Drizzle

We started the day by going through every pannier and bag on the bike, unpacking it, reviewing all the gear, and then loading it up again. It was a good chance to make sure we didn't forget anything, get rid of a few items we didn't need, quibble over how to store things on the bike, and familiarize ourselves with where everything was located. We also weighed everything with my spiffy new hand-held digital scale and determined that we have a total of 62.3 pounds of gear. That's more than I'd want to carry on my back, but it is less than we've hauled in the past and seems reasonable for two people.

Once the bike was loaded we rolled it out of the garage, shut the door, and hit the road.





Our standard route for escaping the Seattle metro area is to jump on the Interurban Trail going north to Everett. Yesterday's sunshine had given way to a light mist this morning, so we started out the trip with our rain jackets on. Beth sits out front on our tandem so she catches most of the wind and weather, although the front fairings helps quite a bit. After a few miles the rain picked up to where she wanted her rain pants as well, so we stopped along the trail to gear up. I'd hoped to capture an action shot showing the excitement and drama of preparing for heavy weather on a bike tour, but while I was waiting for just the right moment Beth said "you know, you could be helping me with my rain pants rather than taking that picture.". Rather than risk the possibility of other types of excitement and drama I decided it would be best to put the camera away and give a hand.






From Everett we jogged over to Snohomish so that we could take the Centennial Trail to Arlington. We discovered that Snohomish has not one, but two cupcake shops. The cupcake was fine (albeit a little over priced), but the decor was a little too pink for my tastes.






The Centennial trail was great -- paved, straight, and mostly flat. The rain brought out the wildlife and we saw bunny rabbits, ducks (mother and babies), and 15 solid miles of slugs all trying to get to the other side of the trail.

By the end of the day we were soaked through so we grabbed a hotel room by the Arlington airport. On the way there we saw signs advertising "fly in" and we were fortunate enough to get one of the last available rooms. It was a good way to end the day - a warm shower, a place to dry out our gear, and a hot meal in a restaurant.

Day 1 Summary: Seattle to Arlington, 48.3 miles, 48.3 miles total.