Day 63 – Saturday 7/30/22

Olympia, Washington – Miles – 0

At some point the tents would come down and the show would be over. The decision I had to make in Olympia was exactly when. The ride had two objectives, a transcontinental crossing and a finish in Seattle. I got the transcontinental “Medal” on the beach at Seaview, Washington, but the finish in Seattle was more nebulous.

Ideally, I would finish at the Space Needle, and meet the goal set out at the start. But, having been gone for close to 70 days, I started thinking about whether that was necessary. It could be done but would involve another three days on the road and the associated expenses for the photo opportunity in Seattle. On the other side, Olympia had all the resources I needed to end the trip close at hand. My gear and Ishmael could be shipped home from there, and I could easily find a way to Sea-Tac. When I analyzed all the options, it made more sense to end the ride in Olympia.

So, Friday morning was devoted to winding things down. I loaded up Ishmael for the last time and we rode to the UPS store. Fifteen minutes later, minus panniers and tent, a much slimmer Ishmael and I continued on to Old Town Bicycle, where he was handed over to be carefully packaged for the trip home. Afterwards, I hiked the 1.5 miles back to the hotel carrying my bicycle helmet with me.

A couple of hours later I had lunch with Josh and Marcie. Josh and I worked together for many years at a software company and hadn’t seen each other for five years. We had a great lunch at Olive Garden and got caught up on the old days and recent history. That was fun.

I’d been through state capitals in Florida, Missouri, South Dakota and North Dakota. So, with Washington’s only a 10-minute walk away it was low hanging fruit to add to the list. I’d say Missouri’s is the most impressive, but Washington comes in a solid second.

Dinner was out of the question after Olive Garden for lunch. But there’s always room for ice cream. I walked to Juju’s Iced Cream for a double scoop cone, which was well worth the money. The decor was a notch above Baskin-Robbins.

Afterwards, it was back to the hotel to pack and get some sleep before an early wakeup call.