I thought this was supposed to be a break...!

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Sharon:

This blog entry doesn't really fit in with the rest.... as we haven't been cycling for over THREE days. Our bums are getting lonesome without their trusty bike seats to rest on. We got to my Grandma and Grandpa's house on Vancouver Island on Wednesday in the POURING rain. It rained - and it rained - and it rained - all day long. Turns out our amazing waterproof gear is only water proof in Alberta! To be fair, it did hold up pretty well - but after four or five hours of saturation we were bound to get a bit wet. Unfortunately, my spur of the moment running shoe purchase (after losing my favourite pair) was not such a great idea for the wet coastal weather, as the shoes have "vents" at the front - a.k.a. a nice area to let the rain and splahes in easily. We passed another cyclist on the way, proving we're not the only crazies. He also had a lot of gear AND a horn just like my mine - bonus points in my books (crazy points to most people).

Anyways, despite maybe a bit of hesitancy, my grandparents let the two drowned rats on the front porch into their house and warmed us up. We've been living the high life ever since - hot tubs, the occasional shower, warm, home cooked meals (the beans lay outside by the bikes, long forgotten), clean sheets, AND an internet connection (hence the more frequent blog updates).

The whole family (minus one or two) gathered this weekend to celebrate my Grandpa's 80th birthday (we already missed Christmas, so this was high on our priority list!). We tore apart the old deck and my Grandpa's greenhouse, then put the whole thing back together again in a new spot in the garden. All he wanted for his birthday was labour, and it came in droves! Lots of hauling of gravel and harvesting of tomatoes for us, leaving the tricky parts of the greenhouse relocation to the experts.

Another highlight of the weekend was, of course, seeing my mum! We'll hopefully catch up with each other somewhere along the coast as well.

We'll leave soon (likely Monday or Tuesday) and head down to Victoria, our gateway to the US! There's rumours of both Mike's parents and my dad and uncle being in the area, so hopefully we'll get the chance to have a few more reunions before we hit the exciting open road of the Pacific Coast highway.

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Comments

[Dana]

Wow!
I can't believe you guys have made it! Incredible! You two are truly my heros...

[Guillaume]

Tribunes in the wild?
Hey guys, I just found your blog, and so far, this sounds absolutely amazing. I can't wait to hear about more of the insights you're getting into how this world works, urine bottles and everything else included. Best of luck, hopefully Mike's rear tire starts holding up for a change!

[Michael]

Hey, met you all on the Island Hwy Oct 1
We met on the hill top after that fantastic long descent! Hope you found a good place for last night and that the coming rain will be a bit forgiving. More importantly I am jealous that you have a south bound adventure. You will be able to look back on this trip forever! Like I said I have read many accounts of cycling Mexico and only one was a bad experience. I have read a bit about the unfortunates and other types who steal from the hiker/biker campsites, this problem seems to be closer to the larger California cities. Don't get me wrong, all the cycling journals I read come across as fun and a life experience. Common sense is used, you don't have to be paranoid. The tires I mentioned are Schwalb Marathon Plus and the tire liners are Mr.Tuffys. There are other good brands out there too. So go for it, eat the beans!