Day 50: Oh Canada!!

Today is the last day.  Sounds crazy.

Since we would have to wait a while in Sumas for our ride back to Seattle the plan was to sleep a little later and get on the road a bit later than usual.

That didn't happen at all.  Everything was packed up and we were headed for the road right at 7 like just about every day.  Rick came out to say goodbye and get a pictures of us with the bikes.  I told him that his place was perfect for what we needed.  He was glad to hear it as he said he has spent time worrying about whether there is other stuff he ought to be doing for folks.  Truly a great and generous fellow.

Today would be straight to Sumas which meant finishing the rest of the Centennial Trail and then cruising up highway 9 to the border.  It looked like the route mostly followed valleys through the larger hills and shod be fairly flat and fast but it was hard to tell exactly from the map.

The end of the trail

After the trail ended we hopped on highway 9.  On the weekends this road is full of sightseeing traffic and folks on motorcycles.  It is actually one of the best motorcycle roads in western Washington.  Fortunately, today was Monday and there was very little traffic.  There was not always much of a shoulder but with the light traffic it didn't really matter.  The road was smooth and rolling which made for great riding.  Soon the road opened up into one of the valleys and the view was great.  Lots of little farms and mountains, a great backdrop to the final day on the road.

Snowy Mt. Baker…happy to not be riding in that snow

With very little traffic and flat rolling roads mixed with some growing anticipation/impatience, the riding began to pick up steam and we were covering ground at an increasing rate.  While we didn't get to see a Welcome To Washington sign, we did find a welcome to the last county of the trip sign.  Fortunately we were in Washington and not Southern California so it wasn't going to take three days to get across the county.

A little hop for the last county of the trip

I am not sad that we are finishing up on the flat roads but the mountains have been nice to see today.  Some of the most northern Washington Cascades are pretty rugged and covered in crazy amounts of snow year round so seeing them from a bit of a distance is better than experiencing another June blizzard up close.

Northern Washington in all its glory

With a bit of downhill, I had pulled ahead a bit up the road but when I saw another quaint general store, I had to pull over for another cool drink (the first of the day).  I still am not sure exactly what is the allure of the general store, maybe it is some kind of romantic throwback to a past history that I have never experienced but always imagined.  There is never a cowboy or sheriff inside but I always go in looking anyway.  At any rate, the next time you are passing a general store, stop and have a look.  It i stun to see the weird mix of things that reflect what is the same everywhere (beef jerky and cold drinks) and what is unique to each location.

Acme General Store?  Come on, you have to stop here.

Sarah chose not to stop at the general store and went cruising on by instead so I was behind a fair amount by the time I finished gulping down my drink and getting back on the bike.  I was just in time to get to stop and meet a nice fellow enjoying his work day stopping traffic.  We chatted a bit and he explained to me that most folks in cars are idiots and he doesn't trust them so he wondered if I would be willing to let them go by and follow the last cars through the construction.  Sounded reasonable to me and it gave me a nice empty stretch of road for half a mile or so.

He knows you're an idiot

At this point I was well behind and it was looking like I would be finishing the ride to the border on my own.  Not exactly how I planned to finish but it would be fine.  It was a good thing that the route now just followed highway 9 and I didn't need a detailed map or directions.  I was riding pretty quickly and I realized that I would be done in less than two hours.  It was a bit strange to think that all of the riding had come down to jet a few more miles.  I was looking forward to being done but I was really enjoying the riding.

The interesting thing about the last week or so is that with the mountains behind me and the roads flattened out, I have had no trouble recovering overnight and I can now ride strongly through the day without being exhausted.  It is a pretty great feeling considering where I was a year and a half ago.  It also makes me greet the prospect of finishing with mixed feelings.

I slowed my riding a bit and was extra conscious of looking around to take in the scenery.  I pulled over to grab a quick drink from my water bottle and a bite of a snack.  As I was getting ready to ride again, Sarah came rolling up from behind.  I was shocked to see her as I figured I wouldn't see her until the end of the ride.  Apparently she had stopped somewhere after she left me and had now caught me again.

With several hours to go before a ride was to meet us, we pulled into a Subway that looked like it had wifi. The plan was to catch up on some blog writing and kill some time not far from he finish.  We were now within 15 miles of the end.  Unfortunately, after getting a sandwich it turned out that we couldn't connect to their wifi.  I still had some writing I could do but Sarah was growing more impatient so we were back out on the road soon.  Our plan was to find a place in Sumas with wifi and kill the hours waiting for her boyfriend to arrive to give us a ride.

