In the long summer days my thoughts often turn to the mountains, the forests, the waters and the solitude and immediacy such places reveal. Traveling day after day under one’s own power, truly being in these places and seeing the surroundings at a pace that you can absorb them, following a schedule of one’s own inclinations, and being able to respond to the inscrutable exhortations of your soul. This year everything of course is uncertain,…
It was a dry May with only a few days of rain and increasingly hot weather. This trend would continue into June though the first weekend would bring the traditional “June Gloom” which cooled things down a few degrees. Still plenty warm for an inaugural 2019 overnight camping trip to Old Fort Townsend State Park. I set out Sunday right after lunch when it had warmed up a bit. Since this was just one night…
in hazy night stepping into water… losing my way -Issa It drizzled a bit overnight but by the morning it was dry and grey. As I noted earlier the ferries weren’t really conducive to maximizing my time on Orcas and still getting to the next campground. I had the options of leaving around noon or around five. Three or so would have been ideal, but what can you do? I was able to do one…
even for the meadow butterflies… the day is long -Issa The plan is to go to Orcas Island and spend some time at Moran State Park. The ferries aren’t really amenable to maximizing ones time on an island. That is I wanted to go over early this morning and return mid afternoon tomorrow. That’d maximize my time on Orcas. But the ferry was either super early, or late morning. I opted for late morning.…
“Thus, the sage performs effortless deeds and teaches wordless lessons.” – Lao-Tzu I didn’t have too much riding planned for this day, I primarily desired to visit a few of my favorite spots on Fidalgo Island. But being at Deception Pass State Park – which I haven’t camped at in decades – I decided to explore a bit. The park features a unique dual beach, one side on Cranberry Lake the other on the Sound.…
“All through the land an unenlightend person is hard to find.” -Lin-ji (paraphrased) Overnight I came to the decision that I wanted to sit in cafes, on beaches, in the woods, on the sound just taking things in. This morning dawned clear and bright and was going to be another in this series of “summer in April” days. I took care of business in camp and then rode down into Port Townsend. Now due to…
spring comes simply with a pale blue sky -Issa No-thinking; just tour I was heading out late Sunday morning for a ride and as I was about to board the light rail for a bit of a head start I decided that I should take advantage of the unseasonably warm stretch ahead and go out on a short tour. So I left the light rail station and went across the street to the grocery…
Cattle Point Lighthouse So this is it, the final day of the Shakedown Tour. I rambled around San Juan Island until mid-afternoon on this day and then ferried back to Fidalgo Island. From there it was about an hour of driving and I was back at my place in Woodinville. Thus my first attempt at bicycle touring came to a close. I’d be back in this area next year, but this time solely under my…
The Golden Road This was the third day of my 2003 Shakedown Tour around Fidalgo, Guemes and San Juan Islands. On this day I drove back from Woodinville to the ferry terminal on Fidalgo Island and took the ferry to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. This sucked up pretty much all of this day. I don’t have too many pictures from this day either though plenty of rambling in the journal. I’ll excerpt some…