Day 15: Centennial Trail: Snohomish to Lake Stevens and back

Highlights:

I started my day off with an Iyengar yoga class taught via Zoom by my good friend Glenda in Victoria, British Columbia. (Ommmmmm my sore feet... were helped by inversions.)  In addition to finding time for a nap, we (mostly my husband, Don) put together the inflatable kayak that finally arrived. As you will see below, I tested it out in my living room. Monday afternoon I’ll head out to Cottage Lake in Woodinville to do the maiden voyage with my friend Carol.  Don will try out as well and if he likes it, we’ll get another.  A fully functioning kayak for $170 including taxes that folds into a 25 lb mid-sized suitcase - good deal!  Finally, due to Don's hard work and patience, he has trained our cat, Bartok, to start going outside on the leash.  I took him out for the first time (mine) and he was quite the explorer.  The bad news?  Now, he wants to go outside all the time.  

Back to the Camino.  If I had done the real thing, Day 15 would have had me walking 15.2 miles from Boadilla to Carrion de los Condes where my guidebook says I would have meandered along canals, gazed at stunning column capitals, seen the miraculous Virgen Blanca, and sung with the nuns in Carrion.

What I really did was walk 18 miles (my feet felt really good today) on the first leg of the Centennial Trail  which travels over 30 miles from Snohomish (north of Seattle) to Arlington. I drove to the trail head and on the way was ecstatic to spot some balloons in the early morning big sky on their way to landing.  I pulled over to catch a shot just before they floated below my view.  We tried going up in a balloon years ago but the weather conditions were not just right.  It can take many attempts before you get to go up. Still on the bucket list.

The day was literally picture perfect as I began the trail from the adorable town of Snohomish, filled with old style western low rise buildings (antique and curios shops, cafes and restaurants) and saw what reminded me of restored pioneer homes I used to visit in Upper Canada Village as a child on school trips in Montreal. Long, straight trail views, posts with scannable codes to get historic “factoids” for the region, and farmlands on either side of the trail with harvested hay bales, cows and horses and fields of farmed flowers. 

It was Sunday and the trail got busier as the day wore on with many families herding tiny bike riders and many really fast (rude) cyclists weaving around the walkers.  In contrast to the Seattle trails I have done so far, masks were scarce but there seemed to be awareness of social distancing.  What was worrying was passing the “Wellness Church” that promised no fear while a crowd of people milled around the church close together with no masks. 

As I had my car, I walked to Lake Stevens (which I will explore starting on the next leg of this trail) and looped back to Snohomish where I was looking forward to sitting on the beautiful deck of my son’s in-laws, who moved to Snohomish last year.   

On the way back, I saw riders with horses crossing a busy road, a Llama being taken for a walk, and some colorful parachutes in the big sky carrying brave souls who had jumped out of airplanes.

Apres walk, I went to the in-laws’ place where my daughter-in-law’s parents and my son, his wife, our grand dog and my husband enjoyed great food and each other’s company.  I couldn’t resist adding a picture of Jeremy (son) and Lisa (D-i-L) to the blog post today as they celebrate two years of marriage.  And of course, I had to add a picture of Banzai...just because.

Onward and upward.  For Day 16, while I am not particularly tired, I plan to do a short day and use up my almost 10 banked miles so that I have time to try out my new kayak at night.  Thanks for following MO’s Faux Camino and I wish you a continued ¡Buen Camino!