Dayle and I headed out on our scout ride on Friday just about noon (after my weekly Bridge game). The weather was as close to perfect as we could expect! Just after we started, I noted there was a new Park installation in Kenmore....a park whose name I can't spell or pronounce! It had good restrooms but the park was pedestrian only so we didn't bike through it. It looks to offer some good access to the water however. Worth exploring another time. The climb up Juanita Hill went well (albeit slowly for me!). We noted that the Kirkland Summerfest will be held the weekend after next......I will have to change my planned rest stop for the Sunday ride based on that info. Carillon Point was a great coffee stop when we have good weather - Starbucks and a cafe with easy fare at Carillon Kitchen. Our route was to return via the gravel Cross Kirkland Connector and our proposed routing actually worked out better than what others had recommended...this might be the new "normal" for access from 68th St. Yeah, we got dust on everything but it was largely a nice slow downhill grade most of the way. The new overpass by 124th St was epically good although I hesitate to guess how much it cost to do! We took a detour through Totem Lake Park which has restrooms and which could be an optional stop on a return route in the future. We decided that the trail crossing they have is too wonky for most of us and decided to cut over a block onto a road and then cross above the trail onto a road which will take us to the return section of the Eastrail. That seems like a better to take a group through there at least on a Sunday. Lastly, we stopped at the Lavender fields adjacent to St Michelle Winery and talked to the people there. Very pretty fields, they sell plants as well. Admission to wander the fields is $10 however which struck me as high.....but then everything is high these days so what do I know? I did note that the parking lot across from St Michelle was charging $40 to park for people who wanted to attend the concert that evening. I'll stay home and enjoy some classical music on King-FM. :>)
Overall, we learned enough routing info to put together a new Sunday ride and a new TREATS ride (slightly shorter) so in addition to the great company and riding conditions, I ended up a bit smarter than when we started the ride! Always a good thing.
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