Today we spent the day exploring Seattle and getting to know each other. We started off at the Pike Place Market before heading off to the Starbucks Coffee roastery. We meandered through the streets of the city and climbed up the very steep hill to Kerry Park. We came back to the hostel and our food group of Kyle, Otto, & Matt made a delicious Pasta Alfredo!
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We started out the day to beautiful weather as we finished the last oatmeal. We settled at a mold pace, as the day went on we were all thinking to Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and what we were going to get.
Our counselor said we were going to get one of everything. I thought she was joking. We kept on riding, stopping at a local store for lunch and dinner and we talked about the ice cream again and again getting every flavor was talked about and I thought it was still a joke. We got to Ben and Jerry’s and our Trek leader went in, 10 mins later she exits saying she bought it. The Ben and Jerry’s worker came out with the Vermontster, a giant jug of ice cream, bananas , hot fudge, cookies, brownies and every topping you can think of. We started out strong eating it but almost all of us fell to it but we got through it and finished it. We rested and then went to the camp, set up and spent the rest of the day chilling by the beach, swimming in the freezing water and playing disc. Doing all of this while being stuffed. -Written by Trekker Max
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The Pacific Northwest Trekkers met in Seattle to embark on their 400+ mile bike ride around the Puget Sound and British Columbia. The group of 12 cyclists will visit the San Juan Islands, the Canadian cities of Vancouver & Victoria, Olympic National Park where they will climb (on cycle 5,200 ft) Hurricane Ridge, and back to rest in Seattle before they head home in 18 days.
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Today we were up very early so that we would be able to make our ferry across Lake George. However, the ferry ride was 2 hours later than we thought, so we played a cutthroat game of mini golf. Once on the boat, we spent a few hours learning about the deep history of Lake George. Because we lost time through the boat ride and mini golf we held a good pace for the days’ 30 miles. We crossed Lake Champlain into Vermont. Lastly, we stopped at a local lemonade stand off the side of the road and supported local business.” –written by Trekker Adam
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Today, we left Paris for Belgium. I watched the news on the strike at the Belgium train stations and I ate my croissant and drank my tea. We then biked to the Paris du Nord train station, finding a bike shop and sending our postcards on their way. After lunch, we found a spot to take apart our bikes and put them in big plastic bags. This was because the train did not allow bikes. It took us awhile but we managed to fit. The next challenge was to get all of our bikes and things onto the train before it left. We got many weird looks but I was too tired to care. After finally getting onto our train, I quickly fell asleep and when I woke up, we were in Belgium! Our day doesn’t end there tho, we had to get on another train to our hostel in Bruges. Finally we made it to town. Today was also the Belgium vs. France game, so David, Henry and I went to the town square to watch the game. Although Belgium lost, we still had a lot of fun
-Blog post from Andy
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A fitting farewell for the NYM Trekkers today. The hostel was kind enough to store our bags for the day which gave us time for some more thrift shopping! We also explored more of downtown Montreal. We had a lovely lunch of Chinese noodles downtown, and we also spent several hours packing bikes for the bus ride home. We grabbed a delicious dinner near the bus terminal. We are anxious to see all of our families again. Signing off -trek leader Kyle.
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Today started off slowly; everyone woke up slightly late, still recovering from our 56 mile day yesterday. Eventually, however, we packed up and began our journey. Delayed by a flat tire in the morning we stopped at a Hannaford for lunch, picking up some of our favorite foods such as chips and bagels. Following the aforementioned lunch stop, we were able to ride upwards of 10 miles without getting interrupted. With Lake George in sight, we stopped for root beer and ice cream at the A&Ws in the area, and continued on to go swimming. We had an extended dinner hour, complete with card games and some reading. We then set up our sleeping bags and went go bed.
-written by Trekker Eric
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Today we saw the most crucial site in Paris, the Eiffel Tower. We spent a good three hours walking up the 704 steps and enjoying the view. Then we were off at lunch where we had a picnic by the river next to the Eiffel Tower. Afterwards, we biked over to Montmartre to wander around and look over Paris from the hilltop. On the way we found the weirdest self-cleaning toilets (which Aimee said looked like they should be on spaceships). After a peaceful day of biking, we did our laundry and hung it all over our room to let it dry. We went to a French restaurant for dinner and walked back to the Eiffel Tower to see it all lit up. Although we are sad to leave Paris, everyone is excited to go on to Belgium.
Max – have fun at camp and kiss the moose for me
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Today we woke up in style in our nice cozy Holiday Inn Express hotel room. We all woke up at 7 am and strolled to the all you can eat breakfast where we ate like kings drinking and eating everything from chocolate milk to coffee to bagels to oats. We left the hotel at 8 am and started off on a bike trail flying through it as if it was nothing. After 20 miles we took a half hour break to toss the frisbee around. We took off again stopping 15 miles later at Price Chopper to eat and play cards. We left again going fast until we started up a hill that seemed to never end but we cranked up the hill. When we reached the top of the hill we flew downwards. We reached the campsite finally finishing our longest day. –Written by Trekker Max
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Today we woke up in Kitsap Memorial State Park and enjoyed a breakfast of Froot Loops before heading out on our last day of biking (also, happy birthday Lola!). We biked to catch a morning ferry back into Seattle. Once on the ferry, we enjoyed some snacks and saw Mt. Reinier, which had alluded us for most of the trip. The ferry, while short, was bittersweet as it meant we had finally come full circle. We peddled to FedEx where we disassembled our bikes, packed them in boxes and played with the extra cardboard. The cardboard tasted nice but we felt our bellies rumbling and ventured to get Mod Pizza (hopefully coming soon to a location near you). Feeling incomplete without our bikes, we returned to the hostel and took much needed showers. After a brief rest, we headed to the pier and explored various Seattle sights, like the Seattle Shoe Museum. We were treated to a view of the land we had just traveled through by way of ferris wheel, and then continued on to eat our final meal in a delicious Mexican dining establishment. We then retired to the hostel together for one last night on our trek. –Mmmm Veggie Boy (aka Felix)
We had an amazing trip with the trekkers and saw some unbelievable (and truly memorable) sights around the Puget Sound. Here is our 1 second-a-day video for all to enjoy! Signing off, Yael and Ben
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