OTIS AND THE BIKE RIDE

The End Of An Era

Saturday, August 25, 2007 - Day 65

Today, a day earlier than planned, marks the end of my bicycle journey. I have been picked up, and it is pretty much car traffic from here on out. It has been a good 65 days of biking and exploring and meeting and adventuring.

This morning was a slow morning. I had very little desire to get going, not really sure where I was going. I took the time to do some thinking and to relax. Eventually I decided I should check out the waterfall at the park, since I was already so close. Well, I went to the bathroom first, but when I came out, it was raining. Damn. Luckily all my stuff was already packed up and pretty much ready to go. So I decided to roll down the hill to a sheltered picnic area. I stayed there for a little bit and waited out the rain. It didn't last too long.

When I felt like I had enough time, I headed back into the little town where I could get some food, since I was completely out. The sky had cleared and there were blue skies. I went to the library to get on the internet so I could check the weather and charge my phone. I had been on the computer for just under an hour when I finally looked outside. Shit. The entire sky was dark gray and it was raining again. It's another 8 miles to the ferry or about 3 back to the campground. I didn't feel like doing either, because either way I was probably going to be setting up camp in the rain. I turned my phone back on to call Giff to see if we were still on for meeting up tomorrow. To my delight, I had a voicemail. Much to my surprise, it was Gifford. He was not far outside of Seattle. Wow! Awesome! I wasn't expecting him until tomorrow, but this meant that I was saved from camping another night in the rain. Yippee.

I grabbed some pizza and hustled toward the ferry dock, thinking I barely had enough time. I made it with a half hour to spare. Easy.

The ferry ride sure was something else. The sunset was gorgeous over the water and the islands. Then some fog rolled in. Amazing. It came out of nowhere and swirled into cool shapes, making random mountains and even an arch at one point. It was incredible. Then a freakin rainbow appeared. It was one of the most beautiful hours on this whole trip. I must have snapped 200 pictures. I just couldn't get over how amazing the views were. I also talked to some chick from Portland for a little bit. She was friendly and quite amazed by the views as well. Of course, who wouldn't be.

Then it was Gifford time. I was quite stoked to see him, thus completing the Gifford rule of thirds appearances. I met him in San Fran, which is roughly a third of the way up, maybe. Then it was just into Oregon at Harris Beach. That's probably about two thirds. Now, here in Anacortes, at the end of the trip, that makes a whole, three thirds. Amazing!

So we drove down to Seattle and got a hotel room. Tomorrow Giff is going to apply for a job or two here, then we are driving up to Vancouver. We are going to find a waterfall up there. I'll tell you more about that tomorrow. We'll probably stay up there for a day, maybe two, then it's down, down, down to sunny southern California. Giff is applying to some jobs down in Orange County as well, so it is so convenient that this worked out. Road trip! It's going to be weird driving, though. I don't think I have driven once since I left L.A. To be honest, I hadn't missed it. I used to love driving, but now, I think I'm very fine without it. Nothing wrong with it, though. It has its place.

So the biking is done, but the adventure is not quite over. I still have one very important bit of business to take care of tomorrow. It was not planned when I left, but it became a focal point and goal later in the trip. It requires being in Canada. This time, however, I will not let those damn Canadian customs bitches rain on my parade. Since we'll be in a car, I don't think there will be a problem, but I'm sure as hell not telling them the truth this time. They can't seem to handle that. Oh well. Gotta do what you gotta do to get by. That's for sure.

Thanks again to everyone who helped me get this far on my bike, to everyone who supported me, and thanks for reading. Stay tuned because there will be more to come, and I still have plenty of pictures that haven't been posted yet. I will get those up in the next few days. And look for a massive album of nearly all the pictures, which will be available in prints soon. Also, maybe I'll post details about my plans for my next adventure. I've got some ideas.

For now, Canada, here I come again!