TnT on Trail!

 

TnT ready for the trail.  Terry mapped out a route that he had mostly ridden the year before that leaves from his house, travels north connecting city trails and bikeways to Tolt McDonald Park.  The next day we were to have a steady climb through Snoqualmie and North Bend to our campsite just on the other side of Snoqualmie Pass, and then bomb back down the mountain to get back to Kent.  In total it's about 200 miles without too much climbing.  The weather was perfect and I was so happy to have some time to pedal and catch up with Terry.

Terry's Ti rig!

the Beast (Surly Ogre) ready to eat more gravel and dirt.

Day 1's riding ended at a pizza and ice cream shop near Tolt McDonald Park.  The days riding and meal led me to the realization that there is pizza that I'll ride to but wouldn't drive to eat.  Also, that a junior scoop is all you really need, and a "small" scoop isn't really small.

Views from the trail

Great way to end the day.  The Snoqualmie Pass Tunnel is over 2 miles long and so much fun!

Keechelus Lake, just past Snoqualmie Pass Tunnel.  Our lake swim after a day of slow steady climbing was perfect.  This was just a few hundred yards from our campsite.  The campsites along the Palouse to Cascades State Park Trail are only accessible by foot or bike.  It had beautiful tent pads and a clean pit toilet.

Just two rad dudes finishing the trip.  This taken in one of Kent's parks that Terry manages near the end of day 3 and just miles from finishing the trip.

We were greeted by all of our girls dressed up to celebrate our completion of the route.  The perfect way to finish a ride! 

SPECIAL THANKS! to Mia and Cara for taking over child care duty while Terry and I explored on two wheels.  So fortunate to have such awesome partners that understand the importance of having time as individuals.  Thanks and love! 

Portland - friends and fun

We arrived to Portland after camping near Mt. St. Helens on the Fourth of July.  Chelsea hosted us in her home and b/c the kids were out of town we had the place to ourselves.  At this point in the trip, we were all so tired that being able to get to bed early after some baths was exactly what we needed.

Chelsea was down south with family and returned the next morning.  It was great having the next few days to catch up with her and hang out!

Cara and I (mostly me) still haven't figured out where to look when taking a selfie.

Our first morning we met Claire, Rowan, Piper, and Spencer at George Rogers Park for some beach, swimming, raft, and stand up paddle-boarding good times.

The next night we were able to catch up with Ben (Claire's fiance) and the rest of the family in their new house for dinner.

We wrapped up our time in Portland with a quick visit to the Zoo.  Look closely to see Cara's spirit animal in the background.

Other highlights were laughing and catching up with Chelsea, learning about the eye surgeries Ashlin is performing and realizing that showing YouTube videos of these surgeries to a 5 year old (Sybil) is probably not the best idea, dinner with Spencer and Annah, and trail running in Forest Park.  We were bummed to miss Chuck and his family this time around, but we'll be back.

Next stop: Kent, WA to catch back up with Mia, Terry, and Penny.

San Juan Island

Concluding Post 2 of 4

After our time with Terry and Mia we headed northwest to catch a ferry to see Tessa and Damien's family on San Juan Island.  This was our second time to visit them.  Huge thanks to them for welcoming us into their home and spending time with us even during their busy lives.

Kayaking in the cove just across the street from their home.  Lots of seaweed to explore!

Sybil and Cara the fearless explorers

Parker, Ari, and Sybil hiking to one of our favorite tide pools in the National Park

the tide pool

Tessa took us out for some single track mountain biking at a nearby mountain.  So much fun and no collarbones broken!

Damien and Tessa got a sitter for all our kids so that we could head out for a sunset hike.  Such an awesome way to end a great day.

The view of our sunset hike

 

<3

Hudson and his doppelganger, Bailey, enjoying some beach time.

Parker was loving the waves.

Pulling seaweed out of the ocean to use while building a raft made of driftwood.

JB was the lead engineer for their seaweed raft

beach snackin' and relaxin'