Ann drove me to the Oakland airport. I checked my bags at the Southwest counter. I had two bags - my normal suitcase along with my bicycle case. The bicycle case is large and heavy, but it is regulation size. I have traveled with it many times. This was the first time that an agent measured it and double-checked the weight. The weight was 47 pounds and the size was OK except the agent made me take it to the oversize belt. Even though this was an added stress, I am grateful for Southwest's two-bags-free policy.

​ My flight was full. At times I thought it was overfull because of the obese woman sitting in the middle seat. She overflowed. It was not so bad because she was so large that she couldn't sit all of the way back in her seat. I was able to find a notch behind her shoulder that was comfortable. She was very nice and friendly.

​ The flight took off and landed on time. I collected my luggage at SeaTac, walked over to the Light Rail station, paid my $1.00 senior fare, rode the train to the University of Washington station, caught the hotel shuttle, and finally arrived at the Silver Cloud Hotel a little past 3:00. My room was average sized, clean and quiet. I unpacked my bicycle case and took about 45 minutes to assemble my bicycle and get it in working order. The bicycle came through the flight with some major scratches, but they were my packing mistakes and not the fault of the airline.

​ Our first Happy Hour was at the home of Loretta Goetsch, our ride director.​ Her home was about a mile from the hotel. Some of our group walked. I joined the others to hitch a ride from Loretta and Yvonne Starkey, our ride co-director. (Loretta arranged for all of the hotels, planned the daily routes and organized the group meals. Yvonne set up all of the Happy Hours. They rented a Ryder truck to transport our luggage and alternated the driving from hotel to hotel). The Happy Hour conformed to the BAC formula. We had snacks and drinks first. Yvonne provided some tasty smoke fish, wine, soft drinks and some good craft beers including local IPAs. Once we all had some provisions, we went around the room introducing ourselves. Loretta give a safety talk and then went over the next day's route.

​ Our first group dinner was at Ivar's Salmon House which is next to Lake Union. Most of the group ordered salmon, of course. I decided to be different and ordered a steak. It was OK. I rarely eat steak and I was looking for a treat, so I was a little disappointed. ​ Back at the hotel, I was in bed by 10:30.