Arik & Mia and the Terrible, Horrible, No Good, Very Bad Day

3 hours on the bike- Shelton, WA to Elma, WA

Arik and I have decided our days on the tour can usually be divided into two categories: confidence boosting days and confidence destroying days. Today was emphatically a confidence destroying day.

It started out well enough. We slept in at Kelly's until 9:30, got our stuff together, had a good breakfast, and loaded up the van. Kelly was initially just going to drive us outside Bremerton so we could avoid the sketchy 'hoods we'd errantly ridden through before, but she offered to drive us a bit farther and we accepted. Tour purists might frown on us skipping out on part of the route, but it was the last time we'd have the chance to hitch a ride for a bit. We also figured that our misadventures and the accompanying added mileage at a minimum equaled it all out. Plus it was nice to have a little extra time to chat with Kelly. She drove us to Shelton, WA and we bid her farewell as we rolled through Shelton's small downtown.

The roads themselves were great- some of the best we've had really. Low traffic, good weather, rare hills- just nice. We even saw some cool animals- a family of goats, lots of horses, some llamas, and particularly stunningly, a family of deer. The father deer was huge and stood in the middle of the road looking at us. Then came the mom who also stood and looked as if to make sure we didn't have any devious plans, and finally the kiddo.

So we were moseying along, enjoying being back on the bikes and seeing all the cool critters, when suddenly we heard loud barking and saw 2 big, white dogs come streaking towards us. I don't think either of us have been that scared in a long time. Our hearts pounding, we both started pedaling as fast as we could and screamed at the dogs. They seemed to lose traction on the road and so couldn't chase us very far but we were really shaken up, and I was literally shaking. We stopped for a break a little ways down the road and gave ourselves a pep talk but after that first experience we couldn't enjoy the ride. Every driveway and yard put us on edge as we scanned for dogs. Sure enough, not far down the road, a huge black lab came sprinting at us. We screamed and yelled and pedaled as fast as we could but it ran right alongside my bike. Fortunately it didn't try to bite me at all but it easily could have. It finally left us alone but not without shredding our nerves for good. Elma, the town we'd decided to stop in, couldn't come fast enough.

From the minute we got into town though, it felt like we were in the middle of some kind of surreal nightmare. 2 nuclear reactors loomed ahead of us and electricity buzzed audibly in the power lines overhead. A car rolled by without a windshield as did a green and yellow jeep that looked like it was fresh off the Jurassic Park set. The motel we'd planned on staying at ended up being a dilapidated wooden building, but fortunately we'd spied a chain hotel on our way into town. We rode back there, past two restaurants promising good home cookin'. The hotel is perfect- friendly people, wireless access, a nice room. It's been one of the only bright spots on this otherwise crappy day.

We both called our dads for a pep talk and advice about the dogs. Today really left us wondering if the tour was worth it. I keep saying that this tour isn't a vacation- if we'd wanted that we would've headed straight for the beach and not bothered with all this biking business. Instead, I've been calling it an adventure, complete with all the scariness and danger and uncertainty that label implies. Even so, being anxious for every mile doesn't make for a very fun adventure either. Both our pops were helpful. Before the trip, my dad had told us to make up some makeshift pepper spray using water, black pepper, and an elmers glue bottle just in case we had dog trouble. Of course we figured we'd get to that "later" so we didn't have it when we needed it. First thing we did once we got settled at the hotel? Headed straight for the hardware store to get some elmers glue. We picked up 2 bottles and some velcro and then headed back home. On the way a big dog barked at us and scared the crap out of us, and a few houses down a young boy opened his front door, whispered "Run!" to us, and then ran back inside. Yes this is a really freaky place.

On the way home we stopped at Elma's best restaurant: Rusty Tractor. We figured we'd just get some french fries and a salad, and when we walked in we were positive that would be it as far as what we'd be able to eat. Chickens and cows were the motif and the menu was filled with the Rusty Tractor specialty: Yak burgers. They even had a burger called the farmhouse burger, which was a hamburger with ham and a fried egg on it. Guess they do have all the main farm animals covered. To our delight, we spied a veggie burger and beer-battered onion rings- hooray! It all ended up being quite tasty and we were happy to actually be able to eat at a sit-down place. Headed back to the hotel with full bellies, then Arik went to the nearby gas station to pick up some pepper and snacks. He came back and reported that the best of Elma was on display: 2 large, trashy teens were cursing and yelling and being super raunchy.

