san juan islands (part 6)
Our last day and we were up early. The skies were darker than normal (atleast for our trip so far) and it was actually drizzling a bit. Not a good way to start our last day of biking. But by the time we ate breakfast and walked down to the ferry, the clouds were beginning to break up and you could see some blue peaking out. The ferry ride was nice and since we were going east it didn’t cost anything. (Yeah, there’s some strange system where you only pay if you are going west. Not that we were paying since Matt and Ashley took care of that stuff anyways, but it’s odd.) Anyways, after an hour or so, we docked at Lopez Island and again biked a steep uphill climb away from the harbor. It had warmed up by this point also, so I lost the jacket and just enjoyed the ride. While Matt and Ashley didn’t use the“F” word, they did say that this would be the easiest terrain since our first ride. And it was. Which of course is not to say that there weren’t a couple of hills in there to spice it up a bit.
But again, another gorgeous island. More farming that forest here. But it was a really nice ride and we even managed to stop into the village of Lopez for a quick breakbefore concluding our 15 mile ride at the Lopez Winery. We had a chance to sample some of the local wines and then we had our last Backroads picnic lunch amidst the vineyards. The sun was out, we had just completed our last ride, and it was just the perfect ending to our vacation. Some people biked the last 6 miles to the ferry, but Dad and I had called it quits and we rode the fan to the ferry. Then it was time to leave LopesIsland and head to Anacortes. It was there that we said good-bye to Matt and Ashley and then boarded the bus back to Seattle.
We got back to Seattle around 7PM and had time to re-pack, grab dinner, and then crash before getting up at 4AM to catch our flights back to Colorado and Washington DC respectively.
This was definitely a great trip. And while we didn’t ride as far as we did on the Denmark Backroads trip, I think it was more challenging, and much more hilly. I’m also convinced that Dad and I are going to do another Backroads trip. They are just pros and everything is just top of the line, from the support, to the trip leaders, to the lodging, to the food, to you name it. It’s just the best way to do adventure travel. I think Dad and I are looking at the Wine Country biking trip next year and may see if Mom will join us (even if she doesn’t bike).