I've never been on strike in my life. Feels odd after 21 years, to be off in the crucial month of October. With no strike pay, no picketing allowed and 24 hours notice to be back at work, I headed off to Vancouver, for what turned out to be 2 weeks. As I write this, we are going into our 4th week of the strike.
Rode about 500km in two weeks. Two border crossings, for a total of 6 this year. Fantastic cycling infrastructure in the lower mainland. Strong bike culture.
Wonder if Sly remembers Hope.
Drove to Hope after work on Friday and biked around the area saturday morning, hoping for a week or 2 of cycling. The Othello tunnels.
Dead end outside of Hope.
Great murals in Hope
47th annual corn roast/family reunion, put on by Ken Schmok at his farm outside of Maple Ridge. My first time there!
He sure grows a mean bunch of kale
Met cousin Wendy for the first time...since we were kids, and went for a great hike in Golden Ears prov park. Intersting to find out so late in life, that we have a lot in common.
Ken...host of the long running corn roast. Even if the squirrels got most of his crop this year! Ken has done a ton of travelling and climbed a bunch of mtns too! Again, interesting to find late in life that we have a lot in common.
Port Mann bridge
Pitt Meadows airport with the Golden Ears in the background.
North Cascades in Washington state
The extreme graphic sure catches your attention...as it should. So what am I doing underneath it?
Grabenhorst Gardens Pitt Meadows
Deep Cove. Dirtbagged it in the back of the van most of the time (right under the noses of the rich), except for a few nights at Ken's and 1 night at Aunt Mary's.
Rode up Seymour....
Not yet....still riding analogue.
Wily Coyote could have used a helmet.
The land of mushrooms....
....and up Cypress
...at home yes
Mt. Baker should be in Canada!
Metro town I think.
Table with a view.
Rainbow over Mt. Baker and Vancouver
Looking off towards Vancouver Island.
Tallest tree ever?
Salmon fry
Seymour fish hatchery
Coal in North Vancouver...ready to ship overseas. Headline from the Guardian a few days ago:
Coal use hit a record high around the world last year despite efforts to switch to clean energy, imperilling the world’s attempts to rein in global heating.
DT Vancouver from North Van
When I was growing up in Vancouver in the late 60's, I don't recall there being palm trees. Now they are everywhere. Bit of a status symbol, as most are on pricier properties. Chinese fan palms from the high mtn region of China I'm told. What happened to the movement re: encouraging native species?
That spooky time of the year....
Sunset over Georgia Strait
We need these signs in Calgary! I'm tired of dogs jumping up on me and the owner saying 'sorry', or 'it's ok, he's friendly'
Unusual cloud formations over DT Van, from Spanish Banks
Bit cold for that....
Ocean to glaciers....
What a spectacular location for a university
Mt Baker looms over YVR
inbound....
From the Arthur Lang Bridge
Planetarium has been a landmark for years.
Miami? Colombia? Mexico?
😂😂😂😂😂😂😂😂
Doleful, seal like eyes on this pooch.
The Sylvia Hotel...another old landmark
We are not in Kansas...I mean Calgary anymore...
Sharp angle of decent!
Maple leaves abound....
I remember gasing up here on my stepfather's 25ft cabin cruiser. That a was a fun couple of summers!
Harry Jerome...
Sulfur and the mtns of North Van
Girl in a Wetsuit is a life-size 1972 bronze sculpture by Elek Imredy of a woman in a wetsuit,[1The visionary behind the bridge, businessman Alfred Taylor, chose a suspension design for practical as well as aesthetic reasons. First of all, it was economical — the bridge cost a total of $5.6 million. Second, it could be built high enough not to interfere with marine traffic. Here a coastal steamer can be seen passing below the span with plenty of clearance. Third, the beauty of several North American suspension designs, such as New York’s Brooklyn Bridge (1883), had already become legendary. With the Lions Gate Bridge, Taylor hoped to give Vancouver a landmark in the same category as the Golden Gate Bridge, which was under construction in San Francisco and opened in 1937.50? 60? footer
Siwash Rock in Stanley Park.