Now he's reading and we're about to do a little laundry and make our pepper spray. Tomorrow we're going to hit up a gun store here in town to pick up a telescoping baton- we're gettin' hardcore on this here tour. We're shooting for Lewis and Clark State Park tomorrow.

In the meantime, we're crossing our fingers that tomorrow will be better than today.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Chez Rula

8/10/09- 6 hours on the bike- Port Townsend, WA to Bremerton, WA to Seattle, WA and back to Bremerton

The route out of Port Townsend was super hilly and there were lots of busy streets. We stopped and got an oreo frappuccino at a little roadside spot and called Kelly. We'd initially planned on stopping at a state park before catching the ferry to see Kelly but we decided to motor through and meet her a day early. We called to try and see if she'd be able to pick us up at the ferry in Seattle but didn't get through so we just soldiered on. We stopped a little later and got some more blackberries which unfortunately led to some tummy trouble and consequent thorn scratches courtesy of our roadside bathroom- doh!

Blackberries

Yum

Some beautiful mountains came into view just as it started raining. Our route took us through some pretty sketchy parts of Bremerton to get to the Seattle ferry and we got a bit turned around (seems like we always pick the best places to get lost!) We survived and made it to the ferry just in time. Gave each other high fives, got seated, and called Kelly just as the ferry got moving. Her first words were, "You're on the ferry? Get off!!!!" Turns out we somehow got mixed up and she lives in Bremerton so the ferry was totally unnecessary. In fact, she was taking the ferry back from Seattle right as we left for Seattle. Our timing was perfect to to make everything turn out perfectly wrong. So Arik and I were wet and cold and stuck on an unnecessary hour ferry ride. Worse, right when we got there we had to ride off, go back through the entrance, and pay 14 bucks to get back on the same ferry to go home. Ah wondrous bureaucracy.

After 2 hours on the ferry, we finally got to see Kelly! She helped us load the bikes in the minivan and presented me with a jumbo box of nerds- she knows me too well! We stopped by Albertson's to get some pasta then headed to her casa. Her parents lived in the house for 2 years and have been renting it out until recently. Now Kelly gets to chill in it- it's pretty sweet- a nice view of the mountains and water. We ate our pasta, watched a movie, caught up a bit w/Kelly and turned in for an early night, happy to be with a pal and have a roof over our heads.

Arik's parents are keepin' track of how far we've come- here's Vancouver to Seattle :)

8/11/09- Seattle

Arik and I headed into the city, this time intentionally! It was a beautiful day- sunny and cool. People fed the seagulls from the ferry deck and the coast guard escorted us into the city.

Seattle skyline

We ate some falafel sandwiches at a falafel place- we'd missed those since we left Ann Arbor. Then we trekked to REI for some more fuel, a compass, and food.

A wondrous natural waterfall? Nope- just an outdoor feature at the REI flagship store

Went back down to the water and the Pike Place Market. We overpaid for some peanuts but got some tasty mini grapes and a delicious gigantic chocolate chip cookie from some street vendors. Then we walked down 1st street to Pioneer Square, which has really cool old brick buildings and a sweet bookstore: Elliott Bay Book Co. Arik and I each picked up a book and read for a while as we waited for the ferry back to Bremerton.

Pioneer Square

Kelly picked us up and we went to get some groceries for dinner. Had a tasty pasta and tofu dinner, talked a little about life with Kelly and her pals, watched Top Chef Masters with everyone, then went to bed.

8/12/09- Seattle part 2

We had a lazy morning- did some blogging and watched some UFC on the laptop. Went into the city with Kelly and her pal Jordan. We walked to the bus stop but had some time to kill so we went in search of a coffee place. Found a really cute one in an unlikely spot and chilled there for a little while.

Cool coffee shop

Then took the bus to a vegan pizza place called Pizza Pi close to the university. Had some tasty pizza and then started a long trek to a cool donut place called Mighty O Donuts. We power walked for 40 minutes to try to get there before they closed at 5. We made it at 4:30 and were stoked until the girl who worked there said they'd just run out of donuts. Nooooooo! "But we just walked 40 minutes to get these out of town vegans some donuts!," Kelly cried. The bid for sympathy worked: the girl went into the back and scrounged up an assortment of fresh mini donuts and one full sized one. They were super awesome and, the girl claimed, just the tip of the iceberg when it came to the tastiness of their donuts. I wish we could go back but we'll just have to save it for our next trip. We also got 2 raspberry lemonades (one on the house!) with bits of real raspberries at the bottom- yum.

