2008 The Adventure continues - Pacific Coast Route, Part 1

After using all our leave for our epic adventure last summer, we decided that 2 weeks was about the longest we could do this summer and keep our bosses excited about our bike trips. The Pacific Coast seemed like a natural since it wouldn't take a lot of time to get to the beginning or reach home at the end. So we decided to divide the 1850 miles into 3 trips. Part 1 takes us from Vancouver, British Columbia to Astoria, Oregon.........at least that's the plan!

And so we begin......

August 21, 2008 - Friday - Everything is packed, the bikes are boxed and the checklist completed. We are headed to Portland to spend the night with Cameron and Meagan so they can take us to the Amtrak station early in the morning.

August 22, Saturday - The day dawns bright and warm as we arrive at Union Station.

The train is on time!

Crossing the Columbia River headed north.

One of several newly remodeled train stations.


Our first view of Puget Sound and its ubiquitous ferries. That is the Olympic Penisula in the background.

Mt. Rainier

Starbuck's headquarters - purveyor of Doug's favorite beverage.

We arrived in Seattle pretty much on time (noon), only to find that the Amtrak bus was delayed at the Canadian border because of 20 other buses carrying cruise ship passengers back into the US, and would be late.

And then later........

..........and later. Fortunately it was a beautiful Seattle afternoon for just hanging out with our luggage and boxed bikes. Hard to ride around town with them wrapped in cardboard!

And it gave us plenty of time to read.

No ballgames going on next door either.

The bus finally arrived at 4:30 and we were on our way at 5:15.

We arrived in Vancouver, BC train station at 9:45 pm and it took us about an hour to repack, change clothes, and put the bikes together. Then the adventure really began......riding in a strange city in the dark looking for a bed and breakfast house we've never been to before. It actually turned out to be pretty easy and it was a balmy night so the riding was pleasant after all that sitting. We found the place by 11:00 and were settled in by midnight. So much for an early start tomorrow!
August 23, Sunday. Well.......so much for any start! Sometime after midnight it started raining........and not just a drizzle. We decided that delay was the prudent thing so we spent the morning exploring Stanley Park with a bunch of other wet people.
Point A is the location of Mickey's Kit Beach B&B, our home for today.

The Totem Pole garden

This bike path goes all the way around the penisula that is Stanley Park. The bridge in the background is Lion's Gate and we will be crossing it tomorrow as we head north.

The seagulls even seem to appreciate fine art!

We spent the afternoon in the Vancouver Museum, which does a very nice job documenting the history of this area and the many peoples that have influenced it.

They even treated the 60's and 70's as history. What a way to make a person feel "young"!

A fine day spent exploring Vancouver (18 miles worth), just not quite what we had planned. That's the thing about bike trips, you get many opportunities to practice flexibility.

On the road, on the bike.......and the ferry

Vancouver to Saltery Bay

August 25, Monday - What a difference a day makes! It is cool, calm and dry as we leave Mickey's Kit Beach B & B. Our room was lovely, the food tasty, and our host quite helpful. .......But it is time to head north.

Vancouver is the site of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The statue in the background is the symbol they are using for pins, posters, etc. The Olympics are everywhere already.

The Inukshuk basically means "You are welcome here".

Crossing the Lion's Gate Bridge into North Vancouver.

Looking south along the Sunshine Coast.

At Horshoebay ferry terminal, waiting for the ferry, we met Pascal, Cathy, and their 5 year old daughter Zoe. They are from France. They are using the same guide book that we are and plan to stay at the same campground tonight.

It was noon so we weren't the only ones waiting in line to eat lunch. The ferries often have a very nice cafeteria with reasonable prices.

It was a very beautiful ride to Langdale. There were still enough clouds though that we could not see the snow-capped peaks that you see in the postcards. In fact we never did see them.

Just outside of Gibsons. This stretch had a really nice shoulder and not that much traffic.

Porpoise Bay Campground beach, a great place to write in the journal.

Just south of Sechelt (Sea-shelt), our destination for the day. We had a very nice Italian dinner before heading out to the provincal park and campground that is 2 miles outside of town.

The hiker/biker area. Pascal, Cathy, and Zoe are camped just behind the trees. We had a chance to talk to them quite a bit. They are from the south of France. They have taken a year off from their jobs. They just spent the first month in Quebec. They are biking down to Baja California and then flying to Peru in February to bicycle around South America until they return to France next June. Makes the 40 miles we did today seem pretty small!

August 26, Tuesday - Another beautiful cool morning. We decided to head into town for breakfast so there was a lot of motivation to get packed up and on the road.

Guess not everyone is thrilled about the coming Olympics.
Garden Bay RV Park, a perfect place to stop for today's ice cream.

Waiting for the ferry at Earl's Cove. We also met a couple from New Zealand that had just bicycled off the ferry. They said it was pretty hilly to Powell River and we told them it was pretty hilly to Vancouver........fair trade.

Our typical parking place on the ferries.

These clouds kept getting thicker and thicker until it started raining about halfway across to Saltery Bay. A trucker on the ferry gave us advice about Kent's Beach campground with good showers and laundry, that was about a mile from the ferry terminal. We had planned to go another 20 miles to Powell River today but the drenching rain changed our plans.

There was one cabin left so Pascal and Cathy set up their tent next to it and we shared the roof the rest of the day and evening. It was really nice getting to talk to them some more. They spent a couple of years in Australia so their English is quite good.

The afternoon school lesson for Zoe. They are home schooling her for this year on the road. They have a blog set up so that she can stay in touch with her classmates and friends. We looked at it when we returned home. It's all in French so a bit challenging for us.