Back to North America
After a couple of weeks cycling around Costa Rica, hitting various tourist hotspots such as Monte Verde and Tortuguero, as well as a bunch of places off the beaten tourist trail, I found out that a few friends I haven´t seen in a couple of years, were going to be in the Seattle area the first week in September, and another cycling friend was planning some sort of press-related cycling / train trip that had the potential for free rail travel and accomodations. So, I headed back to San Jose, found a relatively cheap oneway ticket to San Francisco for the next week. It turned out to be significantly cheaper to fly to SF and then take the train or bus to Seattle than fly directly to Seattle. Plus, that would give me a chance to revisit San Francisco and a couple of friends there.
Of course, about a day after buying the tickets, I discovered my friends weren´t going to be in Seattle after all, and the potential bike trip wasn´t going to work either. Oh, well, no worries. I decided I just hop on a train or bus north to Jasper, and meander southwards for a few weeks through the Rocky Mountains and various national parks in Canada and the US until I had to be back in Seattle for work in early October. In fact, I had originally been thinking of starting this whole trip there in the first place, but by the time I finally was ready to hit the road had figured it was a bit late in the season for that.
For a change of pace, I also decided to try out a few ideas regarding my bike and gear for that portion of the trip.
So, I spent my last few days in Costa Rica in San Jose, going on a bit of an internet shopping spree for some of the new gear I wanted to try, and visiting various places in and around the city that I hadn´t manage to see earlier.
I also happened to run into a fellow at the hostel from Portland, that I had met in Mexico City back in December. Turns out he was in Costa Rica for several weeks for some classes.
Anyway, after an annoying, delay-filled trip to San Francisco via Atlanta, during which I spent more time in various lines or just sitting around waiting in airports than actually on airplanes, I spent a pleasant 26 hours in San Francisco. I arrived around 2300, collected my bike and bag, took one of the last BART trains into town, rode my bike to the hostel, and collapsed into bed after a couple of quick emails to friends in the city.
The next day the weather was excellent, and I rode around the city running a few errands, and then just wandering with no real purpose. I also spent a few hours lounging in various parks, ate some Beard Papa creampuffs and some other junkfood I´d been craving for a while but hadn´t been able to locate on my travels, then met up for dinner with a couple of friends, one who I had met in San Francisco last October, and another I had met in Guatemala.
By the time we had finished dinner and I got back to the hostel to pick up my bag, it was about 2300, and I went to the bus station to pack my bike and wait for my 0100 bus to Olympia.
I had to change buses in Sacramento, but that bus continued all the way to Seattle. It was a long bus trip, arriving in Olympia about 1900, but wasn´t as bad as I had feared it would be from past Greyhound experiences.
I spent the long Labor Day weekend at my parents´ place in Olympia, with a very quick trip up to Seattle to pick up some gear waiting for me at REI. Most of the weekend was spent prepping the other bike I would be using, checking out the new gear I had ordered, and digging through my storage unit collecting other gear I would need.
Although I spent a lot of time monkeying with the bike and gear, I also got a chance to catch up with my parents and sister, who was also visiting for the weekend. I went for bike ride with my Dad, and he happened to mention that one of his dreams was to bike across the US, which was interesting. He often often commutes to work on his bike, and goes on shortish recreational rides, but has never toured. Be interesting to see if he ever does it.
In any case, about 2000 on Monday, I hopped on a bus to Seattle, had a bit of a layover there, then headed on to Vancouver, arriving about 0300, with about a 3 hour wait until my next bus. The station was closed, so I waited out front with other travelers in front of the covered main entrance, taking shelter from the light drizzle until the station opened a bit before 0500. Then a long ride to Jasper, arriving a bit before dark to unpack the bike and ride out to a nearby campground, and turned in rather early, trying to recover from not getting much sleep during the nearly 24 hours on the bus.
Of course, about a day after buying the tickets, I discovered my friends weren´t going to be in Seattle after all, and the potential bike trip wasn´t going to work either. Oh, well, no worries. I decided I just hop on a train or bus north to Jasper, and meander southwards for a few weeks through the Rocky Mountains and various national parks in Canada and the US until I had to be back in Seattle for work in early October. In fact, I had originally been thinking of starting this whole trip there in the first place, but by the time I finally was ready to hit the road had figured it was a bit late in the season for that.
For a change of pace, I also decided to try out a few ideas regarding my bike and gear for that portion of the trip.
So, I spent my last few days in Costa Rica in San Jose, going on a bit of an internet shopping spree for some of the new gear I wanted to try, and visiting various places in and around the city that I hadn´t manage to see earlier.
I also happened to run into a fellow at the hostel from Portland, that I had met in Mexico City back in December. Turns out he was in Costa Rica for several weeks for some classes.
Anyway, after an annoying, delay-filled trip to San Francisco via Atlanta, during which I spent more time in various lines or just sitting around waiting in airports than actually on airplanes, I spent a pleasant 26 hours in San Francisco. I arrived around 2300, collected my bike and bag, took one of the last BART trains into town, rode my bike to the hostel, and collapsed into bed after a couple of quick emails to friends in the city.
The next day the weather was excellent, and I rode around the city running a few errands, and then just wandering with no real purpose. I also spent a few hours lounging in various parks, ate some Beard Papa creampuffs and some other junkfood I´d been craving for a while but hadn´t been able to locate on my travels, then met up for dinner with a couple of friends, one who I had met in San Francisco last October, and another I had met in Guatemala.
By the time we had finished dinner and I got back to the hostel to pick up my bag, it was about 2300, and I went to the bus station to pack my bike and wait for my 0100 bus to Olympia.
I had to change buses in Sacramento, but that bus continued all the way to Seattle. It was a long bus trip, arriving in Olympia about 1900, but wasn´t as bad as I had feared it would be from past Greyhound experiences.
I spent the long Labor Day weekend at my parents´ place in Olympia, with a very quick trip up to Seattle to pick up some gear waiting for me at REI. Most of the weekend was spent prepping the other bike I would be using, checking out the new gear I had ordered, and digging through my storage unit collecting other gear I would need.
Although I spent a lot of time monkeying with the bike and gear, I also got a chance to catch up with my parents and sister, who was also visiting for the weekend. I went for bike ride with my Dad, and he happened to mention that one of his dreams was to bike across the US, which was interesting. He often often commutes to work on his bike, and goes on shortish recreational rides, but has never toured. Be interesting to see if he ever does it.
In any case, about 2000 on Monday, I hopped on a bus to Seattle, had a bit of a layover there, then headed on to Vancouver, arriving about 0300, with about a 3 hour wait until my next bus. The station was closed, so I waited out front with other travelers in front of the covered main entrance, taking shelter from the light drizzle until the station opened a bit before 0500. Then a long ride to Jasper, arriving a bit before dark to unpack the bike and ride out to a nearby campground, and turned in rather early, trying to recover from not getting much sleep during the nearly 24 hours on the bus.
posted by Matt at 21:16
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