Pizza!

Donuts!

Then we walked to Green Lake Park, a pretty cool neighborhood encircling Green Lake. It reminded us of a small White Rock Lake for the Dallasites reading. My feet were killing me (our bike shoes are not the best for long treks) so Arik and I sat down on a bench to chill while Kelly and Jordan went window shopping for a bit. We moved to a nice hill to lay in the sun and had fun people watching.

Cool bird at the lake

They came back and we all walked back to the donut place to catch the bus. It started raining right then, which was pretty perfect timing since we'd gotten all our walking done. The bus took us straight to the ferry- not too shabby. We had an hour to kill before the next ferry came so we went back to the bookstore. I started reading an awesome book called Born to Run and was really sad to have to put it down. Just couldn't justify droppin' the 25 bucks. Hopefully we'll find it at a used place or walmart somewhere along the way.

Kelly's roomie Bennett picked us up from the ferry and we headed home. Somehow during the 30 minute span while Bennett was gone picking us up, the puppy managed to consume an entire bag of trail mix and then deposit the poopy results all over the living room (where we've all been sleeping on the floor). Good ol' puppies- and the little gal only weighs like 5 pounds!. Arik and I retired to another room and watched some UFC fights, then nodded off.

8/13/09- Last day chillin' with Kelly in Bremerton

Today was an intentionally lazy day. Arik and I haven't really had the chance to just sit and unwind so we stayed an extra day w/Kelly to do just that. My blister from yesterday is healing up and we're both feeling much more well-rested and ready to get back on the road tomorrow- we miss it! We'll be staying at a state park tomorrow night and then hoteling it up for the 2 days after that. The hip thing to do whilst bike touring is to just find a secluded place on the side of the road to camp when campsites aren't available but we just aren't comfy with that idea yet. Maybe in the next month that'll change, but for now we'll baby ourselves a bit when there aren't established campsites around.

We should be in Oregon a week from tomorrow!

Us outside Kelly's house

With Kelly outside Chez Rula

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Wherever I Lay My Head Is Home...And Home is State Parks!

The updates continue! We stayed in Washington state parks for 4 days straight and they were awesome each time.

8/8/09- 3 hours, 20 min on the bike- Bellingham, WA to Deception Pass State Park, WA

We enjoyed some awesome sleep in Larrabee thanks to the shower and the surroundings. Got up around 9:30, ate some oatmeal, and got on the road around 11. The route took us out for some really nice rural riding. We rode by farms and fields of fragrant sweet peas. We went through nice little towns and stopped at a homemade bread shop for delicious multigrain bread and directions. We came to the huge Deception Pass Bridge- it was beautiful but we had to walk the bikes down a really narrow sidewalk that was packed w/people so we had to stop every few steps to let them squeeze by. We didn't take this pic, but here's the bridge so you can get the idea:

After the bridge we went up and down some serious hills- the downhills were so steep our eyes would tear up as we flew down. On the way to the state park we took an alternate bike route that took us around a highway that had lots of construction on it. It was scenic and pleasant most of the way until we got to a huge hill through a residential section. After a few feet we had to get off the bikes and push. An elderly couple sat on the porch of their house midway up the hill and chuckled- "Everything was great until this hill, eh!" they called. We smiled grimly. "Well it only gets worse from here! MUAHAHAHHA!" We were hoping they were exaggerating but as we rounded a corner we realized they were right on the money. We had to take breaks every few feet to get up the steep incline.

We finally got into Deception Pass State Park and got a hiker/biker site. We passed by a gray-haired and bearded solo tourer who had set up camp at one of the sites. Arik recognized him as a guy we'd given directions to the day before. As we walked past he called out to us and asked where we were headed. We told him and he invited us back for wine later that evening. We set up camp and another solo biker rolled in and chatted with us. The wild-eyed, quickly topless dude gave us some tips and told us what we had to look forward to in Oregon- 4 dollar campsites and a coast that would likely be the highlight of our trip.

