Brinnon, WA to Shelton, WA - 28 miles
I have been amazed at the lack of mosquitos on this trip, but that all changed in the last 16 hours. Last night when we stopped to camp at Dosewallups State Park, we immediately noticed the insane population of mosquitos. We headed for the showers, put on long clothing and sealed ourselves in the tent to play games. We got out of the tent a couple hours later to eat, but we ended up bringing dinner into the tent instead. I was not sad to bid the camp site good bye this morning. I think I found a place that rivals Houston for mosquitos in number and ferocity!
I have been amazed at the lack of mosquitos on this trip, but that all changed in the last 16 hours. Last night when we stopped to camp at Dosewallups State Park, we immediately noticed the insane population of mosquitos. We headed for the showers, put on long clothing and sealed ourselves in the tent to play games. We got out of the tent a couple hours later to eat, but we ended up bringing dinner into the tent instead. I was not sad to bid the camp site good bye this morning. I think I found a place that rivals Houston for mosquitos in number and ferocity!
When Stephen and I were first married, he swam for BYU. After a workout I would ask him, "How was practice?" If there was nothing of particular interest for the day he would say, "I swam back and forth, back and forth..." Today I asked Bins, "What should I write about our ride today?" His response, "We rode up and down, up and down..." I guess you could say that the actual riding is getting fairly routine. What Bins forgot is that he and Tan turned over 200 miles today! Stephen and I are a bit behind because we don't ride around the camp site on a daily basis. It's possible that on this 1800 mile trip, they could rack up 2000 miles.
A bit about our gear. Stephen is riding a Scott road bike, I am on a Trek FX hybrid and the boys are each on a Giant mountain bike. We bought the boys the same bike model (different size frames, same size wheels), to level the playing field. Bins could have fit a larger wheel (700 like mine and Stephen's), but then Tan would have been the odd man out having to pedal more to keep up with his brother. Another benefit is that their tubes are interchangeable. Stephen and I are each pulling a Burly Nomad cargo trailer. They hold up to 100 pounds of gear. Stephen's may be approaching that weight (especially after a grocery run), but mine holds steady at about 40 pounds. I typically pull the tent, sleeping bags and most of the clothing. Stephen pulls EVERYTHING else that this family of 4 needs for a 2-3 month camping adventure! I wish I could carry more, but I guess it's good that it slows him down to our pace.
