sunny day
Sunny Day - we went out to the Olympic peninsula to watch the competitors in the “Big Hurt” race. Contestants travel nearly 70 miles on mountain bike, road bike, kayak, and foot. This year, Canadians took first and second place. The American who took first last year was third across the finish line today. At least five people from building 2 at Microsoft competed; one of our guys was in the top 20. Most people looked pretty hurt by the time they crossed the finish line, but it looks fun too. I wonder if I could get in shape enough to run the course next year?
Washington State runs the largest ferry system in the nation. All of the previous times that we’ve gone to the Olympic Peninsula, we have departed from Seattle. Today we shaved at least two hours off of the trip by departing instead from Edmonds, which is further north on the Puget Sound. Besides hosting the “Big Hurt”, Port Angeles is a convenient departure point for Victoria, the capital of British Columbia in Canada. It is possible (for stronger kayakers than I) to kayak from Port Angeles to Victoria. Port Angeles is also the entry point to major areas of the Olympic Mountains, including hurricane ridge. Today would have been a perfect day to visit the ridge, but we didn’t have time.