Slimming down!
Ready for day two of our travels to Canada, we stopped at a favorite stop in Snohomish for breakfast, the Bakery at First and Union. Always a fun and popular stop on a bike. Must have seen at least a dozen other cyclists while we were there. They actually have bike racks in their courtyard, not just out on the street.
Powered up, we headed off down the Centennial Trail, one of our frequent ride destinations. It was strange to ride past the Trails End Taphouse, our favorite post-ride stop in Snohomish, and realize that we would not be turning around to finish there. Instead we were riding through to Arlington and beyond to Conroy and Mt Vernon.
We will confess, our legs all felt a bit like lead. None of us had gotten a great night of sleep and heading out felt tiring. Perhaps it was knowing that this would be our longest day. It felt good to stop just before Arlington at our favorite burger and fish and chips stop and take a good break. Yet more fuel!
Love the Junk Yard
He’s such an arrogant bastard
Wondered about the combination of pirate hat and safety vest – later figured out they were working the art walk
We also stopped in Arlington for their summer art walk but did not see much art, actually, so we pressed on. As we left the art walk a gentleman kindly pointed out that there was a bike trail just a block away. We thanked him and headed back to the trail.
We were able to cover 30 of our 45 miles today on bike trails and it was so pleasant on such a gorgeous day. We had a short stretch of a few miles on highway 9, but then took a very scenic ride over a pass into the Skagit Valley where we were able to follow quiet farm roads into Mt Vernon. Cows, corn, potatoes, mountains, and blue skies. Mike and Keenan did about 46.5 miles and Tami did 48 miles. Tami seems to be riding in a parallel universe where she daily puts in more miles than those other two. (M – Need to adjust the settings on her bike computer.)
Going over the pass
Skagit Valley
Mike was quite surprised, but pleased, that the pass over to the Skagit valley was much easier than he remembered. Funny how memory can play those tricks. He is, however, now suffering from a condition known as “baboon butt”. Nuff said. (No picture.)
We had to wait to hear from our airbnb host so what else could we do but stop at Skagit River Brewing for some brews and dinner. Since we got there around 4, we initially thought we might just have a few appetizers and come back downtown for dinner later. Then we looked up the hill at our destination and said “Nah, let’s have dinner now too!” Such a great stop sitting out on their outdoor deck. We are finally now showered, fed, and once again oh so tired. Tomorrow we tackle Chuckanut Drive and explore the wonders of Bellingham.
BEER!!
Keep clam