Seattle, WA - Melissa's Apartment

This morning I awoke in the apartment of Melissa, my half-brother's half-sister, on Capitol Hill in Seattle. Jason and I slept on the floor each cozily curled up upon sleeping pads. How we got here (and how Jason ended up coming along) is a bit of a story in itself.

Two days ago, it was a sunny day in Bellingham, and I had just finished packing my gear on my new bike trailer. My plan was to cycle the ~90 miles to Seattle in two days: I would bike the first 50 miles south and camp at Wenberg State Park, right on the shore of beautiful Lake Goodwin. The next day I would finish the remaining 40 miles and pull into Seattle by mid-afternoon.

Jason, the hippy guy I was staying with in Bellingham, offered to escort me out to the highway to send me off on my journey. As we were biking out to the highway, Jason had an epiphany and he exclaimed: 

"What am I going to do as soon as I get to the highway? Turn around and let you go on your way? I love this - Biking. This is what I love to do. Why am I not cycling to Seattle with you right now?"

"Come along man!"

"I've got to finish painting this room, buy a trailer, and pack my stuff. I'll meet you at the campground tonight."

And so it came that I biked 50 miles south to Wenberg State Park, and several hours after I had given up hope of Jason's arrival, he pulled into my campsite in the dark.

"Holy crap man! You made it! What the hell!!" I was incredibly surprised.

We made a campfire and slept under the stars that night. The next morning we rode a grueling and 40 miles to Seattle, pulled into Melissa's apartment complex, had dinner with her floormate, and crashed hard -- bodies aching from the intense ride.