Here is a selection of photos from my last few days of wandering around Vancouver. If you click on the little box with corner arrows you can watch in full screen mode. Press the Esc. key to get back. 

Another day of wandering Vancouver for me and another day of bicycle conference for Cathy. After the conference I met Cathy, collected our bicycles and we went for a ride around Stanley Park.  This pleased Cathy enormously as her active use of a bike had been stymied for two days as she was bombarded by experts from around the world on best practice in the cycling world. She was delighted to get rolling. 

Rolling along the Vancouver sea wall.

 
 

 

Time for a catch up blog.

Sunday, June 24 was a traveling day. Our retinas and taste buds were in for another thrill as we sat down to Apple Scooters for breakfast at the Birdsong B&B. This is a Danish treat where butter sautéed apple chunks are cooked inside a pancake batter and come out as… well, Apple Scooters. Dose in maple syrup, plop on some raspberry jam, sprinkle with icing sugar and serve with bacon.

Apple Scooters

We had an enjoyable time learning about one of our hosts, Edward, and his earlier life as a clothing designer, maker and marketer in Vancouver. We had a ferry to catch so loaded up our panniers, said goodbye and headed to Fulford Harbour.

(L to R) Trent, Bill, Edward, Some other dude

A quick ferry ride to Swartz Bay and moments later we were headed to Tsawwssen.

It was amazingly easy to ride from the terminal to cousin Sally’s house in Ladner.  She lives in a floating house on the Fraser River. We had a most enjoyable afternoon and evening visiting with Sally’s friends on the dock and sharing family stories over supper. Sally had arranged to have John and Tess for supper so we had a lovely time catching up with them.  It was a pleasure to meet Sally's friend Steve as well.

Monday June 25, 2012

Sally and Steve fed us a royal breakfast and we headed off for downtown Vancouver with a short bike ride, a bus ride and the rest of the way on the Canada Line.  

Sally, Steve and Trent getting ready to roll.

 We found the YWCA Hotel, checked in and began the next 4 days of complete bicycle immersion. Cathy is in heaven.

Tuesday June 26, 2012

Cathy is off to her VeloCity conference for the next few days and I am free to wander and explore Vancouver.

 

Today’s itinerary includes two ferry rides, a boarder crossing and a short bike ride ending at Birdsong B&B on Salt Spring Island. Breakfast was unremarkable, more like Super 8 fare than yesterday's five star meal. (Sorry, no pictures of cheerios.)  We are off to the ferry where Cathy gets great pleasure out of riding past all the car lineups on our bikes and rolling up to the front of the ferry.

The bird life around the ferry terminal engages me while we wait to board.

Pigeon Guillemots, Great Blue Herrons, Herring Gulls, nesting Pelagic Cormorants, and other birds fill my lens as I eagerly swing in all directions.

Pigeon Guillemots

Gull with nesting material.

Great Blue Heron preparing to land.

Gull bringing in nesting material.

Pelagic Cormorant with nesting material.

The pillars supporting ferry terminal moorings were rated by the local bird population as five star accommodation and nest building sites. We saw many birds gathering nesting material and working on Mike Homes approved, architecturally integrated, spousally sanctioned places to deposit their eggs for future offspring.

Crossing the boarder back into Canada could not have been more pleasant.  Customs agents from Victoria had not arrived for the car/bicycle line up so we successfully crashed the pedestrian lineup. With our bikes in tow we walked along, panniers rubbing the rope barriers, and people generally clearing out of our way as we snaked up to the customs counter.  The agent was a talkative guy interested in where we had been cycling and pushed us through with a ‘Have a good day’.

As we arrive in Fulford Harbour the grey overcast sky gently begins to wring out the clouds producing a soft gentle rain.

Rain….not after such a glorious two sunny days on Whidbey Island. Oh well I suppose we are due. Our rain gear ready we proceed to find our way to the B&B. Plenty of up and down here on Salt Spring.

We have incidentally arrived at the same time as a major bicycle rally over the next two days. The bike route is colourfully marked with painted surplus bicycles.

On down hill stretches we are such woosy riders we brake to keep speeds under 35 km./hours. (This will please anyone who cares about my propensity for self injury!!) Still, at this speed the rain turns into facial daggers necessitating a constant squint. We feel it is a slow soak inside and out.  We take a couple of wrong turns, pull out a soaking wet B&B reservation for an address and find our way to Rouke St. and our destination.  We arrive at a spectacular setting in amongst mature trees with an open vista across a bay where boats and birds pass on a regular basis. We unload our generously 'moistened' packs, spread out as we are wont to do and settle in for a delightful evening. 

I soon notice a Hummingbird feeder and ensconce myself in the doorway to capture some more bird pictures.


I thought Olive and Hamish might enjoy the flying hummingbird.

