Sleepless in Seattle?

What a great city this is!  Sleepless? no way!

Of course, the city is one thing but it's the people that really make it special - and I sure got to meet some special people.

The cycle across the islands was great but I did get lost at least once - and that meant a later finish than planned.  Not that I needed to worry.  A good friend had issued the diktat from Dublin to his poor sister in Seattle that a mad Irish cyclist was passing through and needed some TLC.  Whereupon said sister's husband was at the docks to greet me from the ferry (with jeep and cycle holder), and took me immediately to an Irish pub for two of the most wonderful pints of Guinness. (Consumed only for their nutritional value, of course - vitamin B6, B12 and all that).  And then to 'base' for a wonderful repast, chat and more.

Saturday morning saw me in 'an experimental plane' - a tiny 2-seater stunt plane with more instruments that you could shake a stick at.  We took off from Paine airfield (home of the Boeing 787 Dreamliners) on a 10,000 feet runway (that's verrrry long). The trip was fantastic - we headed over the Seattle area and landed some distance away for breakfast before returning to base - flying both manually and then completely on instruments.  The sensation of passing through clouds - with zero visibility and with the plane flying itself - was quite something.

It turned out that my host was an even bigger tech-nerd than myself.  So when it came to sorting out my Garmin cycle-computer and to getting a local SIM for my phone, he was in his element. In no time, we had everything sorted - and I was set to being able to navigate properly - and to keep in touch with home without incurring horrendous roaming charges.  Saturday evening saw us taking in a few pints (Guinness of course) and - get this - a Tequila, before dinner. Why, I do that all the time!  Loads of chat around the table concluded a hectic and most enjoyable day.

A quick visit to Greg's Cycles on Sunday, voted the best cycle shop in Washington (with good reason), to attend to noisy gears (a great investment of time) and I was all set to progress on my odyssey.

All in all, a fantastic few days and outstanding hospitality - I cannot thank my hosts enough.