Cycling with Sally

After having a corker of a meal of Fish ‘n’ Chips at the ‘Wee Chippie’ in Quensel we tried to get a couple of kilometers in before dark.  We were advised from Heather and Chris (who we stayed with in Quensel) to take an alternative route south on the West Fraser Road that was more scenic and had less traffic.  We had beautiful views of the Fraser River all the way to Williams Lake but boy did we get a tough workout on the two big hills with never-ending switchbacks! 

When we passed through 100 mile house (yes, this is the name of town) we stopped into the A&W (an all Canadian burger franchise that sells root beer as its number one drink).  It was a bit of sight to see a group of elder’s square dancing inside all in fancy dress.  When I asked them if I could take a photo, it turns out one of their members (Vic Green) knows Roland’s Dad from his work, BC Hydro – small world!
 
We have been seeing a lot of dead pine trees the last two weeks and have discovered British Columbia has had real trouble with the Pine Beetle in recent years.  This beetle is naturally occurring but is normally controlled through cold winters and other factors that I’ve forgotten! (Mental note, don’t ever aspire to become a tourist guide filled with interesting facts and tidbits of fascinating information).   Along with the dry summer, apparently the pine beetle infestation has attributed to the severity of the fires B.C. has been combating the last few months.

After another small detour off the main highway we found ourselves at Green Lake.  The last few days of cramming in miles was worth it, being able to chill out and spend a weekend with our good friend Len and his Dad at their cabin.  We did a whole lot of nothing up there which was perfect!  It was then a reasonably easy three days of cycling (there seemed to be a lot of downhill and flat stretches) to Chilliwack where we dropped our bike into Dan at Pedal Sports.  Big Bird was overdue for a good fluffing up of his feathers.  While the bike was being serviced we took the opportunity to ‘Greyhound it’ to Castlegar on the overnight bus – yes, it was brutal!  Ten hours later we were in the wonderful care of Roland’s Aunty and Uncle (Rose and Larry).  We spent a relaxing and thoroughly enjoyable four days with them which included: eating, sleeping, physio for Bee’s neck, fishing on Arrow Lake, sight seeing around Nelson, reading books on the beach, watching movies, Dairy Queen, chatting with Rose and Larry and playing Boggle!

After another fun filled bus ride back to Chilliwack (the scenery through the Okanagan and Rockies was awesome mind you) we spent a pleasant evening with Charlene and John (Warm Shower hosts).  They had an abundance of cycling stories and offered us lots of great suggestions for our up and coming leg down the pacific coast of the U.S.  We slept like babies that night after some good old fashioned accordion playing.  Thanks so much to Charlene and John for putting us up for the night – maybe we’ll do some tramping together on Mt Baker in the future?

We are now back in Vancouver and will be here for the next ten days or so.  Roland’s Dad kindly picked us up from Chilliwack and drove us back into Vancouver today (our first ride to date).  We are planning to do three days of volunteer work later this week so stay tuned…..

Other highlights:

Got given free grapes at Farmer’s Market because “we were cyclists”; a lovely lady (Lydia) that pulled over to chat with us turned out to know the people we associated with in Chilliwack; really great stealth camping spots this entire stretch; passing lots of yummy fruit stands; good rest breaks in the small towns i.e. in Spences Bridge we stopped for coffee in the Packing House Café and played crib on a giant wooden board; delicious ice cream and yoghurt at the Island Farms factory in Rosedale, enjoying the diverse and spectacular scenery – particularly through the Fraser Canyon; getting thoughtful mail from family in New Zealand.

Crib score

Roland 35

Belinda 25

What is Belinda most sick of right now?

• Roland still being ahead in Crib.
• Her sore neck making it tough to sleep and get going in the morning… grrrr!  Thank goodness for the gentle hands of the physio in Nelson…. And Roland’s shoulder rubs everyday!

What is Roland most over right now?

• All the cattle guards we keep crossing.
• Bee catching two fish (Kokanee - land locked salmon – so it’s not just a beer!) on Arrow Lake.

New experience:

• Ate Kohl Rubi for the first time – a type of vegetable that you eat raw – you eat the bulb part and it tastes like a cross between cabbage and broccoli stem.

What are the chances?

• The ‘Elvis rocks the Canyon Café’ is only closed one day per week – Tuesday.  What day did we cycle past this funky memorabilia café – Tuesday.

What are we super excited about just at this minute?

• Being in Vancouver

We just would like to say that we really enjoy reading the comments you leave us.  We do read them and get a lot of pleasure out of it.  Thanks again.  We still are a bit taken aback that people actually read this!