Day #49: Urban Trails

Today's Route: Seattle, WA to Arlington, WA (67 miles)
Total Trip Miles: 2,288

Having celebrated the solstice in Seattle yesterday, we are back on the road today to finish our final two days of pedaling.

Though today's route passed through a number of towns near to home, the route included sections of urban trails on which I have not yet ridden.

For the first 36 miles of our route, Alex and I had the pleasure of having Ferit join us for the ride.

The first part of the route was along the Lake Washington Loop. I've ridden this route a million times before, though this was the first time I ever stopped to pose for a photo with the awesome cyclist suspended from a tree:

The suspended cyclist, along the Lake Washington loop.

The second urban trail we followed today was the Interurban Trail. Though I have ridden the Interurban many times close to the Seattle area, I had never followed the trail as far north as Everett. It is a so-so trail -- one that would definitely benefit from better signage and fewer stop signs.

I had stopped on an overpass along the Interurban Trail to take a photo. Although I was away from my bike for only a few short seconds, I returned to find a beautiful, solitary daisy in my handlebar bag. I think I might know where this came from. Thank you, Ferit.

A daisy mysteriously appears in my handlebar bag.

Once we reached Everett, Ferit needed to turn around and head back to Seattle. He decided he'd bus it, and so the boys spent some time on their smart devices figuring out the bus stops and schedules.

The boys do some research on their devices.

We said goodbye to Ferit, turned off the Interurban Trail, and then rode along the Lowell Snohomish River Road, which would connect us to the Centennial Trail -- our third and final urban trail of the day. It's unfortunate that Ferit needed to turn back when he did, because the ride became infinitely more gorgeous just after we turned off the Interurban Trail.

Blue skies, a valley, a river, flowering trees, and snow-capped mountains. The definition of bliss!

The Skagit Valley is notorious for flooding. It thus should come as no surprise that we saw houses lifted onto twenty foot tall cinder block structures.

Houses raised on cinder blocks.

A few miles later, in the adorable town of Snohomish, we began our ride along the Centennial Trail.

The entrance to the Centennial Trail.

Of the three urban trails that we rode along today, the Centennial Trail was my favorite -- smooth pavement, excellent signage, and occasional curves to keep the ride interesting.

The end of today's route brought us to the town of Arlington. Arlington is well-known as the beginning and ending of "The Rectangle Ride" (see Bloated Fish & Butt Raisins). It is also the home of a popular bicycle sculpture. I've posed on this sculpture a hand-full of times before. It's time for some new poses.

Pose #1: The Snooty Rider.

Pose #2: Look Ma, No Feet.

Pose #3: Perched Atop the Saddle, All Ladylike and Everything.

Pose #4: Riding Backwards.

We are spending the night at Rick's place tonight. Rick is a Warm Showers host, who has fashioned an awesome camping site for cyclists on part of his 18-acre property.

The camp area includes an outdoor shower. This was, by far, the most awesome shower of this trip. There's nothing like taking a shower while having the warm sun beat down on your bare skin.

It felt wonderful to shower under the sun.

The shower water is heated by a dolly-mounted propane-powered heater.

The water heater.

Rick also built an outhouse for his cycling guests.

The outhouse.

And to top of it, there are comfy camp chairs!

Comfy chairs -- this is luxury camping I tell you.

We talked with Rick for the first fifteen minutes or so when we first arrived. For the remainder of the evening, we were at our own liberties to enjoy Rick's camping area. This is the perfect setting for us to unwind from today's urban trail riding. It's also the perfect setting for us to unwind on the last night of our trip.