To Follow our trip from Day 1, click here: You're Doing What???
It is day 22 - July 7th - and the girls wake up TERRIBLY grouchy!! It is so funny to think about all the hard/strenuous/exhausting/wet/endless cycling days we have endured when these girls have done nothing but smile, laugh and have fun! Now, they had their first ENTIRE DAY off the bikes.....and they wake up arguing and fighting! Go figure. I guess we need to limit our ZERO MILE days, eh? Today we will have 33 miles of exhaustion so they wont have any energy left to argue or fight tonight.
Shane woke up pretty excited because we planned to catch the bus out to the Horseshoe Bay Ferry. If this plan worked, it would save us around 90 minutes of strenuous cycling so that our legs could be fresh for the Sunshine Coast. I was skeptical of this plan succeeding because the day before, we had asked a bus driver -
"Can we bring a trail a bike on the bus with us?" and without a moments hesitation he practically yelled - NO!! So Shane says, "It's about the size of a stroller. Can you bring strollers on the bus?" again - NO!!!!
Shane was optimistic that we would get a nice driver who had some sympathy for the crazy family with 2 bikes, 2 trail a bikes, 8 panniers, 2 dry bags, 1 tent, 1 yoga mat and 4 people who needed to get to the ferry on time! If you were that bus driver would you let us on? Hmm...
The odds were against us. We got to the bus stop just in time to see a bus driving to Horseshoe Bay with both bike racks filled and the bus at 100% capacity. That bus drove right passed us.
Shane was determined....he pulled apart both the bikes, zip tied the bags/panniers together, and gave each girl a supply of gear to carry on. Another bus to the ferry goes ZOOMING by, not even pretending to see us.....we are not too obvious are we? That bus only had room for 1 bike anyway.
What are the chances that when our bus gets here that BOTH bike racks will be available, the bus is empty enough for all of us and our gear and is being driven by a person nice enough to let us on? Oh - did I mention that it is a Monday morning!!! There is just no way.
Here comes our bus, full speed ahead and it also does not even slow down. Totally defeated, we face the fact that we are going to have to cycle the 13 miserable miles on Marine Drive and we have 90 minutes to make the ferry. It is going to be close.
We had cycled Marine drive 2 weeks prior (see this post - Nanaimo to Vancouver) , and we are stronger for sure. We knew we could do it, we just didnt want to. Our plan was to jet up the Coast in 3 days so that we could stay at Terry's Eco Lodge up in Lund for free for 4 nights. This was the first wrench in that plan.
The girls had continued to be incredibly grouchy so we told them we were cycling instead of taking the bus since they wouldnt get along (holy cow, that is SO MEAN!!! HA!!!) I have to admit that I found Marine Dr going west to be much easier, but I wonder if that is because I have gotten so much stronger?
We made it to those bike detour signs that we had followed two weeks prior and NOW we realized they are for bikes heading to the ferry and not away from the ferry. That would have been nice to know 2 weeks ago. We flew down to the terminal, bought our tickets and boarded almost immediately. We made it with about 5 minutes to spare!
Shane had not handled the ride as well. He looked like he was going to pass out. Alli had not been helping at all and he was just dead tired. We recouped on the ferry with a Toblerone Chocolate bar and coffee (which we also didnt share with the girls because we are holding a grudge about their behavior....I think I need a Nurturted Heart refresher course!! or actually, maybe just a little alone time!)
On the ferry over, Shane and I started to discuss our options for the Sunshine Coast. As it was, we were going to cycle about 160 miles in 3 days on the most HILLY stretch of our trip yet. It seemed like a no brainer - there was no way this was possible. Well, it might be possible but it would not be much fun and we really liked to keep this trip on the FUN side!
We also talked about what this trip was turning out to be for us. People want to talk to us everywhere, the girls are finding friends everywhere and have become so comfortable talking to all the interesting people, we LOVE coffee shops and cafes. If we rode up to the Eco Lodge we would be bypassing so many chances to hang out and meet new people, relax, take it easy, and just enjoy what the Sunshine Coast has to offer.
At the Eco Lodge we would be all alone, no fresh water, no food, no coffee....really, it sounded so much better to just take our time up the coast and enjoy the people, places and opportunities that existed for us. We were SO much happier after coming to this conclusion.
(We end up spending 8 days getting up to Powell River during which we would have so many down days, the girls would make TONS of friends and we would meet some fascinating people who we would not have met had we cycled warp speed up the coast. What a great change of plans.)
As we approached Langdale, the captain comes over the loudspeaker telling everyone to start heading to the car decks and we cannot find Jill anywhere. This was the 2nd time we had lost her. The passenger decks were EMPTY and we are getting in to dock and she is totally gone.
