Camping the San Juan Islands

View across one of the many bays around the island.

My sister and I took a risky route to camping on the very popular San Juan Islands. We just showed up. We lucked out that there was on camp site available when we arrived. To avoid the stress the next day, we called and reserved a site for the next night. Same day reservations are not allowed.
While we roughed it by tent camping and having no showers, we did splurge on food and coffee. Lopez village has a perfect little cafe called Isabel's. Our barista was a true artist and drew beautiful designs in the foam in our cups. Bumper stickers adorn the walls, including on that says "friends don't let friends drink Starbucks." I thought it pretty funny.
We had read how friendly the Lopez residents were and that everyone waved when passing in cars or bicycles. We discovered that was not an exaggeration and happily started waving as well.
Did I mention we brought our bicycles? One of the reasons we picked Lopez was because it was listed as the flattest of the islands. Of course, that didn't mean there weren't hills. In fact, on our adventurous attempt at a 30 mile bike ride, we hit a fairly long hill and decided to return to the campground for the car. We wound up with a total 17 mile bike ride and felt it would be better to enjoy our hikes by not overdoing the cycling.
The weather was beautiful though it did get a bit nippy at night. The first night I wound up stealing some of Stefanie's sleeping bag. Did I mention we only had one? :) The second night we put the fly over the tent which cut a lot of the wind chill and I was fine with my sheet and blanket, though Stefanie did try to cover me multiple times in the night.
Lopez Village was delightful and we spent some time at the Farmer's Market (crepes and produce!) on it's last day of the season. Did I mention crepes? We had a savory one with prosciutto, pear, and Gorgonzola. Very tasty. We stopped by the Fudge Factory and sampled a few types before making out selections. I loved the mint chocolate and salted caramel. Oh, and there's a winery on the Island and you can stop by their tasting room on Fridays and Saturdays. For $10 we sampled 7 of the locally made wines. I liked the blackberry wine the best. Oh, and blackberries grow wild on the Island, so don't be surprised to see people on the roadside picking them.

Berries, berries, every where berries.

Washington State in general has a lot of parks--state, count, city and federal. Lopez island is no different. We stayed on Spencer Spit State park while camping and walked down to the spit the day we left. There were a few historic notes and a decently priced canoe and kayak shop. We decided to pass on the kayak since the weather was uncertain and we were tired.
The other two parks we visited were Shark Reef Sanctuary and Iceberg Point. Shark Reef was a short .5 mile hike where we were able to seals sunning themselves on small islands off the coast. We were even able to hear them talking to each other. Iceberg Point is a little tough to find, but well worth the trek. It was over 2 miles round trip and we walked the coastline, saw sail boats and discovered the boundary marker for the US border with Canada.
My visit to Lopez Island has definitely made me want to return and explore more of it and the other islands. I may stay in a bed & breakfast next time.

Reflections: 100 Miles on a Bike

It's been almost eight months since I finished the Fletcher Flyer Century and I decided it was time to do a little update about the ride and all my fundraising efforts. (started this blog over six months ago and never posted).

The Ride

What can I say? The ride was beautiful. One hundred miles of hilly country, lots of trees and (mostly) a refreshing breeze. None of the hills were as rough as the hills we trained on in Clermont. Who would have thought that flat Florida had plenty of training hills for the Blue Ridge Mountains.

The morning was cool and perfect riding weather. It only got hot after noon, with temperatures peaking in the 90s. Thank goodness we trained in the heat!

Asheville

A lovely little town with friendly people and very walkable. If you ever go, I highly recommend the Corner Kitchen for breakfast and lunch. We didn't go for dinner, but I'm sure that's just as good too.

I made it to the Biltmore for a whirlwind tour of the house and part of the grounds. See the pictures I took of the exterior. No camera use allowed inside, but I bought the picture book of the estate, so I have something to show for the interior.

The Fundraising

And finally, though not the least important part of this trip. I personally raised over $3,300 towards the Leukemia & Lymphoma Society's mission. All the riders at the Fletcher Flyer raised a total of $130,000 for LLS. It was a fantastic event and very successful.

A big THANK YOU to all my donors!

Halfway to the Finish Line

So… This week marks several big milestones in my Team in Training season. We completed a 52 mile ride on Sunday. That’s half of a century. By distance, we are halfway to the century. This week also marks the halfway point in our training schedule. Actually, today is precisely the midpoint of our 17-week training schedule.

A little about Sunday’s ride… It was cooler than the week before, I managed to stay hydrated and, all in all, it was an enjoyable ride. Or a “Fun Fifty” as I dubbed it. We traveled through a bunch of small towns including Ferndale, which has one of the smallest post offices I’ve ever seen. It appears both of my tires were actually on the way out, since I managed to get another flat tire, this time on the front. Actually, the tire blew. We patched it with a GU pack and off we went. It lasted all the way to mile 41 and blew again. After repairing this flat (thanks to Erin’s spare tube), I finished the rest of the ride. This makes a total of four flats for me this season. I think I’ve had my share!

So the only halfway mark I have not reached is in my fundraising, which would be $2,000. I have raised $1,140 which is enough for me to recommit to the rest of the Team in Training season. Please help me reach my final fundraising goal of $4,000 by May 5^th. You can make a donation online at http://pages.teamintraining.org/ncfl/fletcher11/jrandolnhb. If you would rather write a check, send me a message and I’ll let you know where to mail it to.

Thank you for your continued support!