My wife and I just came back from a trip to the San Juan Islands, and many riding options are available. On Lopez Island<http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/sets/72157634583984583/with/9260436668/>, we stayed at a private campground<http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/9260477134/>that also has cabins for those who would like to sleep on real beds. At least one county park is also close by that has a good number of camping spots. On Orcas Island<http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/sets/72157634596948508/with/9260871219/>, we stayed in our tent on the lawn of a B&B<http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/9260767693/>. The lodge is just outside Eastsound, and Moran State Park<http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/9264183956/>, which has amazing lake side and near-lake camping spots<http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/9263623170/>, is a beautiful 4 or so miles away. So I endorse the idea of doing something near Bellingham/Puget Sound.
Another great place is Pt Reyes here in the Bay Area. There are multiple campsites in the National Park; the Hostel, including its large-group facilities, can accommodate up to 40 folks who want real beds. "overflow" folks can head east on Sir Francis Drake and camp in Samuel P Taylor state park. Several B&B also exist in Olema and Pt Reyes Station. I help to organize an overnight bike ride <https://ssl.dharmawheels.org/wp/>every year and at the end of the first day the group stays at the KOA campground <http://www.flickr.com/photos/franklyn/2988519599/> near Cloverdale, CA. Our group is usually 120-150 people, with 90 of them cyclists riding up from San Rafael in the morning. The campground is clean and comfortable, and has enough facilities, including a kitchen, outdoor pool, and jacuzzi, and a great view of Lake Sonoma. The KOA campground also has several cabins of different size for people who want or need to sleep on a bed. The riding--both paved, dirt, or mixed-terrain--around the area is amazing. Several Bay Area paved and mixed-terrain brevets go through cloverdale, which is also a launching pad for the Mendocino Coast<http://www.flickr.com/search/?q=Mendocino&m=tags&w=60508949%40N00&ss=2&ct=0&mt=all&adv=1&s=int>, not to mention the beautiful hills and roads of Napa County. For out-of-town folks coming by AMTRAK, you can buy your ticket all the way to Cloverdale, the thru-way buses will carry your bike-box all the way to Cloverdale, and the campground is a mile away. Those in the Bay Area can ride a flattish 85-mile route from San Rafael to Cloverdale. Hills, dirt, ocean, forest, Napa--quite a combination. The more I type, the more I think Sonoma County<http://www.flickr.com/search/?w=60508949@N00&s=int&ss=2&ct=0&mt=all&adv=1&q=Sonoma>, with overnight at the KOA campground is a good idea. Franklyn Berkeley, CA On Thursday, August 1, 2013 12:53:55 PM UTC-7, Andy Smitty Schmidt wrote: > > I wonder if we could find some sort of B&B type place that would have > rooms for those who want to sleep indoors and a lawn for those who want to > throw a sleeping bag on the ground. > > The Coastal Mountain Sport Haus <http://coastalmountainsporthaus.com> is > in the coast range west of Portland, so not really near Bellingham. But if > there's interest I'd be happy to call and at least find out if they > could/would accommodate something like this. > > My vote regarding date would be earlier the better... to maximize the cool > and green. Although by mid-July the berries are ripe. > > --Smitty > > -- You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "RBW Owners Bunch" group. To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to rbw-owners-bunch+unsubscr...@googlegroups.com. To post to this group, send email to rbw-owners-bunch@googlegroups.com. Visit this group at http://groups.google.com/group/rbw-owners-bunch. For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/groups/opt_out.