Eight thirty a.m. brings Cathy and I along with 3 other couples from the B&B together for a gourmet breakfast and wonderful conversation.  This B&B received top marks for quality and presentation of breakfast fare.  Poached pears doing the back stroke in vanilla yogurt, croissants, home made jam, juice, coffee and banana walnut pancakes anyone??

The conversation around the breakfast table bounced around amongst American and Canadian politics and health care, euthanasia and economics.  It struck us that the world would be a better place if more people had a chance to meet real people from other countries face to face and have meaningful conversations. 


A highlight for me occurred as we rounded a corner and right in front of us was a group of Bald Eagles foraging for field mice in a freshly mown grass field.  It was such a delight to watch them dip and dive as they played on the aerials and landed in the field.

This delight was soon replaced by a rather annoying part of the day’s ride where we encountered busy highway, noisy trucks and hill climbs all the while being serenaded with the roar of military jets from a local base practicing maneuvers. 

The site of signs warning of fire arms in use and a gun shop really set off Cathy's imagination and deterred us from a planned break in the bushes.

We arrived at the Ships Harbour Inn, Anacortes around 4:00 in the afternoon after a 55 km. ride, cleaned up, had a wee glass of wine and decided to go for some food.  Without really checking a map we headed out on foot to the local Safeway store after the clerk assured me it was only about 5 minutes down the road.  Well, after a good hour of walking we realized that the 5 minutes must surely have been in a Ferrari.

Part way along I spied a familiar green and white flag that could only be hung by a Roughrider fan from Saskatchewan. 

After a brief stay in Safeway, Panini and salad in hand our tired bodies informed us that the only was back was in a Taxi so we capitulated, jumped in, rode back, ate supper and collapsed into bed.

We said goodbye to our most accommodating hosts, Kim and  Mike along with Kim’s visiting brother, Karl. We had such an enjoyable visit with five star food and lodging.

Karl, Kim, Mike

WHAT A DAY…. Now think of the best cycling conditions you can imagine….Is your list complete?  Well that is what we had today.  Mare’s tail clouds looking over us from high overhead, pothole free pavement expanding into shoulders perfect for cycling, constantly changing bucolic vistas, natures fragrances masquerading as a perfume factory, bird songs beckoning us to wheel around every corner, thermo regulated air so we were never too hot or cold and enough chocolate, caffeine and water to fuel the ups and downs of the road. 

Someone even smothered the wind so the flags were suspended limply from their pole. Have you ever heard of riding on a bicycle without facing the wind?

Some of the 'uppage' and 'downage' as we roll along.

Roadside flowers fuel our visual delight as we wheel along our chosen route. Birds and animals appear as if on command.

White-crowned Sparrow eating lunch.

Osprey looking for lunch.

White-tailed deer in need of some dental floss.

At one turn in the road Cathy noticed a sign that confirmed all of the warnings presented in her Earth Hazards course.  Can you out-peddle a Tsunami? It is rumoured that these signs are paid for by Saskatchewan Tourism.

We stopped for a pleasant meander through a site that used to be a working farm, was sold for development and ultimately rescued with the hard work and dedication of local residents. It now houses art galleries a cheese store and a winery.

We unfolded our Whidbey Island map every few miles to check on our destination and ended up at a most beautiful B&B here in Coupeville. 

An interesting local law insists that every new house constructed in Coupeville look as if it is 100 years old.  It boggles the mind to imagine just how much energy and effort went into local politics to make that idea stick.  The result is a charming community that attracts tourists from a wide area. Here are two random examples.

Today we start on the bicycle portion of our trip.  Pete et al drove us to Mukilteo and across on the ferry to Whidbey Island. 

We spent the next few hours exploring the back roads on our way to meet up with Kim Kelzer and Mike Scott, artist friends from my Emma connections. The back roads on Whidbey Island are perfect for cycling and provide lots of ups and downs to keep our legs working.

 Beautiful roadside flowers dot the ditches.

As we approached a local vineyard I noticed this employee carefully collecting pesky bugs and moving them off the property.

Downy Woodpecker with full mouth.

 A short ride brings us to the small town of Langley (Not the B.C. Langley) where Cathy spies a sign that says ‘Soups On’. It turns out we have stumbled upon a local church offering a free meal to any wayward soul that happens by.  We are delighted to have a bowl of carrot/ginger soup and a slice of bread, leave a donation and carry on our way.

Volunteers welcoming us to the Soup Kitchen.

Inside the Soup Kitchen

Later on we arrive in Freeland where we stop for a coffee at a drive through specializing in bicycle traffic. We know this because of the two bikes parked in front of the window. 

We then wind our way around Freeland and eventually stumble across Kim’s workshop.  I recognized it immediately by the pink band saw standing on guard in the work shop. 

We visit with Kim and Mike for the rest of the afternoon and then eat a delicious supper they prepared for us. A walk around the neighborhood finishes our evening.

Kim picking garden supplies for supper.
Notice the deer and rabbit proof fence.

Baby bunny just waiting to grow big enough to try and eat Kim's lettuce.