Got to Seattle ....

And I've finally found an Internet cafe so can do a longer post! I got to Seattle yesterday evening after cycling about 60 miles from Port Townsend. James and Stasha (and Castro the cat) have just got a place here right next to the University of Washington (it's called the U district).

The cycling has been quite hard so far. I'm carrying a lot of weight on the bike which makes hill climbing a lot more difficult than normal. I reckon it'll take me a couple of weeks to get up to a decent level of fitness. I'm on schedule though as I'm not covering that many miles a day at the moment. The cycling gets much hiller when I get to the Pacific coast (I'm starting it in Astoria). I'm going to go through my bags and see what else I can get rid of to lighten my load. I've also lost just under half a stone despite constant snacking and big meals.

Crossing the US border was quite quick but I think the guards there feel like it's their job to give you a bit of a hard time.

Guard: so which way are you cycling down to San Diego?
me: highway 1
Guard: there's no highway 1 on the west coast it's in the east
me: you know, route 1, the pacific highway
Guard:
me: well whatever you want to call the road that goes down the west coast, that's the way I'm going!

Once I got over the border I got lost and couldn't find the road I was looking for. Someone in a bike shop told me afterwards that they've changed all the roads around in preparation for the Winter Olympics in Vancouver in 2010.

I'm cycling to Shelton next. I'll try and update this blog as often as I can, they don't seem to have Internet cafes in small towns but apparently I can use the Internet in public libraries.

OK photo time...

Whale watching in Anacortes


.











A view taken between Bellingham and Anacortes














Arriving in Seattle