Ken's flock. Which one of you is Shaun?
Ken planted this and other saplings almost 50 years ago!
Palm trees, bamboo...what next?
How about a cucamelon?
47 years of building up the soild produces most anything he wishes to plant.
Ok...just don't get in the gas tank
Aunt Mary's house of over 50 years in Kitsalino. The house is over 100 years old and Mary a young 92.
Had a great time and meal at Elwood's Irish bar just down the road. She wanted to go to some place she hadn't been before and this certainly fit the bill.
I'm in the camp of...."life is to short" too not enjoy what the USA has to offer.
Still edible!
The Canada/USA border. Canada and with its warmer climate to the north😆, hence what's next? bananas! The road is in the USA. Houses on the left are in Canada. This is Point Roberts.
Dangerous placethat Canada!
Apparently Trump isn't too popular in Point Roberts.
Who knew?
Rocks shipped from Scotland😧
Shoot first, ask questions later....Best head back to Canada.
Downright tropical!
Spain? Colombia?...no....Tsawwassen BC
Spiralled my way into the middle of central DT Vancouver. What a great tour! Had to unwind after that!😆 It was a holiday Monday, so there was very little traffic. The following 19 photos are from this little morning ride.
Standard Gastown tourist photo
Central City Mission. Still working hard to keep drunks off the streets. Including my father, who was there for a few years. I visited him here when I was 18/19.
Such an eccletic mix of architecture in this city!
Get it? 😜 Can't beat Ken's kale in Yaletown!
More spooks.
The Roman colluseum? Nope...the Vancouver Public Library.
It is, isn't it.
On strike. 'Picketing' by bike😉 End of spiral tour....Robson Square.
In 'solidarity' with the perennialy striking Canada Post employees.
If the strike goes on any longer, I'll be asking for spare change to fix the next flat on my bike.
Awesome name for a dump bucket!
Ya think they are expecting a bit of snow this winter? Mt. Baker road.
I was lucky. Got the last day the road was open to the top at Artist's Point!
Mt. Shuksan...SE of Mt Baker. What a beauty. Totally unexpected, as Baker was to be the highlight.
Volcan Mt. Baker. Finally got up here, after years of lusting over it from Vancouver. Don't think I'll be getting to the top of this one, even tho it has a not too technical route up.
Mt pooch visiting from China!
No slackers allowed.
I hope to be back, to give it a go.
How many metres is that? over 16! Whitewater and Revy get the most in Canada.
With an annual snowfall average of around 16.5m, Mount Baker is the snowiest ski resort in North America, if not the world! Alyeska (Alaska) claims a similar average – but only at the very top of its ski area.Picture lake and Mt. Shuksan.
The mountain reflected in the pond is Mount Shuksan, sometimes said to be the most photographed mountain in North America. I disagree. I'd say Mt. Victoria, behind Lake Louise.Spooks abound.
They worked just fine way back when...
One of Carla's birthday presents from a little shop in Glacier Washington.
Ireland got me back into pubs. This one in Glacier Washington called Chair 9.
So sweet and juicy!
South of Bellingham
Sloths everywhere! Nancy below, told me someone put on up in a tree in I-5 a few years ago and people loved it. However the Washington dept of Highways took it down. So people just started putting them up everywhere!
Thanks for the ride into Fairhaven Nancy! I learned alot about the local area from you. Nancy has biked 3,000 miles every year for six years since retiring!
Back in Canada....The mighty Mt. Baker from the mighty Fraser river.
Back at Ken's place. This is up at his neighbors, as he barters for a Ram.
Old sheep sheerers
Sasquatch mtn. Formerly known as Hemlock valley. A steep ride up! My fourth ride up to a ski hill, none of which I have ever skied. Yet.
Such incredible geographic diversity in the lower mainland. Don claims it is the best city in the world....when the sun is shinning!
Stopped in to visit the lovely Don and Deb on the way home.
Here we are, way back when at great grandma Schmok's funeral!
No comments:
Post a Comment