View of the hiker/biker camping area at Fort Townsend State Park as seen far above, up in the tree canopy.
We talked about taking a scooter bike camping trip all summer long. It seemed like it would be pretty fun, and it did not disappoint. We had a leisurely start from our home in North Seattle. Anxious about making B wait, I headed out while he was still strapping his helmet on. Google maps led me to a few dead ends, but the drivers out on this holiday weekend took it in stride. No one seemed to be getting angry. I arrived to Walnut Street Cafe in Edmonds before B. I couldn’t believe it. I got in the long line then showed up just behind me. We grabbed some delicious coffee drinks in real mugs and sat outside in the perfect morning weather to drink them. I enjoyed an english muffin sandwich with scrambled eggs, pesto and vegetarian sausage. After soaking in the sun and peaceful lifestyle that is Edmonds we got up to go and Bryan saw Rick Steves. Well, we’ll ever know for sure because I didn’t want to be the person recognizing someone famous when they were just trying to get their weekend coffee. But. Rick Steves does live in Edmonds and Bryan has watched years of his shows.
The next stretch of road wasn’t as interesting as the first. I did ride on a “Speedway.” The Mukilteo Speedway wasn’t a traditional speedway, but it did involve a lot of fast moving cars. We weren’t sure how to get a scooter on the Mukilteo Ferry. Bryan looked it up and some ferries noted scooters and motorcycles could go to the front and some didn’t. They aren’t placed on the ferry like cars, but they have to buy a vehicle ticket, whereas I can get a walk-on ticket. He sat in line for about 30 minutes, but the line reached up the hill quite a ways, so I headed down to buy my ticket. I asked my ticket agent if Bryan would make the same ferry as me. Bad news, the ferry is backed up about 3 ferry’s worth due to the holiday. Good news, Bryan can scoot up to the front cut in front of drivers and get a ticket from the ticket booth. Bryan was apprehensive to cut, but after several ferry crossings, it became clear that this is how you do it.
In Freeland we stopped for some delicious hand-made ice cream. It was worth it. We sat in the perfect sun once again. Then we visited the Cat Cottage, a place to adopt strays. It was a lovely little house where each cat had a cage, but was free to roam about as they wanted. Each cage had a window and a bird feeder and bird house for entertainment. It was staffed by a delightful lady who knew every cat intimately and had a lot to share with the visitors. We stopped at a state park and then took the hilly route off the main road. When it became clear I took the hills so much more slowly I opted to hop back on the flatter main road and Bryan stayed on the backroads.
Waiting for the ferry. I parked my bike in the bike spot and Bryan parked in the motercycle spot.
The sadistic cat adoption cottage has a window for every cat and each window has a bird feeder and a bird house. They keep some very entertained cats!
Bryan stopped off in this beautiful waterside marsh area to capture some drone footage.
We considered camping at Fort Casey State Park. Why not? We hadn’t spent much time on Whidbey Island before. The ferry we planed to ride sailed off into the sunset and we checked out the hiker-biker spots. The hiker bikers pitched a few tents in a brown grassy area next to the restrooms. The area sat in the center of an open sea of giant motorhomes. We opted to push on, and I am so glad we did.
One more ferry and we landed in Port Angeles at dusk. We eventually got to our final destination at the hiker biker camp at Fort Townsend State Park. That’s where we found out biker didn’t mean bikes with motors, but the camp host gave up a pass since we came from so far away. We had the whole camp area to ourselves under a canopy of glorious trees. After a satisfying dinner of packaged camping meals that cooked themselves (really!) and tasty local hard cider, I sat in perfect bliss. There is a certain euphoria that comes with riding all day.
Video
To date, this is the best biking video I’ve made. Bryan got a new Parrot Quad-Copter (he prefers that to the politically-loaded name “Drone”. I combined that with footage from my Cycliq FLy 12 headlight bike camera, photos from the phone, and relive videos to make this piece.
The next morning I took a gravel waterfront multi-use path into town and Bryan took the backroads. We landed at a very busy cafe that served bitter drinks much too slowly. My salmon quiche was so tasty that the bees wouldn’t leave me alone until they got some. We ferried out and headed back down Whidbey Island along the other coast. I reached home about an hour later than Bryan did and a bit more tired. We had such a fun time together, though. This is a definite one to do again.
Photos
