Magic Carpet Ride

to San Juan Island for Cycling

"The world is a rose; smell it and pass it on to your friends." — Persian proverb

What a great treat. Mike called me and said " Ya want to jump in my plane and fly up to the San Juan's to go road cycling?. How could I pass that up. The weather was great and it sounded like a great adventure. So we met at 8 am Saturday morning, loaded the bikes into the back of the plane, and we were off.

Flying in a small plane is incredible. We were lower to the ground so I was able to see the sound, the cities, distant mountains, boats crossing the waterways. The flight itself was a visual journey over Puget Sound from the big city of Seattle to the maze of channels and islands in the sound.

It only took us an hour to get from Auburn airport to the airport in Roche Harbor on San Juan Island. Instantly landing in some distant place that would have taken us a better part of a day to reach by car and ferry. We unloaed our bikes and headed off. First to Roche Harbor for some food and drink then off to whereever the road around the island took us. We stopped at all the parks along the way— English Camp, Lime Kiln, American Camp and South Beach. At Lime Kiln we hoped to see whales. The road followed the edge of the western side of the Island. Then we headed left out to a peninsula that is the longest beach in San Juan County. I climbed a rock that was dedicated to the guy who created the rules that we all follow in board and union meetings. I guess he also worked on an engineering project there. Then it was off to Friday Harbor for lunch at Mike's favorite cafe in town. From there we headed back to the north stopping at Lakedale lake for a cool swim and met some locals. What a perfect day! Then we road the last 4 miles back to Roche Harbor. We loaded the bikes back into the plane and flew back to reality. Happier and more content after a day of adventure and fun.

Thanks Captain Mike, Sky Pilot to adventure!

Taxi Out to the Runway	Sky Pilot	Balloon that Landed at Airport
Lift Off to Adventure	Leaving the Urban Sprawl Behind	Warehouse Plantation
View of Mt. Rainier I	Kent Valley	City of Seattle
Deception Pass	Island Peak	P7290046
Mt. Baker, My Favorite Mountain	Wing Tip View	Marine Layer
Islands of Land in Clouds	Boats Through the Cloud Layer	Plane Shadow on Rainbow Fog
Islands	More Islands	Small Island in the Sound
Coming in for Landing	Landing in Roche Harbor	P7290093.JPG
My Bike at Lime Kiln State Park	Lisa Climbing at American Camp State Park	Pretty Fun Rock
On Top of the World	Mt. Baker	Trail Along the Longest Beach in San Juan County