Thursday, February 18, 2010

Yesterday Lewis County, Today Pierce County

What a fabulous day for a bike ride! Hard to believe it is February when the sun is shining and it is 58 degrees. Was even able to take the sleeves off my jacket!
Today I headed north to Pierce County and Anderson Island. I've never ridden on the island so it was a new road for me!
First I rode to Steilacoom. I thought I could catch the 11:00AM ferry, but I misjudged the time abit on that one. No worries though. When I got to the ferry terminal I bought my ticket ($4.70 and Stella rides free!) and went back up the hill abit for some lunch. Just a bagel and cream cheese (oh yeah, and a cookie too). The ferry loaded at 11:50 for a 12:00 departure. The ride over to the island took about 20 minutes. Nice little ferry, the Christine Anderson. Here is a picture of Stella in her parking spot.

As I was getting off the ferry a guy asked me if I had ridden the island before. I told him I hadn't. He gave me some advice as to where to go. I had brought a map of the island, but I'm always open to suggestions from those in the know. Anyway, I totally missed the road he told me about (so much for those suggestions), but I did find out the name of a crucial street, that wasn't labelled on the map, that I did find. So, off I went up a rather steep hill (strangely enough, most roads from ferry terminals are rather steep). The litle map I had was quite good and I managed to make it around the island with plenty of time to spare before the next ferry. Funny thing, as I was coming back toward the ferry terminal, I decided, because I had time to spare, I would go back to the store I had passed on my way around the island. When I got back to the road that the store was on, I turned in the direction I thought I should. It was the wrong way. At the bottom of the hill, I came to Larson Rd. This was the road I had missed at the beginning! At least I knew where I was, and where I would come out (at the ferry terminal). But, I still wanted to go to the store. That steep hill I climbed at the beginning? Yep, went up it again! Had an ice cream sandwich at the store then rode back to the ferry. I met the same guy on the ferry going back to Steilacoom. I told him what I had done. He laughed.
Here are a few more pictures.



All in all, a great day to be out on Stella!

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