Today we took our time getting ready again, which is always nice to not feel rushed. The one good thing is that Greg and Lea end up getting done about the same time we do (but they have to get up much earlier for the baby). Joe had fun playing pirates again with Gustuv (Marta and Johanns oldest) and I worked on blogs since I was a little behind-oops. We didn't have too much trouble getting out of the city. The four of us followed the waterfront for a while and then from there we found a bike trail that took us clear out of the city. It followed a river, so it was nice and flat most of the way. That trail dropped us off on the interurban trail again, and we rode on that for another 20 miles or so. We have been talking about going to Pizza Hut for lunch buffet, and at one point we came to an area and Greg said that it looked like a good place for a Pizza Hut to be. Joe rode over to the road to check (since we couldn't tell from the trail), and asked the receptionist at a nearby hotel. We found out that there was one in the area, but it was a couple miles from where we were. Joe and I thought it wouldn't be too big of a deal to ride the extra couple miles, but Greg and Lea decided they didn't want to. So, we decided to split ways for lunch and knew that if we didn't meet up after lunch, we would meet at our Warm Shower's hosts place. Joe and I ended up not going to Pizza Hut after all since it was down such a busy road. We found a nice picnic table outside that hotel and made some mac and cheese. We even had a little bit of internet! Couldn't believe that! After lunch, we continued on down the trail again. We didn't see Greg and Lea anywhere, but we weren't worried. About 5 miles later, we found a Wal-Mart right on the other side of the trail, so we decided to get some more camping fuel since the little bottle we got in Bellingham was getting low. When the trail ended, it was in the right spot (I had written down some directions when we had internet for after the trail). We followed the roads on my list and then got to a really populated area-we were close to our destination (the town of Puyallup). We stopped to ask for directions, just to be sure we were going the right way, and then next thing we know, we see Greg, Lea and Ronja-- and TWO other touring cyclists (Charlie and Kevin from Quebec)!! What a party! So, once we figured out where we were going we all headed to our hosts house (Lea had asked our host if the other two cyclists they met could join us too). We all stopped at the grocery store to pick up a few things before heading out. The guys all pitched in and got a bottle of whiskey just for the heck of it. From there we didn't have too much trouble finding where our host lived. We thought our group was big before, but now we have 7 touring cyclists (including the baby). It is so fun to ride down the road with everyone- it's almost like an army of cyclists going down the road. Our host, Sandra lived in a house on the Washington State University research and extension center here in Puyallup. She was doing studies on wheat. Once we got there, we found a perfect yard for camping- fit with picnic tables and even a pavilion. We all got our tents set up. Charlie and Kevin had a fun tent because it is just huge- they can fully stand in their tent and put their bikes inside if they want, too. So many bikes, and so many tents! Sandra made some amazing rice soup for dinner and we also enjoyed some french bread with cream cheese that we picked up at the store since we knew she wasn't expecting 7! I got to do a little laundry and later on we all played Categories. That was a riot because out of the 7 people playing (all the cyclists except Lea, our host, and one of her roommates) 4 of those who were playing had English as their 2nd language! It was so much fun. Sandra made some really awesome popcorn for us, which was an awesome treat. Our original plan was to ride from Puyallup to Olympia, where Greg and Lea had set up a place to stay, but Lea figured out that it was just too far for them to do in one day, so we ended up changing plans. We will all skip Olympia, which works out because Charlie and Kevin weren't planning on going there anyways, and head down towards Mt. St. Helen. Another day of sun and fun! We rode 44.46 miles today.
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