Day 8
Port Townsend is the terminus for the ferry to/from Widbey Island. I met a local couple returning from a tour while waiting for it. They were riding up the island to Anacortes which is the official starting point for the Washington to Minnesota route. I rode down Widbey to Clinton (30 miles - it is a big island) and took the ferry to Mulkiteo. My parents were living in Mulkiteo when I was born (in a hospital in Everett, just north of Mulkiteo), so I wanted to see the place. I shouldn't have bothered, it just was like riding in any of thousands of US suburbs. Well, quite hilly, but no fun. Getting out of Everett going north meant riding over a very busy bridge with no provision for bikes. It was exciting in the same way that Hood Canal bridge was exciting.

After getting out of Everett, I just wanted to get away from traffic. I stopped in Marysville at a delightful bakery and, after consulting with the locals, rode east from Marysville to highway 9 and then north on highway 9. Traffic was bad for the first 30 miles (south of Arlington, WA), but got better and, for the last 20 miles south of Sedro Wolley, 9 was quite nice riding. I stopped at 13 Firs bed and breakfast on 9 in southern Skagit Valley. It is a small and very peaceful place on a lake. Just what I needed that night. I had only done 60 miles of riding, but the ferries took a lot of time and the riding had been very stressful for most of the day.

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