course on this trip we are eating up all the culinary opportunities we can get our intrigued fingers on.)

... I think it's only normal for us to stick to our comfort foods at times, though.

In a matter of less then two weeks I almost can't keep track of all the places we've stayed  so far. Where we've stayed has been just as exciting and nerve-wracking as riding down the highway to a whole new town. Hostels and campgrounds are new worlds to us. If you weren't looking for a hostel, you wouldn't even know it was there. But there are far more here then I even thought there'd be. 

It's a great thing we got Pearl. Watching Blake ride for six hours straight kills me. And I'm not on a bicycle seat working to the core for those six hours. HE IS A BEAST! But when we do find a place to leave our things, and want to go back into town or to check out something, we both hop on the moped and drive around. I have seen several moped gangs...which only helps affirm that we are not crazy.

Yeah we are.

Dream Big Ride Far, Friends!!!

ON A SIDE NOTE:   

If you guys got one of the tshirts we made to help support our trip...

SEND ME A PICTURE OF YOU or anyone WEARING IT! 

You can send it to my facebook, or email, or text it to me even. 

facebook.com/melanie.liparulo//// melbug2@yahoo.com//// (719) 351-2132

Seattle, Washington

Long Three Days

WHEW! We are here! In Washington. With a bicycle. And a moped. And our tent. And each other. (sigh)

The last three days feel like I was picked up by Hagrid and whisked away to Diagon Alley. Multiple times I have said "I feel like I am in harry Potter!" and I have a feeling I'll say it some more! Currently I am on a computer at The Green Tortois Hostel . There are kids from all over the world all round laughing and playing cards. I wonder if they think today is as big of a deal as we do. Which reminds me how small I am in this world...But that's why I set out this journey. 

Monday PM: Slept in our tent the first night two miles from the airport. It rained all night. The planes flew above us what felt like every minute. We unpacked the boxes and Blake put together his bike and I was on foot with my pack.

Tuesday AM: It was a cold, wet morning but finally A NEW DAY! We hopped on the bus with all our stuff and rode into downtown Seattle. A Starbucks lemonade later we were walking into Pikes Place Market.

Tuesday PM: Found the perfect moped we were looking for for a decent price with tags and registration. Perfect! We got a 2011 Honda Ruckus. I felt the realities of the trip I am about to do the minute we rode out of the parking lot - with Blake driving and me on the back, the cold wet wind blasting, and taking the highway around a lake...we got the hang of that baby pretty quickly. It was rainy out and we were starving and tired but knew that we had a very successful day...so we got Mexican food for dinner!

Wednesday AM: Woke up like it was Christmas day! Got all packed up again and headed to the parking lot so I could take my new ride for a quick spin before getting on the rode. Everything went perfectly! It's a beautiful, sunny day. I was noticing all around me; the people, building structures, businesses, restaurants, trams...everything, because I was going slow on that moped. Blake was riding his bike with me and we were just cruising into downtown Seattle.

Wednesday PM: Checked into the hostel and dropped off our things. Headed out to look at the ocean (which is right outside our room window along with the huge Pikes Place Market sign.) Every breath was filled with seafood smells (wonderful!) and fresh air and ocean water (sigh!) Right now we are chilling here at the hostel and waiting to grab some dinner and head to Gas Works Park where is apparently the BEST SPOT to watch the fireworks.

Thanks so much friends and family, for checking out our blog! I hope that I can keep up pretty regularly on it, but who knows what the wilderness will bring us next!

Also, we wanted to say how wonderful our friends and families have been about supporting and encouraging us to get going and continue this adventure. The month spent back home in Colorado was wonderful!!! (Although we are praying for some rain for you guys back home! Trying to do our rain dances up here for it go down there and put our smoking hot state OUT!)

Thank you for purchasing shirts and following our blog and keeping us motivated! We are so excited to be experiencing new things. Dream Big Ride Far, Mel & Blake