Two Eagles, a Fox, & Two Ferries

Day 5: Lopez Island WA to Port Townsend. Do you think that we love brown more because we were born in the 70s? Almost missed the morning ferry off the island, which got our blood pumping early. My bike feels good but my load is heavy. I am starting to think that we need to get rid of this ridiculous NYC urban bike chain. It must weigh 20 lbs. It's at least twice as heavy as anything else we're carrying. It's designed to be heavy, for gods sake. On steep hills I direct all of my struggle towards the bike chain. I curse its 25 or more pounds. If I got rid of it, my bags would be insanely lighter. Ilana, who very rightly is still reeling from the theft of her beloved Brava (stolen in midday Brooklyn), is slowly coming around to the idea that it might be overkill. A statistic in favor of ditching the chain - # of times so far we've locked our bikes out of sight in a public place: 0. For now, I carry the extra thirty pounds. As far as the day's bike ride, Ilana and I keep saying we would have ridden further if people hadn't helped us so much. Example. We stopped at a random house for water. In our rush off the island we hadn't packed enough. It seemed like the right house, despite the McCain/Palin bumper sticker. A kid said sure fill up. The hearty firefighter-looking man who appeared waved us away from the yard spigot and started asking us technical questions about our trip. He was a triathlete who had covered much of our WA route many times. After filling up our bottles with tasty cold filtered water that must have come out a drop at a time he showered us with generous but time-consuming advice. It was 30 minutes before we pedalled again. Sea vistas of Rosario Strait on our right, we climbed and descended. We swooped by Lake Erie. Deception Pass Bridge behind us, we stopped at a beach-side state park to check a gear problem on my bike. The chain was about to go. We didn't have a chain tool. Half mile later the chain broke completely. Before I even got off the bike, Ilana took charge, smashing the links together with a rock. Amazingly, it held. Two bald eagles, a fox leaping through a field, a big grin as we descended towards the south side of Whidbey Island to the ferry dock. Bed provided by Olympic Hostel on the old grounds of Fort Wordon, where they filmed 'officer and a gentleman'. Under the communal sink were 2 items, 25 cents each: condoms, and earplugs.