by Philip

Having made it to 10pm last night we managed some sleep before being wide awake at 03:30 so today has seen an early start! We began with a great breakfast in the hotel … freshly made waffles with whipped cream and syrup, fruit, bagels & cream cheese, scrambled eggs and some unidentified veggies – all at 5:30am!

Next stop was the airport to pick up our hire car, and then we headed to the NE of Seattle to have lunch with Christine – a lovely, lively lady who Liz met in the Himalayas when trekking in 1986. Christine visited us in Epsom in 2002, so it was nice to see her in her apartment in a thriving retirement community, where we enjoyed lunch together and were sent on our way with a large bag of home-made cookies.

After lunch (and a little nap …) we drove 85 miles north to Bellingham, with stunning views of the Cascades mountain range, and to our first AirBnB – a tiny garage conversion. We dropped our bags and then walked a couple of miles through Bellingham to get to Earl’s bike shop to pick up our bikes. We spent a couple of hours with Staci – with whom we had had several months of communication about the bikes – and her husband Craig who fitted various parts. After some photos we cycled back to our AirBnB, putting the first 2 miles on the clock (although not strictly part of the expedition!

Last trip of the day was to a supermarket for food, enjoying the one-time luxury of a car (it goes back tomorrow), and a delicious stuffed pasta dinner. We’re exhausted!

Additional notes

Seattle, King county, to Bellingham, Whatcom county, WA.

Weather: Beautiful sunny day with a cool wind.

Landscape: Snowy mountain views as we headed north to Bellingham.

Things we did: Chatted in bed. Went for breakfast. We were hungry. Wrote some messages and sorted our kit. Thankfully it was a big room so we could both spread out. The courtesy bus took us back to the airport with our luggage and we found our way to the car hire desk. We drove for an hour to reach Emerald Heights in Redmond in the outskirts of Seattle. Christine showed us her new home with much enthusiasm, she’s thriving and extremely happy there. We caught up and reminisced about 14-person beds and bowls of warm water at Himalayan altitudes. Drove to Bellingham and I drifted off in the car. We dropped our bags at our accommodation and walked into Bellingham, a peaceful town, no bustle at all (I’d always pictured it as busy and noisy when we were planning today), wide streets and the coast visible at the end of many residential streets we passed. Earl’s Bike Shop was busy however and we were there for nearly two hours from 4.15-6pm. We got our two e-bikes for the ride, both are made by Royal Dutch Gazelle and the models are Eclipse 11+, with a 750wH battery which will help make the long distances more manageable. The ride back at 6pm was quite hopeful, we rode on the right and the bikes felt strange but ok. Went straight off in the car to find food. We managed to do the shopping though it was drawn out and difficult and we were extremely tired, and we filled the car up afterwards which was also a trial. Got home at 7.45pm to cook.

Breakfast: Delicious DIY waffles at 5.30am in the hotel dining room.

Lunch spot: In Christine’s apartment at her table.

Dinner: Stuffed pasta with four cheese sauce and tomatoes. Banana, raspberries and vanilla yogurt. A large cup of tea and delicious out-of-date M&S chocolate biscuits that emerged from my mother’s dismantled wardrobe in Ashtead.

Wildlife: A bald eagle flying overhead as we drove.

People we spoke to or saw: Had a call with an OT about my mother. A business passenger on the courtesy bus to the airport asked us about our trip. We had lunch with Christine Koch who I met in the Himalayas in 1986, visited in Seattle in 1987 and she and her husband Peter visited us in Epsom in 2002. Staci and Craig at Earl’s, helpful but a bit disorganised.

Incidents: Even though the room and bed were comfy, we only slept till 3am due to the time difference. I need to make friends with my bike, it’s not the kind of bike I ever thought I’d do this ride on. I really flagged around 6pm. Food shopping was a challenge, we were tired and hungry and unused to shopping in America, almost everything in large quantities. Our kit, so beautifully packed this morning, was spread out all over this tiny AirBnb, we’d completely trashed it but we needed to get to bed.

Shopping: Fred Meyer, Bellingham.

Accommodation: A converted garage on Grant Street with four tiny rooms.

Today’s sound: Gentle whirr of the bike motor.

Today’s smell: Bike shop smell in Earl’s.

Special moments: Catching up with Christine who had baked us a big bag of home-made cookies for the ride. After not eating sugar for the past year, the M&S chocolate biscuits tasted divine.

Positive experience from my journal: So far, everything has worked out with the bikes, more tests to come tomorrow.

Appreciation from my journal: Feeling a bit low this evening from tiredness and not loving the bike, but reminding myself I’m just putting up with some discomfort which is part and parcel of any expedition.

Blog comments from Vickey Johnson, Mary Hemming, Cathy and Helen Coates. Mary: ‘Wishing you all the very best, an exciting and rewarding journey, and lots more lovely people and food!’ Helen: ‘I can just hear the advert: “These are not just out of date chocolate biscuits, these are M&S out of date chocolate biscuits” 😆’.

Mementos: Emerald Heights menu. Fred Meyer fuel and food receipts, Bellingham.