The really scary part was that this ferry was huge, there we so many places she could be hiding if she wanted to (I was assuming she was getting us back for our holding a grudge for their behavior in the morning! We deserved it, these kids are AMAZING and they should be allowed to have the occasional meltdown!)
Shane eventually found her and she just said, "I wasnt lost. I knew right where I was!" I just held her as tightly as I could for as long as possible. I am hoping that we dont lose her anymore, it is heart wrenching. I also will re-read my Nurtured Heart posts!!
We get off the ferry and realize that Shane has a flat tire on Alli's bike. No WONDER he was so exhausted for Marine Drive. He was dragging 160# on a flat tire. Poor guy! After fixing the tire, we head towards Gibsons to stay off the highway, and pretty easily made it to town. The girls got some food at a market and Shane and I chatted with a sailor. He was hilarious. He thought that my water line to my osprey bag was oxygen! I WISH!!!! Canadians are fascinated with our water packs. Seems like no one knows what they are. We couldnt live without them, but now I'm thinking oxygen is a GREAT idea!!
We push our bikes up a 21% grade, took us about
We realize VERY quickly that the 101 is NOT the place to be cycling with our children. It is crazy crowded with semi trucks, RVs, logging trucks, campers with boats....everything under the sun, traveling 60 mph about 3 feet away from us. We get onto Lower Road as quickly as we can and enjoy a nice quiet road with lots of ups and downs, but almost no traffic so we happily stay on that road as long as possible.
At a junction we talk with a local cyclist who drove past us on the highway and she was SO happy to see we had gotten onto Lower Road to avoid the mayhem. She helped me map a route to Robert's Creek that would keep us off the highway for a bit, let us visit the ocean, and then showed me a route to cut off a huge hill on the highway. After that, the highway is the only way to travel so we would have to just be extra careful.
It was still early in the day, so we got to the beach and let the girls play for a while. We hit the Sunshine Coast at the perfect time for some great weather. the name is somewhat misleading, because it is often cloudy, gloomy and gray...but the 8 days we are here end up being beautiful and H-O-T!!! The girls have a great time in the water catching hermit crabs and gathering shells and then we have to keep cycling. We still have 9 miles to Sechelt and it is approaching dinnertime.
We cycle a short distance and then are met with a 12% grade we have to push our bikes up. We can find any excuse at all to take breaks when we are pushing up hills so we were very pleased to stop and chat with a lovely couple coming down the hill. They were intrigued with our adventures and wanted to share some of their stories with us.
They had taken a year off work when their children were 11 and 13, to travel Spain on bikes. They could not say enough about how that was the best year of their lives and to make sure we appreciate the time with our children now because it goes fast!
I am grateful that we learned early on that childhood will go way too quickly and proud that we have always taken full advantage of our time together as a family!! Really, homeschooling and utilizing Shane's vacations as a teacher has allowed us to take as many vacations as money can allow.....I think we are making good use of our time together as a family while the girls are young!!
The couple let us go, saying..."You still have 9 miles to Sechelt, plus some hills....you know, you could just camp up the road!" We say - "NO NO!!! We like to make use of long daylight, we'll be fine!!"
We push our bike the remaining 1/2 mile onto a trail which turns out to be the campground they were talking about and decide within MOMENTS - We're done, lets camp!! We did not need to ride 9 more miles, we had 8 days to get up to Powell River, we might as well take our time! We dumped our gear at a camsite and rode 2 miles DOWNHILL to a local Market IGA.
Here is where we discover one of the most fantastic things about the Sunshine Coast. In the IGA, they take the day old deli food and package it up at 50% off....we felt like we won the LOTTO!!!
We piled up tons of food for dinner, ate to our bellies capacity and then rode down to the beach. A few hours passed as the girls played on the rocky shore (no sandy beaches here....girls are kinda grumpy
As we came into camp, we saw a young lady (25 years old) on a bike, setting up in a site next to us. Chatting with her we learned that she was on Day 1 of her own 2 month bike tour. She was traveling alone, from Vancouver to Los Angeles...following the 101 route which is why she was heading up the coast, then back down Vancouver Island before she headed into the states. She was so excited to meet us on her first night because we were EXCITED for her, not like a lot of people who thought she was crazy to be doing this trip. This is her blog, click the link to see her travels....ANNE-archy. (It is so nice to see young adults out there living life to the fullest!! We wish you the best in your travels and in your journeys to find a place to call "home"!)
I chatted with her briefly and we decided to meet up in the morning and go over some route options for her since Shane and I have cycled a lot of the area she was headed to. She was also a bit skeptical about utilizing the warm showers website so I wanted to fill her in on how great that has been. It feels good to be 3 weeks into our trip. We are strong, confident and any doubts we had about being able to pull this trip off have vanished! We are cycling superstars!!!
NEXT BLOG: MORE SUNSHINE
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