When we went to bed in our hotel, I joked that I hoped Racoons didn't get my food for the second night in a row. Well, we were awaken by a critter trying to claw its way through the cieling at 6am. I thought it was Roger stealing my food again.

We met with a high school friend of mine for breakfast. Kevin Sink, Laura and I graduated high school together. It was great seeing him again. It is always amazing to find out how life turned out for those you grew up with, and even better when life seems to have treated them well. Thanks for the visit Kevin!

Kevin and his dad used to go on bike tours together, and I have to think his biking stories influenced me in a positive way when we were young.

So, we had a bit of a late start heading south on Highway 20 (yeah, still on 20, after all this time). Several people warned us that this section of highway 20 was especailly dangerous for cyclists, and many times they would decide to hop on a bus instead, skipping this section.

Well, 20 turned out to be a bit hazardous by Washington standards, but it was perfect cycling by Montana standards. It sure is nice being in such a cycling state. We only had 1 situation where a motorist was upset with us for blocking traffic, but it wasn't our fault. As is usually the case, it was a small traffic jam caused by an overly courteous driver.....giving us the right away when we legally were obligated to wait. We take the blame, even though we were happy waiting. Oh well.

After a really scenic 13 miles on highway 20, we got an improvement in safety, at the expense of scenery and hearing. Highway 101 is your typical busy state highway, with a great cycling shoulder seperated from traffic with rumble strips and several feet of clear road surface. It was great for efficient travel, but not great for scenery or being able to hear....other than the constant woosh and rumble of traffic. Oh well, it got us to town safely and efficiently. We will be on 101 all day tomorrow, hopefully the great shoulder continues. There is an Olympic Discovery Bike trail that is also suppose to follow the same route, but it just as dangerous as most of the bike trails we have been on. Riding the highways is much safer. This trail is comically dangerous in some places, and great in others. Either way, we gave up on it early and have stuck to the main roads. We might give it another try tomorrow, when we are between towns. While in town, bike trails are simply dangerous, inefficient, slow, and inconvenient.

We had lunch at Burger King in Sequim, in the interest of saving time. It was quite good actually....which tells you how hungry we were.

We did run into one snag. A shortcut. Any guesses on who suggested this or why we got stuck in this situation?

A flat for Laura.

Tonight we are at a Super 8. We wanted a decent breakfast, and a quick exit tomorrow. A hotel with continental breakfast is the perfect answer. We can be packed, fed, and on the road in 90 minutes....which we can't do if we have to repack camping gear and cook or find breakfast.

We stopped at KFC for dinner, and then Baskin Robins for dessert. I owed the kids a free desert sometime on the trip, and they figured they would cash in now before our last day. Katie got a small item but TJ cashed in with a huge waffle cone with 3 scoops. I told him he wouldn't finish it, and a challenge was on. He dominated that cone, and now I owe him a dinner too!

We are going to hit it hard tomorrow for a 60 mile day, our final day of true touring, because we will then be less than 20 miles from the Ocean where we will dip our tires and start the ride home with Dee.

We are all very exited to be hitting Forks tomorrow. This has been an amazing adventure, but we are all ready to see our families again and sleep in our own beds. I honestly feel like I am forgetting what my normal life was like...which is a bit of a disturbing feeling. Several times Katie has said each day that we are almost done, and she has an overwhelming surreal feeling. It doesn't feel like we biked across the country.....it feels like we just left home, yet it also feels like we have been gone for years. My wordsmith skills just cannot do the feeling justice.

Thanks everyone for following our journey, hopefully in 48 hours we will have touched the ocean, met up with Dee, and are on the way home.

48 miles (2179 total)