I walked through Riverfront Park this morning. I found REI, and discovered that they were actually open today. I came back to the room and put the new tire on the bike. Then I headed to the airport to pick up the car. I was able to arrange a drop-off in Bellingham, which is north of where I was originally going to hit my southbound bike route. That's much better than trying to get up to Anacortes from SeaTac.
I got back to the hotel just in time for a wild thunderstorm. I had planned to head over to REI at 2 to borrow their floor pump and then go out for a ride, but I waited out the rain and didn't head out until 3. I ran into a cyclist at REI who recommended several books about the area. He was a bit of a "know-it-all", but did help somewhat. I picked up one book of tours in Eastern Washington. I also picked up another long-sleeved shirt. If the weather continues as it has been it will come in handy. And if not, all the better!
I was feeling guilty this morning about bailing on riding across the North Cascades - but then Erin at the front desk told me about a guest who drove over from Seattle last night. He said it was cold, very windy, and very rainy coming over the pass, and he was quite a bit south of where I'd planned to be.
I'm actually pretty excited about my change in plans - I'm planning to get to the North Cascades, Grand Coulee Dam, and Mt. Rainier. I'm supposed to drop the car off on Friday, but I may extend it for a day. The rate they quoted me was a weekly rate, and I'll only have it for five days. I need to figure out how much biking time I need to get from Bellingham, WA to Crescent City, CA to catch my flight home. An extra day at the end would let me get to Redwoods National Park.
