July 7: Seattle Again
When I first planned this trip, the last day was going to use the route that I had taken four years earlier to return to Seattle. But between that and July 7, RandoGirl and I bought (more or less) a house on Bainbridge Island. I wanted to show everyone the house and a bit of Bainbridge -- plus, I knew that the Silverdale and Bremerton sections would be busy and unpleasant -- so I altered the route.
After another huge breakfast, we left Port Townsend by following the old route and getting on the Larry Scott Trail to go by the paper factory. Parts of this were paved and other parts weren't, and we got confused a few times, but eventually it ended about the way that I remembered and we had to get on Hwy 20 for a mile. Fortunately, that road has a decent shoulder and the Saturday post-holiday traffic was not too bad, and soon we turned off on Hwy 19 towards Irondale.
In Port Hadlock, we got on Oak Bay Road for a fast run towards Port Ludlow. The shoulder here was not as good and traffic was both heavier and more aggressive than I remember from 2014. I was happy when we finally turned on to Paradise Bay Road after a brief stop at a convenience store for coffee and rest rooms.
Traffic was definitely heavier crossing the Hood Canal Floating Bridge, but we had the big shoulder so that was no problem. On the other side of the bridge, Steve and Joyce passed us in the van. They turned right, as was our original plan. But we turned left to follow the new route.
In retrospect, I wish that we had turned right since most routes seem to favor taking Hwy 3 to Big Valley Road, and then coming up from Poulsbo. I had opted for fewer miles and hills, so we turned left on Hwy 104 through Port Gamble, east on Hwy 307 towards Kingston, and then down Miller Bay Road. All of those were busy with a shoulder that came and went and often had debris, and were not very scenic either. We were so happy to get to the end of that, past the casino, and over the bridge onto Bainbridge Island that nobody wanted to stop for a picture of Agate Passage.
Once on the island, we turned off onto some of the quieter roads along the west coast. Everyone was pretty tired by now, so we cut off some of the southern sections and headed into some nice Bainbridge Island neighborhoods.
Once on the island, we turned off onto some of the quieter roads along the west coast. Everyone was pretty tired by now, so we cut off some of the southern sections and headed into some nice Bainbridge Island neighborhoods.
Then we went down to the Harbour Public House where we had a huge late lunch. We caught the ferry afterwards and most of the team took the water taxi to Alki Beach and back to the house. Jeff Bauer and I didn't want to wait for the ferry, so we bombed down the roads instead -- not realizing that Cathie was also going with us. She got a little lost, but made it home fine a little later.
Back at our house, we all hung out drinking and chatting and packing up bicycles. The next morning, Jeff, Tom, and Judy flew back home while Steve, Joyce, Jill, and Cathie did sight-seeing. Then we loaded them up and they flew back.
In spite of a few challenges, it was a good trip. It must have been, since everyone is already asking when the next one is and where we will be going. Hopefully by then I will have ridden a few more of the roads so I better know what to avoid.
No comments:
Post a Comment