We've talked all summer about a bicycle trip, and this past weekend, we finally did it. Friday night at 6pm: my job was to get my bike fitted with new tires, a bike rack and to buy panniers... despite last minute-shopping and some fancy custom rack-fitting on my rear-suspension moutain-bike (!), Saturday morning saw us ready to go. I owe an extra-nice guy named "Steve" at least a 6-pack of Heineken for pulling off the miracle...
My bike looked like a trimmed poodle. Gone were the killer Big Earl tires, replaced with skinnies looking all too skinny under the mondo front fender. But it worked! We parked near Tswassen, and biked to the ferry- fully loaded for the first time, and all wobbly with the back-end weight. Despite efforts to NOT overpack, we did, and we could barely lift the rear-ends of our bikes. We may eventually learn.
On arriving at Fulford Harbour, Salt Spring Island, we biked 10 hilly kilometres to Ruckles Provincial Park. It almost killed me, but didn't, and I regretted the pitiful amount of bike-riding I've done this season with every laboured pedal-stroke. Kate did much better, and graciously waited for me at the top of the long hills. I felt like a Stanley Steamer, all red-faced and out of breath, but oh yes- I did it at last.
We had to settle for an overflow site at Ruckles the first night, but Sunday morning we scored one of the best sites in the park- a grassy flat section right above the surf. We explored a little and packed for a ride to Ganges, with a population of about 10,000. Ye Gads, more hills again, but this time we were light, and we utterly enjoyed every minute. The weather stayed perfect for us, and we took in the smells of pungent pine needles, grasses, and aromatic leaves and bushes along with way. Smells that reminded me of childhood spent in the nearby trees and fields. Warm earth. It was so incredibly... beyond words. Just one of those days I will travel back to again and again when I need to remember what happiness tastes like.
I'll never quite get over the smell of ocean and the clean air here. It's quietly addictive in a way that lakes are not. In Ganges, we had lunch at the Treehouse Cafe, which was lovely, and then we toured around the docks, looking at boats, fantasizing about what type we'll get, and where we'll sail it. our current lack of sailing knowledge does not trouble our dreaming for an instant. We toodled around, found our way into a wonderful bookstore, and then headed back to climb back up the massive hill that took us 5 full minutes to scream recklessly down. It took considerably longer to huff and puff back up it, but it was rewarding to reach the top. :)
As a treat, we diverted down this other road to a warm lake we'd learned about the day before, and went for a lazy swim way out and back, spending important, thoughtful time just floating and looking skyward as the sun beamed down on us. Salt Spring has it all- lots of interior lakes, pines, arbutus, deer, gorgeous fields everywhere you look- it is everything you imagine of an idyllic island life. Here are there are signs about sheep and llamas, inviting you in, or warning you to please keep your dog on leash. We discussed adding a camel farm to complete the picture. No- a camel and a sailboat need not be mutually exclusive daydreams- life is long...
After the swim, another long ride back to camp, an oceanside dinner, and an early and hard-earned night's rest under a perfect star-studded sky with the sound of waves to lull us. By morning, fresh air, soft morninmg sunshine and surf. Breakfast and delicious coffee down at the rocks, watching the tide and the ferries and the sailboats go by.
It seems hardly possible that we tore ourselves away from that, finding our way to the Long Harbour ferry dock, and from there back to Vancouver. As nice cities go, Vancouver really does rate, but it's got nothing on the islands.
On having Dallas back this morning, there is yet another health issue which I will not document here, but if you're reading this, you probably know precisely how well I am handling it. She is fine for the time-being, anyway.
