Great day for a bike ride!

A sunny Friday, February 2nd (in Seattle).  How weird is that!!

Cousin Chris and I take advantage of this fine day for a bike ride.  South from Shoreline on the Interurban to Fremont.

This is a bike theme fence enclosing a community garden.

And a very nice park celebrating the history of the Interurban.

In Fremont we switched to the Burke Gilman trail alongside Lake Union.

We are not the only ones taking advantage of this unique day.

Chris stops for a photo opp by Gas Works Park.

We stop for fish and chips at Ivar's Acres of Clams Lake Union before selecting our route north to Kenmore.  There are a lot of bike friendly routes in the Seattle area.

A beautiful ride alongside the University of Washington.  The temperature up into the low 50's!

There are two levels of trail in this area.  Probably because there once was a railroad spur or siding.

Some of the buildings along the Burke Gilman have gotten into a bicycling theme.  This one is next to the refurbished section of the Burke Gilman.  There are about five miles of trail that is currently closed and being refurbished.  We were re-routed onto surface streets by following "BG Detour" signs.

After 20 miles of riding we arrived at the bus stop near Lake Forest Park, paid $2.25 each, loaded our bikes into the rack and enjoyed the ride up the hill to the Aurora Transit Station near the Interurban Trail where we started!

Nice!

Greetings from the Frozen North Wet.

Got a break from Granny Duty

Lolli and I walked the beach of Elger Bay.

 In the evening the unexpected sunset just got better and better!

***

Note:  I am currently living in Washington State helping my wife with her 96 year old mother.  We are hoping to keep Margaret comfortable and at home during her "end of life" process.  Hospice is helping.

Interurban Trail to Everett, WA

Had a nice but cool bike ride to Everett from Shoreline on the Interurban trail.

23 miles one way.

Then a $1.75 ride return ride on the Swift Transit bus.

Walk on bike racks!!

How cool is that!

Faster than a bicycle!

I had a treat today.  My son Jeff flew up to Paine Field, Everett, Washington to pick me up in his RV7-A; the plane he build and I helped paint.

Here's Jeff arriving and swinging around to park.

What to do?  Would we like to fly around the Olympic Peninsula or would we rather fly to Eastern Washington?  We decide on Eastern Washington.  Jeff picks an airport near Ephrata, Washington and generates a flight plan. 

Up and into the air, Seattle in the foreground, the Olympics in the distance.

 Mount Rainier with, I believe, Mount Saint Helen in the distance.

28 degrees F at 9,000 feet.  Cool!

We are nice and toasty with cabin heat!

East of Snoqualmie Pass hundreds of windmills begin to appear.

 The Columbia River.

Eastern Washington.

Ephrata Airport.

Setting up for landing.

Too far to walk to town and the airport "courtesy car" has already been taken so we enjoy lunch at the flight center.  Microwaved Top Ramin, juice drinks and chips!  Yummy!

Tummies full, bladders empty, we mount up and take to the skies for home.

The Cascade Mountains are really something.

Mount Rainier comes back into view.

Letting down for the west side.

Snoqualmie Falls.

Bellevue in the foreground, Seattle beyond.

Boeing Airplanes at the Everett Factory waiting for finishing.

Jeff drops me off and heads for his home field near Puyallup.  

A three hundred mile round trip in an afternoon.  Amazing!

The sign says it all, "Thank You, Jeff!"

Stealth Graffiti?

Painted out or painted in?

 Cool!

Interurban North.

I had some time this afternoon to give the Interurban Trail north of Shoreline a try.

There was some riding along side streets where development removed portions of the old Interurban right of way..., 

but soon the route was back on "track".

One highway overpass was high enough above the surrounding city to be able to see the Olympic Range to the west and by turning towards the southwest from the same spot...,

there was Mt. Rainier!  (Some telephoto involved)

At ten miles I had just crossed over Interstate 5 in Alderwood and decided to head back but this was my turn around point, the start of a 15 mile section of Interurban that continues all the way to Everett.

Click the photo to embiggen.

On the way back to Shoreline I enjoyed these unusual clouds.

All in all a nice 20 mile, round trip, ride.  (click for map of route)

I'm thinking I would like to ride from Shoreline to Everett next time and take the Swift Bus back.  That could be an interesting adventure.  Stay tuned!