We woke up at around 8am and Joan made us breakfast with toast, grapes, eggs, granola, bananas, and coffee. I sent CouchSurfing requests to Bellingham. I figured out our directions to navigate out of Vancouver.
We said goodbye to Eric and Kosuke. Eric was heading to Vancouver Island to cycle and he said we could meet up with him in Seattle. Kosuke was headed home to Japan and he made me promise I would come visit him.
Mike, Paul, and I took off at around 11:30am and started traversing Vancouver. We got into dense city and Mike was feeling sick so we took it easy. We got out of Vancouver without getting lost. We passed out of the city and through suburbs.
When we reached the US border they didn’t ask me any questions, they just let us go through. Mike stopped at the border to use the bathroom and while we waited for him a guard yelled at us to get away from the border and don’t hang around. Customs people are rude.
The weather was partly sunny. When we crossed the border I turned my cell phone on for the first time.
We took I5 for the last 8 miles leading to Bellingham. It’s not advisable to ride on the interstate shoulder. We were used to riding next to cars but the interstate was busy and it is dangerous to cross the exit ramps as a group of 3 touring cyclists.
We made it to Bellingham and went to a restaurant called Pel Meni. The guy who worked at Pel Meni was a CouchSurfing host named Kyle and he gave me his number. Mike had an upset stomach so we went to our CouchSurfing host’s house as soon as possible. Our host was named Johanna. She let us set up our tents in the backyard.
Mike stayed in his tent while Paul and I went to a bar called the Up & Up. After a while I went back to the house to check on Mike. I hung out with Johanna’s housemate Nate then I rode around town on my bike. It was a college town party scene in Bellingham because everyone was coming back for fall semester.
I ended up calling Kyle and he picked me up and took me to his house where he let me sleep on his couch.
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| I let my tent dry in Joan's backyard. |
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| Joan's touring bicycle. |
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| This is where we slept on the floor. |
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| Me, Kosuke, Mike, and Eric saying goodbye. |
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| Paul on a bridge in Vancouver. |
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| Me in Vancouver. |
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| Nearing the USA. |
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| Back in America. |
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| US customs. |
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| Pel Meni's |
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| The Bellingham Fire Department. |
