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<\/a><\/p>\nWe all slept better last night only because we had not slept well the night before, had eaten too my much during the day and had not done a lick of exercise, except walking down to the dining car. Soon we were into the Northern Cascade range and near the end or our train adventure.<\/p>\n
We de-trained in Everett, Washington two hours later than the expected 8:04am scheduled arrival time. I suppose for a 52 hour journey that\u2019s not too bad!!<\/p>\n On of the things that set us back was the difficulty they had in Spokane, WA at 2:00am hooking a privately owned rail\u00a0 car to the back of the train.<\/p>\n Nice setup though!!! The cars range from $10,000-$75,000 to rent and that doesn’t include the $10,000 hauling fee Amtrak charges to attached the car behind whichever line you decide to use. But . . . you do have your own balcony!!!<\/p>\n We said goodbye to all the new friends we had who were seated around us for the last 2.5 days and soon were standing at station in Everett as the train tooted it\u2019s whistle and rolled away. End of Adventure #1.\u00a0 . . . onto Adventure #2!!!<\/p>\n Although the bikes were \u2018hung\u2019 in the baggage car like a side of beef, there is till \u2018some assembly required\u2019 and the need to make sure everything is securely attached . . .<\/p>\n . . . and by 12:30pm, we were ready to roll on.<\/p>\n I had marked on the map where Cherie, our semi-conductor, had told us where she lived and her house was still there, we reported to her.\u00a0 Green in color\u00a0 and sitting next to a large two story tan colored house . . \u2018<\/p>\n . . .\u00a0 there it sat waiting for her return. She and the Seattle based train crew work 6 days on and then are off for 5 days, unless they are on the Stand By list which means they can be recalled or another trip within 48 hours of getting home.<\/p>\n We stopped to get a sandwich before getting on the ferry. Jim bought a Powerball ticket with a payoff of $485 million. He told the store owner if he won he would buy him a new car and the rest of us dinner. I suggested if he won he also buy his riding compadres a Class A motor home to accompany us eastward on our ride!!!<\/p>\n The 1:00pm ferry arrived just as we got to the dock and bicyclists are the first to load before cars and trucks.<\/p>\n Lisa, Cherie’s sister, checked my ticket to make sure I had not \u2018accidently\u2019 received the Senior discount. I was good to go!!!<\/p>\n Also lining up with us on the bow of the ferry were the motorcycles. I had a nice chat with Liam. from the UK, who has been on the road since June of 2016. He was on his way to Alaska. An engineer, who lives in London, he took a leave of absence to see the world . . .<\/p>\n . . .and he had!!! The red line represents the route of his current tour. He met a couple of Aussies when he was down under and they convinced him to accompany them on a trip next year for a three month tour from the UK through Russia, China, Mongolia and points east shown by the blue line I added. Typical of many many conversation with folks we will have in the next three months, a great conversation with Liam ended after about 10 minutes. He roared off on his BMW at 60 miles an hour and we roared off at 10mph . . . never to see each other again!!!<\/p>\n And what a ride we had. We\u2018de-boarded\u2019\u00a0 the ferry at 1:00pm and headed north on Whidbey Is towards our destination for the night, Anacortes.<\/p>\n There is basically one main highway that runs up the middle of the island and everything motorized or not seems to take it. But folks are tolerate of bicyclists and there was wide shoulder most of the way.<\/p>\n Houston . . . pretty close to Huston who I am already missing!!!<\/p>\n Great scenery along the way including these two in a kayak. Picture perfect day with blues skies, mid 70\u2019s, no wind and smooth roads. Perfect riding, a mellow experience . . .<\/p>\n . . . and if you were not mellow enough, you could stop by the Vapor Dude and pick up whatever more you needed!!!<\/p>\n The road did meaner along the coast in a lot of places and afforded some wonderful scenery .<\/p>\n mmmmm . . .hope that does not include bikes!!! Denise, with her recumbent, really has some fun descents. Yesterday her top speed was 34.9mph but she has reached over 50mph on her recumbent.<\/p>\n We soon passed over the Deception Pass bridge where we de-biked and walked back to the middle of the bridge where we were had . . .<\/p>\n . . .some great views. Beautiful cycling. We are hoping everyday could be like this. As we rolled into Anacortes we were ready for the day to end though having biked 64 miles and climbed 3,595.8 feet . . . loaded!!!<\/p>\n And we were hungry! Right across the street from the Anacortes Inn was the bowling alley that also contained the Family Restaurant. WHICH . . . claims the best fish fry in the state. However, we soon learned the menu said only the best fish fry in Anacortes. But we all three had it and it was EXCELLENT.<\/p>\n Our serve Pam was excellent too and gave us the whole scoop on Anacortes . . .<\/p>\n . . .\u00a0 Oh, they even had a wall of accolades for the fish fry. We add our ACA (Adventure Cycling Association) approval. It had been quite a day and by 10:00pm it was time for bed. Laying completely prone for the first time in 2.5 days was sooooooooooooo nice. We\u2019ll be on the ground soon for the next three months!!!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" We all slept better last night only because we had not slept well the night before, had eaten too my much during the day and had not done a lick of exercise, except walking down to the dining car. 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