Tuesday June 16, 2015

Today is our last full day of cycling in the US and it was an excellent day. Jack had given us directions to connect to the Centennial Trail which would take us almost all the way to Mount Vernon.

Once again the rail trail was well signed and had great  information plaques along the route. This trail went one further and gave you the mileage to the next town (similar to the ones in France).

It was a very pretty route.

We stopped in Arlington to call our warmshowers host to give them an idea when we would be arriving. Surprisingly I was hungry already, but it was only 11:30 and we had cycled 40 ks.

We stopped in the Chamber of Commerce and the bike shop, which very cleverly had signs posted on the trail directing us to the shop.

We didn’t stop to eat lunch as there was no supermarkets and the café didn’t have any chairs or tables outside. Arlington was an important railway town.

We carried along the trail to the trail end, it was lovely.

Nakashima Barn is on the historic barn registry.

The family who settled here in 1908, were Japanese and originally had a lumber mill, they changed to dairy farming and imported Guernsey cows from the UK. Of course, in the 1940’s they were deemed to be enemies of the State and were moved away from the land.

By the time we left the trail, I was really hungry and getting grumpy. I had eaten all my trail mix and my two power bars – feed me.

We stopped at a little roadside cafe and checked how far we were from Mount Vernon, not far, only 8 kms – feed me.

By the time we arrived in Mount Vernon, it was 2:30 and I was ready to kill. We stopped at the first food outlet which happened to be a McDonalds, I didn’t care. It wasn’t too bad they had an artisan grilled chicken sandwich, which basically was a piece of grilled chicken on a sweet bun, added fries and an iced coffee. I was fed and happy.

Our hosts were only another couple of kilometres away. We had a great bed, lovely shower and were able to wash our sleeping bag liners and shorts, clean clothes to enter Canada tomorrow.

Ralf and Kit discussed the route. Skagit County has a great network of bike routes. The map Kit gave us indicates how busy the roads are, the width of the shoulder and off-route cycle routes. Excellent.

An early night and early start tomorrow morning. Kit and Kathy are taking the ferry to the Islands tomorrow for a few days at their cabin. They will be leaving at 8:15. We have to be ready to go at the same time. Our last few days cycling in the US have been really good. Good weather, good cycle routes and good people, what more can you ask for.

Thanks, the U.S. you have been great to cycle and great people. I will be working on my “Thoughts on America” post, over the next couple of days – Stay Tuned.