Bellingham ride

What a whirlwind week-end! Canada and back in 3.5 days. We (me and JoeM) left Friday night for Bellingham, WA where we were to pick up a third OSU triathlete. Purpose of this adventure: they were both planning on signing up for next year, and I was going as an "Official A&E Athletic Supporter".

So, starting out in our rented Toyota Corolla, we crossed over the Oregon/Washington border and it was officially the first time I had ever been in Washington State. And the way I spent my first night in Washington State, you ask... huddled in my sleeping bag on the side of the road in Larrabee National Park, right on a cliff side that led down to a bay. You see, we didn't get there until 2:00 in the morning, clearly after hours for the camp site.  And with no other choice and wanting to get out of the car, I chose the open air!

A short 4 hours later, it was morning.  And with nothing better to do and 8 hours to kill in Bellingham before we were to pick up Stacey at the airport, we took off for a little road ride around the Washington countryside:

Aside:  I had browsed the offerings and downloaded a map off of mapmyrun.com before taking off on the trip.  If you have never been to this site, it is excellent for finding rides and runs in almost anywhere you could possibly be traveling to.  It helped me find rave runs in New Haven, CT and San Diego, CA during my post-doc interviews.  I've also posted maps of my runs in around Corvallis and Boulder.  And fora small fee, you can print off colorful maps with directions and POIs that others have entered.

So, the chosen run was meant to offer something of everything:  a tour of Bellingham, a roll in the country, lakeside vistas, and seaside spances.  And it did not disappoint!  First up on the agenda was a little coffee and donut action from a local joint with an obnoxious 50's theme that might have been a little too much for a morning coffee stop.  But Joe was happy, feasting on a Simpson's donut...

Doh!

After taking in sustenance, we headed East and South from town.  The directions I downloaded took us toward Lake Whatcom, ostensibly through neighborhood roads.  But, not wanting to pull out the map every time, we stuck to the main road and eventually met up with the lake road, sans twisty turnies in rural subdivisions and the potential for rutted roads.  The only time we had an issue with the directions came when it specifically said "turn right on Colony Rd."  Well,  Colony Rd. did not go right...left turn only.  That's when the new iPhone came out.  A couple of GPS tracker clicks in iMap and we were back on the move (I love that phone).

Way too soon, we were back on the coast and only a few miles from our parked car.  What a great ride!