Illal Meadows: Our First Families’ Hike
Our friend Line invited us and a few other families to join a hiking and camping trip to Ilal meadows. We’ve been there twice before and in fact we just talked about going there again with Neil since the access is pretty short. In fact, on our previous visit, Neil was already peanut-sized. There was a lot of interest in the hike and six families showed up just after 9am at a rest area on the Coquihalla Hwy. There were quick introductions, but mainly watching the kids so they wouldn’t get run over by cars. At least we wouldn’t need to worry about that for the rest of the weekend. It was…
Agassiz Farms Cycle Tour: How We Ended Up in Paradise
On Saturday last weekend we joined the Agassiz Farm Cycle Tour, a self guided tour, in which many farms are open to visitors and offer delicious food. The combination of cycling and food can rarely fail, so I knew we were up for a treat. I was excited about this ride because Agassiz is an area that we don’t know, and I am always happy to discover a new area by bike. A couple of years ago we did the Slow Food Ride in Pemberton together with Pascale and Ignacio. I think both Pascale and I were already pregnant back then (although it was probably still a secret, for both of us), so they were the first…
Cathedral Park: A Place from the Fairy Tales
Cathedral Park was one of those places we always knew that one day we would go to. We passed the sign on the highway on all of our trips to the Okanagan and even camped once or twice in one of the recreational sites on the logging road leading to the trail head. But we also knew that the access was either long and boring or short and expensive. Since for a long time we didn’t want to do either, it was left at the bottom of the bucket list. Now, after having Neil, we had the ultimate excuse to finally catch the ride and to explore this magnificent place we had heard only…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Hiking & Scrambling, Metro Vancouver & North Shore, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Saint Marks Peak: First Family Hike of the Season
Yes, we are a bit late in the game. I’m not sure how it happened, we probably just got caught up doing cycling trips and forgot to switch to hiking. We were also waiting for the new hiking carrier to arrive, and then most weekends in June were a bit cold and wet. Then there was this one day that we had planned on going to St. Marks Peak but Neil woke up sick, so we ended up hiking to the beach instead. So here we were on the last weekend of June, together with what seemed like the rest of Vancouver and their dog heading to St. Marks Peak.…
Allison Lake: A Short Return of Winter
We were heading towards Merritt. The rain was pounding on our car and it seemed like the wind was picking up. But we had hope. After all, many times when we’d driven east the weather was bad leaving Vancouver, but past Hope it would improve. And if it was still raining past Hope then immediately after going down from the Coquihalla summit, the sun would be shining, with no sign of rain. So we hoped. But the weather did not get better past Hope and it did not get better on the Coquihalla. In fact, as we were getting close to Merritt it seemed like the rain got stronger and the…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
Pender, Saturna & Mayne: The Magic of the Gulf Islands
Not all trips are off to a good start. This was one of them. For years we have wanted to make it to Saturna island, but the ferry schedule makes it difficult to fit it into a regular weekend, and even a three day weekend was stretching it. So as soon as we knew that we had a four day weekend ahead of us (thanks 1QBit!) I was hoping that we could finally make our way to Saturna Island, while adding another island or two. In the week before, we constantly checked the weather forecast which seemed borderline, but since the odds of it being a nice weekend seemed higher…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Cycling & Cycle Touring, Outdoor Recreation, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids, Western USA
Edison-La Conner Loop: Small Town America
We drove into Edison, Washington, population 133. As we drove in to town, a blink of an eye later we were already outside “town” and had to make a quick u-turn before parking at the Elementary School. Maya went to a nearby cafe, where she tried to order an ice mocha, and they rolled their eyes at her – they had no idea what she was talking about. I guess the message was: “You’re not in Vancouver anymore” (she actually just wanted the WiFi password and to use the bathroom). While we were having lunch on the lush school lawn, no doubt sprayed with all pesticides imaginable, we watched several cars with…
- Cycling & Cycle Touring, Gulf Islands and Sunshine Coast, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids, Vancouver Island
Gabriola Island: Escaping the Rat Race
As much as we hate to admit it, we are sometimes part of this ongoing rat race too. We live in a big city, Gili is working full time for a successful start-up company, I started my own cycling education program and peak activities were this April. And then there is Neil, of course – who is growing and changing every day, and who is now walking, even though it feels like it was just yesterday that he started to crawl. Between all of this it is sometimes hard to slow down, disconnect, get away. But we must do it, we know it, since really this is what life is…
- British Columbia (and nearby), Coquihalla, Crosscountry Skiing, Downhill Skiing, Okanagan, Trip Reports, Trips with Kids
SilverStar: The Ski Combo
Google Maps claimed the drive would take five hours. I disagree, in fact it took about hundreds of hours, or at least this is how it felt. We’ve done this trip before, when I was pregnant, but it didn’t feel so long back then. I guess having a baby does change a few things. To break the long drive we stopped at Othello Tunnels, a nice place we discovered on our first bike trip along the Kettle Valley Railway. The tunnels are always impressive, no matter how many times we visit the place. We took a nice walk and had a picnic before continuing east. After a few hours we stopped…
Japan (Part 2): Cycling The Forgotten Islands
From the ferry window, I observed rocks that looked like mushrooms, surrounded by the most turquoise water I had ever seen. We had just arrived to Yoron Island via the overnight ferry from Kagoshima, a 20 hour journey, but luckily we stopped on other islands on the way to break the long journey. When we got off the ferry, we were greeted by the ferry terminal – two peeling shipping containers, where we obtained a map that was 100% Japanese. We cycled to Ohkaneku Beach, where we camped for three nights. The only nearby place to eat was a tiny take out sushi stand, in the place you’d least expect…
