Everyday for 7 Weeks–Day 26–Vancouver

I spent the day in Vancouver watching the rain and catching up on computer stuff. I had intended to get out and explore some, but the pouring rain convinced me to lounge around Sonja’s place enjoying hot tea and the fastest internet I’ve had on the whole trip.

As the day wore on, I became motivated by food and set off to find some tastiness. I didn’t have to go far before I was enjoying this:

After brunch, I decided to go for a walk and leave the bike. It was nice to be able to explore on foot. I found a small park and set about wandering.

I don’t normally see a sign like this in the city parks of MN:

There were two trails. A nice paved one for bicycles and a gravel one for pedestrians. I took the gravel trail as it had more twists, turns, and elevation changes.

The park seemed deserted. I only heart the birds chirping. It was nice to forget I was in the city again. Vancouver is quite the adjustment after being in the wilderness for so long. Cars, so many cars. People, trains, buses, and just all the noise of a city. I like cities, don’t get me wrong, but after spending time in a place where the only man-made noise is made by you. It was a change.

These berries will be tasty in a few weeks.

A slug. Another sight on this walk that is not common in MN, or if it is, I’ve never seen one there. He looked like I felt on this day -- a lazy slug. It was nice to relax with nothing to specifically do or anywhere to be.

The flowers in Vancouver were out in full force while I was there. Things were lush and green and it felt like everything was blooming. It was very pretty.

The trail was great. Several kilometers long with several small streams running through it. I enjoyed listening to the sound of the water moving and the birds. The bird songs were ones I wasn’t familiar which added to the charm of the walk.

By mid-walk, I realized the trail was quite popular. There were lots of other users, but we just weren’t bumping into each other. The dense foliage also did a great job minimizing the sound from others.

I continued to be spoiled by Roland, Sonja’s husband, for the rest of the day. He makes a great cup of tea. Sonja came home from work, and it was time to go for a ride!

Our bikes huddled together. The SV looks so much better without all that luggage. It handles much nicer too!

Sonja prepping her Sportster

She took me on a short little ride to a lake. There were some twisty forest roads along the way to enjoy. The view at the lake was great. The clouds were so low you could almost touch them.

Since I did a wacky pose for Sonja’s blog, I made her do one for me as well. I think she needs some orange gloves too. Don’t you?? hehe

The lake to me was that idyllic British Columbia scene – low clouds, big hills (almost mountains), and some water.

The ride made us hungry, so we set off to gorge ourselves before finishing off another night with a bottle of wine.

I really enjoyed the hospitality shown to me by Sonja and Roland. They are good people. If you get the chance to meet them, you should. Even if it means you have to ride across a continent to do it.

Thank you Sonja and Roland!!

 

Day 26 Full Flickr Album

 

Video: Riding with SonjaM