Wanna ride bikes?

Fortunately, Tom’s answer was “Yep!”

This is how far we rode today:

And this was our route (there and back):

And here are a few pictures I took along the way:

For photos I took on my previous ride (so didn’t include here), click here.

This is where the Sammamish River enters Lake Washington – right in an industrial area.

(If you were a bird riding on my shoulder, this is what you’d see.  We’d be chattering away the whole time, wouldn’t we?!)

 

If I won the lottery and lived in a house right on Lake Washington, I’d take hot tubs in that hot tub nightly!

 

You know that obnoxious Volkwagon commercial where people smack each other and say “Blue one!”  “Red one!”  Well, I was pretty much doing that with houses along the shores of Lake Washington that were right along the trail.  Only I wasn’t smacking anyone, and instead of naming colors, I was just plain stating my desire: “Want THAT one!  Like THAT one!”

Tom and I decided we should play the lottery once in a while.

After riding about 10 miles, we came to Matthews Beach Park – which is only a few miles from where I work!  Could I really ride my bike to work and back? Would my co-workers be willing to sit in the same room with me?

At Matthews Beach, some people in wet suits were practicing lake swims and I realized that I better get my butt in the water soon if I want to be prepared for this Danskin Triathlon next month.  (Gasp!  Oh my god – it’s next month!)  I love swimming and can swim forever… in a pool.  I have a feeling the cold temperatures of the lake and the distinct lack of a straight black line to follow is going to totally throw me!

Looking back from whence we came:

    

We rested for a few minutes at Matthews Beach Park and then headed back.  The skies blued up and the sun came out just as we headed back.

 

Yes, I continued to play the “What if we lived here?” game.

If we lived here, this guy would hang out on my deck all day.

Have I ever mentioned that I love, love, love living in Seattle?

 

Tom doesn’t love it quite as much as I do. He’s a Southern California boy and misses incessant sunshine and beach weather.  I’ll take Seattle over Southern California (where I went to school and lived for 10 years) OR Northern California (where I grew up) any day.  No offence to any of my California friends (or my California husband… but seriously – how could anyone not LOVE Seattle?)

This is the Kenmore Air “port.”  All seaplanes, all the time.  You can fly from the “top” (North end) of Lake Washington to the San Juan Islands any day of the week.  We really need to do that!

Here’s a seaplane coming in for a landing now!  (Unfortunately, I didn’t catch the descent to the water, only the landing on the water…)

Once we got back to the Sammamish River, we knew we were almost home.  I kind of wanted to ride further southward toward Marymoor Park, hoping that “The Mountain” was out.  But 21 miles was enough for one day.

I wish this park and this playground had been around when our kids were little.

So I’m no longer worried about the bike leg of the Danskin Triathlon next (gulp!) month.  In fact, I have a feeling that I might have found a hobby that will last beyond that day.