We had pb&js with blackberry jam on our multigrain bread, a nice hot shower, and chili for dinner. Then we headed over for wine with our new pal Rudy. He is a retired Vancouver schoolteacher with a really peaceful, wise aura about him. He told us about some of his past adventures- including camping on a small bit of land in the middle of some water without realizing that the water level rose through the night- he and his friend were stranded and just had to watch the water rise closer and closer to their tent door. Miraculously it stopped right before it got into the tent. He bemoaned what passes for camping for a lot of people- at Deception Pass we saw one family with 2 full size electronic dart boards. He uses the sun to tell directions and doesn't own a cellphone. When we asked where he stayed the night before he said he'd found a little spot on the side of the road and said it was empowering to try to live outside of the system and to realize how much we humans are really capable of doing for ourselves. It reminded him of a time when he was younger. He and a friend were road tripping in their car and found a spot on the side of the road to sleep. They were woken up in the morning by a horrible loud screeching and jumped out of the car to see a big train roaring past. They'd set up for the night just feet from the tracks. Overall it was a really nice evening spent with a really interesting guy.

It started to sprinkle as the sun went down so we turned in for an early night.

8/9/09- 4.5 hours on the bike- Deception Pass State Park, WA to Port Townsend, WA

Had some oatmeal then got moving. Rolled though pretty, rural terrain with huge clouds that looked like mountains and low clouds that looked like the sea. We went by a field filled with portly sheep all bent over eating- they reminded us of Guido. Rode onto Whidbey Island- a pretty popular tourist spot. Climbed up some big hills just as the sun came out. The sun was glorious! We forgot how much we missed it. Rode down a beautiful street called Madrona Way- trees on our right and Crescent Harbor on our left. We stopped in Coupeville to make a pb&j (yup we're eatin' a lot of these). While we were eating, an older gent in an orange reflective vest came pedaling up. His name was Ken and he gave us some tips for the upcoming Oregon and California coasts. Apparently we have the 7 devils to look forward to: 7 killer hills in Oregon that'll have us begging for mercy by the end. Hooray! He also said we should make sure we get wraparound eye protection because woodchip trucks spray woodchips and sawdust all over the road. He also told us a better way to get to the Port Townsend ferry and helped us avoid the hills our route would've taken us over. His alternate route also had the added benefit of taking us by some blackberry bushes. It's blackberry season in Washington and they were supa plump and ripe and sweet!

We got to the Port Townsend ferry station an hour early so we plopped down inside on a bench to wait. Not longer after, a teary eyed older woman sat down and started muttering to herself. We thought she was just a crazy old lady but as we started to talk to her we realized she was actually just having a really hard time with her mom's death in April. We had a nice long chat with Carollee. She is a really proud mama and managed to mention a number of times that her son is a cardiologist in Dallas. Soon two preteen boys sat down next to us and joined in on the conversation. They were impressed with our ride ("That's awesome!") and were just really cute sweet kiddos. One offered me a sour gummy worm (which I gladly accepted!) and his pal said "dude give her some more!" And he did! When one of the boys said his aunt and uncle were from Dallas, Carollee chimed in, "you know who else lives in Dallas? My son! He's a heart doctor!" When the ferry arrived we left the office just as Carollee's 80 year old dad came in. We heard him greet her, saying, "So do all the people know about your son who's a doctor?" :)

We rode onto the ferry and chatted with one of the preteen's dads. He was really supportive and interested in our ride. Arik and I headed up top and found a seat in the sun. We thought it would get too hot but with the cool breeze off the water we actually ended up pretty cold and had to huddle together. Halfway through, Carollee and her dad came and sat with us and chatted. Her dad reflected on the aging process, saying he was happy he hadn't crossed over the line into having to rely on someone else to take care of him.

On the ferry

After 30 minutes on the ferry, we got to Port Townsend and bid farewell to the boys. We headed straight to Old Port Townsend State Park. It was a tiny speck on our map so our expectations weren't too high, but it ended up being the sweetest park yet in terms of our campsite. The hiker/biker sites were set back under tall trees that swayed and creaked in the breeze. We were the only ones there (it was a Sunday night) so we had the whole spot to ourselves. We had ramen and curry for dinner, took a hot shower (I had to wait for a teenage couple and two 8 year olds to get done before I could take mine...good times), then turned in for the night.

Our sweet spot in the trees

The solitude that was so awesome and calming during the daytime was a little scary at night. Arik woke up with a start in the middle of the night and turned on our lantern, sure he had heard someone unzip our tent fly and put something down. I didn't hear anything but shortly afterward we did see what looked like a flashlight shining toward us. Just a lil weird. He had a lot of trouble sleeping but finally nodded off.

We're chillin' with Kelly for one more day- more updates to come!