The road led through a tiny town before Sumas and I was getting excited about seeing the border soon. It was here that I started reflecting back on what was near the border at he start.  There were lots of indications that we were near a border and tons of border patrol agents cruising the roads.  Here, there was nothing to indicate that we were within a few miles of the border.

Closing on the border so the restaurants must be…Mexican?

That's Canada over there, can't you smell the poutine?

Arriving in Sumas I found a large welcome to town sign.  After missing out at the Washington/Oregon border, it was nice to have one here.  There would be nobody to see at the finish line but I was giving a little cheer inside just the same.

Finish Town!

At the border I saw the Canadian flags and was excited to be finished.  It wasn't really anti-climactic but there weren't any fireworks either.  On the way through town we saw that the restaurant in which we planned to wait was closed.  Unfortunately, Sarah was ending the day with no patience and did not want to wait in town.  She made up her mind to ride to Bellingham and have her boyfriend meet her there.  I was not at all excited about the prospect of riding another three hours rather than looking around town a bit. Ultimately she took off and took her ride with her leaving me at the border to find another way home.  Not exactly the ending I had hoped for but not the end of the world either.

I contacted Julie and she agreed to pick up my car and drive the couple hours to the border from Seattle and pick me up.  An inconvenience to be sure but at least I would get to see her a bit earlier.

End of the road…and a bit past

As I was leaving the border sign and heading back into town, I was flagged down by a US border guard.  He had seen us riding from the direction of Canada but had not seen the arrival and thought we may have crossed in the wrong place.  I explained that I was just taking pictures at the border at the end of the ride.  He told me that the sign was not the border and the border was actually indicated by the large unmarked pole a few yards south of the sign.  I said thanks for the info and prepared to be on my way as he was preparing to make an issue out of it.  He quickly realized that there wasn't actually an issue and went back to what he was doing.  Apparently these were not the bicycle smugglers he was looking for.

I quickly found a spot in town with open wifi and used it to search for  palace to get something to eat.  I stopped at a local burger place (for a veggie burger).  While inside, a Canadian couple returning from a holiday in Saipan were very curious about my bike and trip.  We talked for about an hour and they were delightful to meet.  After killing a fair amount of time with the food and wifi I decided to head down the street to a cafe where I could get some good coffee.

As I pulled into the parking lot of the Crosswater Cafe, there was an older couple inside waving to me through the window.  I was in a pretty good mood and smiling so I figured they were responding to that.  When I went inside, the place was empty except for the three of us and they immediately started asking questions about the bike and where I had been riding.  I explained that I had just finished a border to border ride and they were very very congratulatory and offered whatever I was ordering on the house.  It turned out that they were the owners of the place and very friendly.  I was just there for coffee and so I ordered it and we talked for a while about the ride and camping and Crate Lake in the snow.

It has been pretty amazing to meet all of the great people on this trip and it was continuing right up to the very last minutes.  I changed out of my riding clothes and shortly Julie arrived with the car.  I had just seen her a couple days ago but it was still very nice to see her again.

I packed the bike and my tea into the car and we headed out.  She hadn't eaten yet and after driving all the way to the border with no notice to pick me up, I wanted to be sure she got whatever she wanted.  We stopped in Bellingham on the way back to get something to eat at a co-op that she really likes there.

The last hiccup of the trip happened when we were about 45 miles south of Bellingham and my phone rang.  I looked at the caller ID and then asked Julie why she was calling me.  Then I asked her where her phone was.  We had left her bag and phone in Bellingham and they were calling me (the last number she had dialed) to see if I knew how to contact her.  Fortunately, they would be open for a couple more hours so I turned around and we headed back north.

After retrieving her bag with all her belongings still inside (minus a small amount of cash) and grabbing another vegan carrot cupcake (the first one was so tasty) we were headed home again.

It was a late night by the time we got home but it was good to be home.  For the first time in the last 50 days I wasn't sure what I would do tomorrow and I didn't have a schedule.  I finished about a week earlier than I thought I would so I now have a bit of extra time before heading to Hawaii at the end of next week to begin sailing back to Seattle.  Hopefully that will take a bit less than 50 days.