It is the night before our first day of the ride and it is drizzling just a little, not unusual for September weather in coastal Washington. I hope I am ready for this quest. For the past week and a half, Dennie, her mother, and I have been eating our way west and north, with brief interludes of wine tasting to interrupt the eating. I got on the bike once, while we were in southern California, and got a short 25 mile ride in, but other than that, it has been visiting, eating, having a few drinks, driving and eating a little more. I need more time on a bike, I am so looking forward to getting the ride started tomorrow.
Dennie, I and son Joshua departed New Mexico last week on our way to California to see our niece Ashley and Raul get married. That was a lot of fun, visiting, and eating, a few drinks and one bike ride. All four sons were able to get time off for their cousins wedding and it was great to see them all party together (Gibson’s at Ashley and Raul’s wedding). Then we send Josh back to New Mexico with his brothers, packed Dennie’s luggage in the van, put the bikes back on top, packed more of Dennie’s luggage in the van, picked up her mom and her luggage, and then packed more of Dennie’s luggage in the van and started heading north. Did I mention how much luggage Dennie brought with her? A minimalist she is not.
We met her brother in Sacramento and shared a meal, more eating. And then the next day we took our time going through Oregon and hit a few wineries, a creamery and a chocolate factory. Oh, and we ate some more. This should make climbing interesting, I think I am developing a handicap. Sampling Oregon wineries
Today we drove to SeaTac International, and picked up my riding buddies, Jim and Bill. We folded them in between Dennie’s luggage and then we started searching downtown Seattle for a place to experience some great seafood. Great seafood is understandably difficult to find in New Mexico. After a while, the search for great seafood just became a search for a parking spot with more than 6’2” clearance (which seemed to be the norm for parking garages in Seattle) that could accommodate the bikes on top of the van. If a great restaurant happened to be next to the great parking spot, then that would just be icing on the cake. BUT, as luck would have it, down next to the wharfs, we found an outdoor parking area and right across the street there was a seafood restaurant. We were hungry, no longer particular so we went in. The prices were such that it BETTER be great seafood, but as luck would have it, they had dinner specials for before 5PM diners, and we were there before 5PM. So we sat down, sampled a few local brews on tap (except for Bill, who only drinks wine) and then had some GREAT seafood. The coho salmon was the best I have had in a very, very long time.
After dinner, we headed to Bellingham, checked in, took the bikes off the top of the van and got our gear ready for the ride tomorrow. My next blog will be about our first day cycling on our CanMexPac ride.
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