Saturday, June 19, 2010 Anacortes, WA 0 Miles

The day finally arrived for this tour to begin, but first, before we had our initial meeting at 1 PM, several of us walked across the street at 7 am to visit with friends in the first group.  WomanTours is running two groups one day apart.  I also wanted to meet Gloria who founded the company about 12 years ago.  She no longer has an interest in the company and is doing this tour for fun.  I thanked her for providing me the opportunity for such challenging fun that has added so much to my life.  After seeing Group One off, Jean, Barb, Nancy and I walked downtown to the bike shop.  I needed to discuss an odometer problem.  For some reason the ODO miles do not accumulate.  I've changed the sensor battery but that didn't solve the problem.  Will change the computer battery next.  I still know the day's mileage, so it's not too big a deal. . . .  At our initial meeting this afternoon, it was interesting to hear the various occupations of the ladies, i.e. air traffic controller, middle school math teacher, teacher of severely handicapped children, landscaper, etc., and then, of course, there are us retirees.  Including Michelle and Linda (chef), our two guides, there are 28 ladies.  Most have been on multiple WT trips, but for some this is their very first.  Our beginning banquet tonight was at Flounder Bay Restuarant near the ferry dock and Washington State Park.  I missed having my friends Lou Ellyn and Gerry, since they saw me off on both the Southern Tier and the Northwest Loop trips. Barb, the sous chef, entertained us tonight with the first, of what may be many, of her original songs on this trip. 

Everyone really is looking forward to getting on the road tomorrow.

Friday, June 18, 2010 Anacortes, WA 30 miles

Nick from Bikespot brought our bikes to the motel yesterday - a very nice gesture.  He also brought us a map of Lopez Island, which is part of the San Juan Islands, showing what proved to be a beautiful ride.  This is Jean (my Memphis friend) and me as we leave the hotel. Along with Nancy and Barb, we biked to old town Anacortes and had breakfast at Gere-Deli before going to the ferry dock.  I evisioned the ferry crossing the Mississippi river, but, no, this ferry is HUGE.  It can hold up to 150 cars including 18 wheelers, so the 40 minute ride to Lopez was an adventure in itself.  The day was exquisite - could not have been more beautiful for our warm up ride.  There were enough hills for us to get revved up.  Found a good lunch in the village where we sat on the deck in the sunshine to eat.  Being somewhat anxious about catching the 4:55 ferry, we decided to cut the ride short and head back to the dock.  The ferry was late but, being the sociable folks that we are,  we struck up a conversation with a mother/daughter twosome that had also biked around the island. 

Well, I have a learning curve here concerning adding pictures.  The good thing is that I've learned how to donwload the pics and how to find them again to insert.  Now, if I can insert them in the proper place rather than  always at the top. . . I'm enjoying having my own little computer.

Thursday, June 17, 2010 Anacortes, WA

Jean and I enjoyed an uneventful flight today from Memphis to Anacortes.  Getting up at 4:15 am was for me the hardest part of the day.  So, it's been a long day but nice.  Many thanks to Betty and Smarty for getting us to the airport before 6 am.  I owe you! . . . Many thanks, too, to my children for their help and to Todd for taking care of Cinnamon and the yard.  It takes a lot of friends to do a trip like this. . . I've got a new netbook for this trip and the keyboard takes a LOT of getting used to.  Hence, typing the blog is not as easy as it might be.  So, I'm rambling here just to practice typing!  Will get cranked up tomorrow.

I think I've finally figured out (with Susan's help) how to set up this year's blog.