May 3: Day 0: flying to Seattle

Day 0: flying to Seattle

As is the established pattern, I stay up nearly all night getting
ready. I'm not quite sure why this happens, it's probably the
combination of my procrastination and the fact everything takes
longer than expected. The odds and ends that seem to scatter to the
obscure corners of one's house, and the task of building up an extra
long bike box keep me up til about 3:45am - and I must wake at 5:15 to
catch an early flight! By 3:30 I'm pretty wound up, so I finish off
an opened bottle of 10% IPA. I'm a little tipsy going to bed, but I
fall asleep quickly and wake about an hour later still feeling the
beer. I am, however, very relaxed!

Checking my bike and gear goes smoothly, with the massive gear duffle
weighing in at exactly 50lbs! I'm happy it's not overweight, but
appalled that nearly all of that is going onto the bike! It's probably
those snacks - I resolve to eat them as quickly as possible!

Going through security turns out to be very easy, with my 9ozs of
medicine not even generating comment or question, which is a relief -
but again, the beer has supplied a kind of easygoing attitude which
may have moderated TSA hyper vigilance.

I arrive in Seattle, and for some reason it's partly sunny and dry -
it was supposed to be raining, if I remember the forecast!

Taking the airporter shuttle to Blaine. Since the flight arrived in
Seattle a bit early, I was able to catch the 1pm shuttle instead of
the 3pm. The driver is really nice and rearranges the luggage so that
my bike box will fit in.

Three hours later I arrive in Blaine, at a truck stop where I assemble
my bike and gear in the parking lot. The weather is virtually perfect,
and there are no problems getting the bike back together. There is
even a cardboard recycling dumpster! It seems a shame to trash the box
I spent hours building! I stuff the huge duffel bag into a medium
priority mail box and strap it onto the bike with little trouble.
Less than a mile away I blunder into the motel I have a reservation
at. I had actually forgotten it's name, but kind of remembered it's
location. The lady at the desk affirms that I have a reservation -
but... The room is on the 2nd floor. She asks if I might take a
smoking room on the first floor, and offers to let me see if it's all
right. Amazingly, it doesn't smell like smoke to me, so I take it. The
motel is situated alongside the bay, and there are a number of cute
restaurants within 50 yards.

I end up eating at the Thai restaurant across the street. I am sitting
in a booth with a picture window view of the harbor at sunset - but I
forgot to bring my camera!