Cycling with Sally

 First up, we didn't take pictures in Vancouver until we got to the Hilton which was at the end of our stay but we were having a break so no complaining! 

While in Vancouver we stayed with Len for the first two nights, Roseanne, Derek and Christina for four nights and last night four nights at Ryan, Mirella and Mia's house.  We would like to say such a huge thank you to all of you for putting us up for that time.  Not only was it a great way of spending time with you but it really made our stay that much more pleasurable staying with family and friends.  Thank you for all the rides and meals ..... and settler fun too!  We would also like to take this opportunity to thank Roland's Dad for all the running around he did with us.  It saved us a lot of hassles and we really appreciated your calming influences on the few occassions we ran around like chickens!

Summary of our time in Vancouver:
Tons of great meals with family and friends and hanging out, a ridiculous amounts of Settler games, learning a new board game (Puerto Rico) with Steve and Cherie, waiting in line from 3am for the MEC Swap Sale, dog walking with Fred, Muriel, Dudley and Brodie, window shopping with the girls, going to the Smallville TV show set and getting a tour as Sally does makeup for it, spending a bunch of time on public transport (boy is Vancouver a big place or what!),  meeting Gwendal and Tanya who have done the same trip as us but from south to north, Belinda getting a dread maintenance done (boohoo - Roland's hair still too short for dreads but again thank you very much to Knotty Boy), getting Chiropractic adjustments done on Belinda's neck - amazing - thanks Simon (see sponsors page for more detail) and getting chores done - BORING!  It was great seeing a bunch of people in Vancouver - we had a really excellent time - thanks everyone!

To be continued..... going to eat homemade pizza ...... yummy!

On our final night we were treated to a night in the Hilton near the Vancouver International Airport.  Roseanne (Roland's sister) kindly donated her gift certificate she'd won at a fun run for one nights' accomodation.  We had a great night there and slept so well on the king sized bed, we even got a little bit of room service - so sophisticated!  The next day we really enjoyed meeting up with another one of Roland's lovely Auntys and Uncles (Terry and Bob) and sharing a meal together with them and Roland's Dad at good old Whitespot.  After that the ride to the Twassen Ferry Terminal was a little frantic as we got held up with Friday afternoon Thanksgiving traffic.  Fortunately, we got our tickets with no time to spare - a literal dash to the finish line (I felt like I was on the Amazing Race!)

We had only night on Pender Island (in Roland's family's log cabin) which is apart of the Southern Gulf Islands.  It's a super hilly place to ride - if you're not going up then you're going down.  By the time we had got groceries on the island after getting off the ferry it was dark.  Although we had lights on the bike, it was hard to see very far ahead as this is a very remote island with no lights along the road.  Just after talking with a local about this, we headed towards the cabin.  After dogding the many deer about the island and negotiating the tricky terrain, we reached our final downhill hairpin corner where we didn't end up turning in time (due to low visability and not having our drum brake on) and ended up totally ploughed into the verge with some kind of prickly 'ouchy' plant breaking our fall.  Mental note: Cycling in the dark not so much fun - try to avoid it where ever possible.  In saying that, we couldn't have asked for a better weekend, particularly as going to Pender ended up being a last minute decision as our original plans of going to Victoria on Vancouver Island fell through.  Also, we felt ready for a wind down as our time in Vancouver was rather manic.  Our friends, Simon and Melissa joined us the following day and we shared a fun-filled weekend of crab catching, cycling about the island, climbing Mt Norman, lots of Settler's, sleep-in's, good food, farmer's market, Belinda finding the dog she wants (a Bermese Mountain Dog), fish and chips at Port Browning Pub, Roland air-tromboning Simon, and pumpkin pie and icecream for thanksgiving (no turkey this year).  Unfortunately, Monday came around to quickly and it was time to leave. 

We caught a ferry to Swartz Bay (Vancouver Island) and cycled the 30km Lockside Trail into Victoria.  It was an excellent cycle path that hugged the coast, then went through some farm land and pumpkin patches and finally through scenic urban streets.  We managed to briefly say a hello to Adriano, his daughter and his mum and mum-in-law before catching the Black Ball ferry to Port Angeles, Washington, USA.  There were about 40 other cyclist on the same ferry that were about to start a Lance Armstrong ride down to Texas to raise money for Cancer.  We then had another short ride to Sequim where we stayed with a Warm Shower host, Courtney Keith.  The highlight staying with her was having a soak in an outside hot tub under the stars.  Thank you so much Courtney for your easy going hospitality.

We are currently in Olympia, WA but will do another blog for our stint from Sequim to Portland once we get there..... so hold tight!