The Trail Of Dissappointment

For a year we have been planning a totally awesome bike ride with our friends the Bakers and the Huillets. We tried to get it all together last year. But it was too late in the season and we never had good enough weather. Finally the day came. Mind you it is no small feet to get several large families all together with bikes, gear and food! Our destination was the Iron Horse Trail, an old railroad trail that has been converted to hiking and biking paths. It is 110 miles long and goes all the way to the Idaho boarder. We chose an 18 mile section between Hyak and Ollalie State Park. We would bike through the Snoqualmie Tunnel 2 1/2 miles of pitch black on bikes with flash lights. There would be tressle bridges to ride over, lakes and mountains. It was going to be fanstastic. Unfortunatly after a 1 1/2 hour drive and another hour of getting everyone ready to go in the parking lot...this is what we rode to...

Folks, that is one very closed off tunnel and one very dissapointed group of bikers! I guess during all the flooding last year parts of the trail were washed out and without any money in the budget the repairs have had to wait. I swear that if we hadn't been with our law-abiding friends I would have jumped that fence! I was so bugged (not bummed-bugged implies frustration and a pinch of anger). I hate when plans that I feel responsible for go haywire! So we sent out the men as runners to try and find an accessible part of the trail. No luck. After sitting in the parking pot for at least another hour we all piled into our vehicles, drove down to where we were going to finish our bike ride at Ollalie State Park and had a picnic dinner to beat all picnics! Check out our spread!


We couldn't go home without having some fun. The kids all improvised and found a pretty little river to jump in. I have to say that I was really proud of all the kids. There was hardly any complaining! We stayed for a while just hanging out and letting the kids swim in their clothes.

We will be back Iton Horse...you can count on that!