9.30.02 Tough day into Vancouver
 

I woke up fairly early and had some tea with Kelly. We said goodbye and then I took off to Emily’s for breakfast. Emily and I collaborated on a nice fat Spanish omelet with sweet potato, onion, garlic, bell pepper, tiny sweet tomatoes, avocado, and pepper jack cheese. It was very delicious. We sat back and enjoyed a tasty latte in her cozy apartment and talked for a bit. Emily told me she’d knit me a pair of slippers and we drew an outline of my size 14 foot on a piece of paper for reference. I can’t wait to see how they turn out. Emily had to go to class so we said goodbye and I started my way towards Sydney, where the Vancouver Ferry Terminal is. I took Emily’s advice and stuck to a more scenic route through the Saanich Peninsula and checked out some of the interesting agriculture along the way. The hills were pretty tough and I soon realized I wouldn’t be making the 1pm ferry. At Sydney, I killed some time and went shopping for a nice lunch snack for the ferry. Emily sent me off with some nice cheese bread so I bought some baba ganouj, goat cheese, and an avocado to go with it. I boarded the 3pm ferry and had a nice ride to Twassen while enjoying my lunch and a newspaper. The ride to the Vancouver area was long and confusing but the weather had cleared up since coming over and it was sunny again. I pedaled across the Alec-Fraser Bridge, a long tall suspension bridge that gave me the gitters. It crosses the Fraser River and is used by lots of traffic. At the middle, the view was great, although if you are a not a fan of looking out high over industrial areas, tall buildings, traffic, and urban sprawl, maybe not so great. After some scary highways, head scratching intersections, and ass busting hills, I made it to Mieke and Don’s place. Mieke is an old friend of my mom’s from work and has known me since I was very young. Mieke and Don have a nice large home ion Coquitlam, about 18 miles outside of Vancouver City. They were able to put me up in a nice queen sized bed downstairs with my own living space and bathroom. They made sure I went to bed with a full stomach and I had a great sleep on a nice queen sized bed after a long day on the hills. (62 miles)

Peace

Dave