Day 3

Day 3 was quite the day. I went from Bay View State Park to Port Townsend. I started out riding through some farms and crossed a bridge to an island and discovered that islands are hilly. I made it to Deception Pass and the area was very pretty:

As you can see, my bike gained several pounds since the last time you saw it. So I went across a cool bridge and took a break at the state park.

Before I left, I wanted to check my map for when I needed to turn next. The map wasn't in my pocket. It wasn't in my bags. I must have forgotten to zip my pocket and the map fell out of my pocket. @#$%.

Well I need my maps, so I turned back and made the decision to go back 5 miles before giving up. That would add 10 miles to the day. I churned up the hills I had already cruised down and after 4.3 miles, I encountered a hill that I remembered being long and fast. I decided I would climb up the hill, hoping that it was where the map had fallen out of my pocket. Keeping my eyes glued to the opposing shoulder, I saw a green paper sitting in the ditch. It was my maps, located at 4.7 miles. If I had dropped them 0.3 miles earlier, I would have given up and had no maps.

So after adding 10 miles to the day, it was starting to feel like a long day. Of course, it had started raining when I started looking for the maps, so the continual rain was starting to wear on me. Not only was the rain being mean, I got a flat tire on a side street. I couldn't find the thorn that made it, so I just put in a new tube in the rain and continued. I made it to Oak Harbor and I was very tired and mentally worn out because of the non-stop rain. I needed a pick me up, so I decided to splurge and went to the Pizza Factory for a buffet. It was good.

I kept riding forward and was lucky enough to encounter the most difficult hill yet, 5 minutes after eating 5 pieces of pizza and a salad. Oh and it was one-way construction traffic, so everyone was waiting on me to finish. It sucked, but I made it and stopped at the top gasping for air.

Several miles later it was still raining so I pulled to the side under a sheltered bus stop to check my maps. I heard air leaking out of my back tire again. I listened closely to the leak and found it. It was bubbling with all the water that was on the tire. I looked for a thorn, but didn't see any. I stretched out the tire and looked deep in the rubber and found a rock. A rock... How the heck could a rock give me a flat tire! It was a tiny arrowhead shaped rock that was the same reason I got the flat several miles back.

Stupid rock

I patched the tube and moved onward. I finally reached Coupeville, which was where I wanted to catch the ferry to Port Townsend. The ferry left at 4:30 and at 6:00. It was 4:20. I tried my darndest to make it to the dock in time for the 4:30 ferry but arrived 10 minutes late. So I waited at the ferry office for the time. I plugged my phone into the wall and read my book. After lending my can opener to a lady with a diabetic cat, 6:00 arrived. I got on the ferry and found my seat. We made it a half mile and I heard something over the intercom, "If you left your cell phone in the ferry office in Coupeville, we may know where it is." That was my cell phone. I left it in the wall. I talked to the ferry employees and they agreed to bring it with them on their next trip which would arrive at 8:00. I figured I could go to a coffee shop until then.

Well we arrived at Port Townsend and it was still raining. The rain had been non-stop ever since Deception Pass. I was cold and miserable, so I decided to get a room for the night. I biked 2.5 miles to the Olympic Hostel and was turned down because a school group was there for the night and there wasn't a single bed open. I biked back to town and checked with 3 different hotels, looking for the cheapest. The cheapest was $70 at the Aladdin hotel, so after picking my phone up at the ferry office, I went to the hotel and got a room. I could finally dry off and it was 8:30. What a long day. I was upset to have to pay so much for the hotel room, but I was so glad to have a room for the night and to not be out in the rain.