Departure Day!

Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010
Because I was up until almost 2:00am cleaning the house, doing laundry and packing (There was a lot more to do than I'd allotted time for!), and because of my pre-trip anxiety, I got about three (poor) hours of sleep. Mark arrived at my place in SeaTac at 6:00am sharp, we loaded Shirley (my bike) onto his Jeep, and with unseasonably sunny weather, headed for Neah Bay. It really can't be stressed enough how incredible this weather was for November 2nd. Yesterday was completely nasty and the nastiness will return but I could not have asked for better weather for the beginning of my trip. Unbelievable.

Here're a couple of photos of Mark and me in Neah Bay:

Here Mark and I are marveling at the unseasonable weather for November 2nd:

We arrived at Cape Flattery northwest of Neah Bay a bit before 3pm and spent a little time hiking out to the platforms that overlook the ocean. This photo was taken at the farthest NW corner of the contiguous United States, looking toward Tatoosh Island:

What you can't see are the huge waves crashing into the rocks below to the left as well as the sea lions and sea otters down in the water. (Courtney in Sequim later told me that seeing the sea otters is a very unique event.) The scenery here is absolutely stunning.

Here's a video Mark shot of me preparing to go:

And this is me on the first 100 feet of my 5,000 mile trip:

At 3:30pm I set off on the 26 mile ride to Sekiu. Arrived at Olsen's Motel in Sekiu at 6:00pm. Will sleep very well tonight!  Tomorrow I have a 52 mile ride to Port Angeles on Hwy 112 which is a roller coaster of ups, downs, twists and turns. Oh dear.