Chapter 21

Claire’s turn:

Home! I loved the ride, but I was also happy to be home. After we cleaned up we went over to share lunch with Grandma and Grandpa.

“Claire! Charley!” Grandma said when she saw us coming. “Come in and have a seat.”

Grandpa heard her and came out to greet us as well. “It’s good to see you two again,” he said. “How was the ride?”

“It was a blast!” I said. “It poured rain, part of the route was on rocks the size of my fist, there were sections where we had to pick our way between potholes big enough to hide in, and we ended up climbing the Olympics. It was a great trip!”

Everyone laughed at my description.

“It was a great trip,” Charley said. “Thank you for dropping us off at Packwood. It did rain, but only the first day, then as we came up through the rainforests on the western slopes of the Olympics. The road we took from Sequim to Quilcene was pretty rough in places, and they desperately need to regrade it to fill in some of those potholes. Mostly, though, we had a lot of fun.”

Charley went on to give a more detailed, and accurate, assessment, but I still liked mine better.

After lunch, we did just what you’d expect a couple to do after being gone for a two-week-long bike ride: we started a load of laundry, then grabbed the kayak and hit the bay! Just a short paddle around before we came back and changed loads in the washer, but it was nice to be back on the water.

The following week, Charley was back at work and I spent some time going over some of the engineering texts which had been recommended to me. If physics was applied math, it seemed that a lot of engineering was applied physics, mixed in with some common sense. There was something missing, though, and I hadn’t been able to put my finger on it. All week it bugged me, so I finally broke down and called Mary on Friday.

“Hi Mary, this is Charley’s wife, Claire.”

“Well, good morning, Claire. It’s good to hear from you. I’m assuming you have something on your mind.”

“You could say that. I’ve been going through some engineering textbooks and something’s bothering me about them, but I can’t put my finger on what. If you have a couple of minutes, I’m hoping you can help me understand.”

“I’ll give it a shot, but you know if you really want to talk engineering, you might call Bill since he still does it every day.”

“Maybe,” I said. “I saw him on our honeymoon, by the way.”

“I know, he told me about it when he called to give me a suggestion for a program. Said you two looked like otters that’d been playing in the mud.”

I laughed at that, but I knew her time was valuable, so I said, “The real reason I’m calling is that it feels like all three of these books are missing something important, but I don’t know enough to say what.” Then I mentioned the books on structures and road design and talked about what I’d been reading.

“I think I see what’s wrong,” she said. “You’ve been dumped into engineering further downstream, where you’re looking at the whole system. Those books aren’t there yet — they’re still trying to get you up to speed on what you’ll need to understand in order to really grasp the big picture. I’ll bet you’re wondering how some of the things they’re talking about are done in the real world, right?”

“That’s right!” I said. “That’s it exactly. Here’s what helps a house stand up, but how do you actually do it?”

“That’s fine, but for the moment you need to walk before you can run. Keep thinking about those things, but right now, concentrate on the smaller pieces of the puzzle.”

“Ah ... okay, I think I can do that. Now that I know why it looked strange, it probably won’t bug me as much. Thanks for your time. Say hi to Mike for me, please.”

“You’re welcome, and I’ll be sure to pass on your greeting to my hubby.”

When Charley got off work, she found me still sitting there thinking about what Mary had said and what I’d read.

“We are gathered together today to bless this union of two people who have chosen to devote their lives to one another,” the pastor said. “Sean Reilly and Thomas Peterson stand before you now, but after today they will be more than just the two young men you see here, a whole greater than the sum of its parts.”

Standing with Tom as his best man was his older brother, Terry. Sean was an only child, so he’d asked Tom’s little sister, Tiffany, to be his best woman. It helped that she absolutely adored him and was happy that her brother had landed him if she couldn’t.

Charley and I were both crying a bit. You’re supposed to cry at weddings, right? Watching our friends finally make it official was a special moment for both of us. They looked so handsome up there in their tuxes, holding hands and vowing to always be there for each other.

Eventually, there were the “I dos”, then they were handed the rings and placed them on each other’s fingers before sharing a soft kiss. Finally, they turned to look out at us and the pastor said, “May I now present to you Sean and Thomas Peterson-Reilly.”

The reception afterward was brief, though Charley and I got to kiss the grooms in the receiving line. They’d requested donations to the Matthew Shepard Foundation in lieu of gifts. I did see a few wrapped packages on a side table, but it seemed that most of the guests had, like us, honored their request.

Just before they left to change, Charley caught them in a hug and said, “Have fun, guys, but stay safe out there! No risks, okay?” They were off to hike a section of the Pacific Crest Trail starting at the Canadian border and going south.

“We promise, Charlotte,” Sean said with a smirk.

She slugged him in the shoulder, then gave him a hug.

With a last hug, we let them get away to their parents who were waiting to say goodbye.

Charley’s turn:

I needed to start doing research before opening my mouth. I told Claire about backpacking in and camping at Royal Lake, then found out there are quotas on the number of campers, and they were full up.

In the end, we did the Upper Big Quilcene trail to Camp Mystery. Well, we took it all the way up to Marmot Pass, then came back down to camp at Mystery.

The route was a bit of a stretch for us, but the time we’d spent riding had helped get our legs in shape, so it wasn’t too bad. Overall, the grade was broken into two sections. The section to the first campsites wasn’t overly steep, but still a nice hike. From there, it got steeper and just kept on going. With an overall gain of almost 4,000’ in the space of six miles on the way up, and topping out over 6,500’ elevation, it wasn’t a gimme even if we were in pretty decent shape.

“Remember when we were hiking up to Panorama Point, and we saw the trail for Camp Muir?” Claire asked as we continued past Camp Mystery toward the pass. “How steep it looked? Is this one worse?”

“Not even close, love,” I said. “That trail is a couple of miles shorter than this one, and gains another 1,000’ of elevation. It also tops out close to 4,000’ higher than this one.”

“Oof! If you ever hear me talking about climbing Rainier, please remind me it’s worse than this.”

“Oh, don’t worry — I will. And remember, the hike up to Muir is only so you can get to the starting point for the climb to the top of the mountain. This one’s bad enough, thank you very much.”

For all our complaints, though, the views were spectacular! At the top of the pass, we asked another hiker to take a picture of us and our exhausted smiles, with the view in the background, then returned the favor for him. The picture of us was destined to become the new wallpaper for my computer and iPad.

The camp was a little busier than I’d hoped, but we still had some space around us. We’d debated what to bring for dinner and breakfast the next day, but decided that, since we’d need to pack in the water we’d use for rehydrating food, we’d rather just pack in the water as part of the food.

After eating and making sure the area was clean, we retired to our little tent — I’d chosen it to accommodate me for longer trips before I met Claire, but it was fine for the two of us with our bags zipped together. We didn’t even disturb the neighbors or the wildlife — I got off on Claire’s leg, with her breast keeping my mouth occupied, and she’s not quite as vocal. We both slept very well after that.

The next day our legs were slightly stiff despite the massages the previous evening, so we were a bit more cautious than normal until we’d loosened up, but we didn’t run into any problems. Once we were home, we showered, then joined Terri and Bill for dinner with another adventure behind us.