A perfect camp spot last night! While Joey packed up the tent, I spent some time picking berries to go with our oatmeal. We got to enjoy sitting at a picnic table to have our breakfast- which was definitely a lot yummier than normal! The berries were so yummy in our oatmeal- if we only had berries every morning for breakfast! Less than a mile out of town was a nice bike path that we could take right out to the main road that would take us onto Whidbey Island. Once we got off the bike path, we were out on a busy road. Definitely wasn't as fun as our ride yesterday along the water. The ride went back to being a bit hilly once we turned to go on the island. We rode over what is known as Desception Pass. It wasn't a super hard pass, but was pretty neat since we ended up going over a really neat bridge. From there, the hills continued. Eventually we made it to the city of Oak Harbor where we planned to have lunch. It's amazing how big the towns are compared to towns in Alaska. We remember the town of Nenana and how we thought that was a big town since it had a library. Now almost every town we've been through has a Safeway and/or Walmart and McDonalds like restaurants. What a big change! Now that there are so many grocery stores, we keep wanting to have something other than our normal rice or mac and cheese. So, we got another hot sub from the deli today- they are just so good-so much better than the normal! While we were sitting there, I called home and even got to talk to my Aunt Ellen who I haven't talked to since before we left. It was so good to hear her voice. Even though we have so much left to explore and I'm not ready to be done with the trip yet, it will still be really great to see everyone when we get home! The ride from Oak Orchard to the next town, Coupville, still had a lot of traffic. Once we started riding down the road to catch the ferry, we were finally able to enjoy some quiet time from the cars. We timed the ferry just right and only had to wait about 20 minutes before we could board. Compared to any of the other ferries we have been on, either on this trip or the last, this was the biggest one yet! It had three floors!! The bottom floor for the cars, then the other two floors for passengers to sit and walk around the deck. It was so nice to be on the water, it almost felt like we were on the cruise again when we stood and looked out over the water, but it was far from being as pretty or as comfortable as the cruise, that's for sure. As we approached town, we could tell it was a neat place. The downtown area was so pretty. Since we had no clue where anything was, we stopped at the bike shop that we saw and asked if they could point us in the right direction for the library (since we were a little early to get to our host's house). While we were at the library, Joe came in and said "I'm almost positive that Lys (our host) is outside; it's been two years since I've seen her, but I think it's her!" Sure enough, a few minutes later, Lys came in and found us since she saw our bikes out front. It is just so cool that we get to stay with her again, in a different state, on a different trip! She gave us directions to her house, which was really helpful. A little while later, we made our way up the hill to her house and were greeted by her brother who was busy working in the yard. Lys gave us a tour of her new house and explained all of the work they have and will be putting into the place. I could tell that it had already come a long way. She is working on planting a subsistence garden since she loves gardening so much. She explained how it is so different growing things up here compared to FL and how she is having fun learning what does and doesn't work. Once it was dark and she couldn't work outside any longer, we had a little time to sit and chat. We had a whole bunch of questions for her about the hemistour she and her husband went on since the beginning of it was in a lot of the same areas we were in. She told us a lot more about her trip and we learned a little more about how she and her husband got involved with starting Bikecentenial association that later turned into Adventure Cycling Association. Joey and I made some mac and cheese for dinner since Lys had already eaten. It was nice to get to use a real stove! Lys also gave us some frozen peas to add to it, which definitely was a nice addition! Tomorrow we plan to head out towards Port Angeles as a little side triip while we wait for Greg and Lea. We may even go to a hot spring in the national park that is somewhere around 30 miles or more from Port Angeles. Even after just one night in our tent, it is so nice to sleep in a bed we always wake up feeling so much more refreshed. Our miles totaled 43.11 today.
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