Until then, be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Hell and Heaven

We're back! After 4 days of camping we had a roof back over our heads for the first time last night. Our pal Kelly lives just outside Seattle and is letting us crash with her for a few days at what she's calling "Hotel Rula." We're sharing the house with her roomie, one of her pals, 2 pups- and no furniture! But the roof, carpeted floor, TV and internet are all welcome improvements. So time to catch up:

8/6/09- 9 hours on the bike- Vancouver, BC to Birch Bay, WA aka the HELL/demoralizing/confidence destroying route

Our first day on the bikes was not a happy one. It started off well enough. We stopped by Everybody Loves Veggies to eat some soup and got 2 sandwiches for the road. Then it got crappy. The route took us down an industrial road that smelled like rotten fish. We promptly got lost 3 times and spent an hour trying to find our way back to the route. It was pretty miserable. Then we went over the huge Alex Fraser Bridge to get out of Richmond, BC. We had a skinny separated sidewalk to ride on but it was really windy and dusty and high up. We were happy to get off. Things were looking up for a bit when we stopped at a little produce stand and had an apple.

The bikes, blissfully unaware of the hell awaiting them

That is, until Arik almost got ridden off the road by an 18 wheeler. He survived that encounter only to meet his next nemesis: the HELL HILL. We'd already been riding about 4 hours and then had to go straight up. And up. And up. We had to get off the bikes 10 feet in and push. We finally made it and headed through customs shortly afterward. The customs guy asked us what we were doing in the US and when we told him we were biking the coast he said, "why would you want to do that?" After our day, we were starting to ask ourselves the same thing. 9 hours after we began, we finally rolled into Birch Bay State Park. We got there too late to get change from the office so we couldn't take a shower (a quarter buys you a 3 minute hot shower). We had pb&js, oreos, and a coke and conked out, hoping the tour wouldn't end up being one big mistake.

Birch Bay State Park

8/7/09- 3.5 hours on the bike- Birch Bay, WA to Bellingham, WA aka the HEAVEN/confidence-building/this tour WASN'T a total loss after all route

Let's be honest, we were pretty bummed when we headed out of Birch Bay. The day before had totally sucked and all the picturesque, idyllic images of touring we'd had in our heads had been replaced with visions of skinny lanes, 18 wheelers, and hills from hell. We left around 10:30 and our spirits lifted almost immediately. The route was beautiful with great, low traffic roads that took us through awesome tiny towns.

A cool tree in one of the tiny towns

We stopped for some tater tots at Sonic in one of the towns and saw awesome trees all along the way. One biker passed us and asked where we were heading. When we said San Diego he said "well you're almost there!"

One of the views along the way

We got into Larrabee State Park in Bellingham around 2:30 and we were stoked...until we saw the sign that said the park was full. We were freaking out and about to call the park office but then a park worker came up and said "oh we never turn away hikers or bikers- we have sites for you guys." Hooray! She told us the site number and we headed over to an overgrown parking lot. We were a bit bummed but the park was otherwise awesome- huge tall trees and just great scenery. So we settled into our parking lot campsite- got the tent up, unpacked, and plotted out where we'd eat (we decided it'd be on the concrete slab that stops the car tires) and just were happy to be done riding for the day and in a sweet state park.

Me on the phone with my mama

Our original "campsite"

I went to the restroom and when I got back Arik was finishing up chatting with a guy and laughing. I asked what was up and he said uhh that guy said our site is actually just up the hill- this is just the parking for it. Incredulous, we headed up the hill and saw a line of the sweetest sites ever- with a fire pit and picnic bench and great trees. We started cracking up and headed back down to pack up again. We sheepishly picked up our tent and brought it up to the actual campsite.

Our actual site

We got re-situated, wondering at our great luck, then headed to the beach inside the park. WHOA. Awesome water, awesome beaches- basically the prettiest view either of us have seen. We stuck our feet in the cold water until we spotted some jellyfish.

The beach

We took a hot shower (got quarters this time!), had pad thai for dinner, and then went back down to the beach to watch the sunset. We got a fire started after a little trouble, then went to sleep, reassured that our trip really could be something special.

New Video!

Sunset

Gotta take a shower and go to bed for now- more tomorrow!

VancouvaaaaaAAAAAHHHHHHH

We made it to Vancouver! We stayed up all night on the 3rd packing up the bikes and our gear. The whole packing the bikes thing took a lot longer than we anticipated and we finished up just in time to cram the bikes into Arik's mom's car and head out to the airport at 3:30am.

Sleepy at the airport

Got everything checked in pretty easily. We flew into Denver first and tried to catch a little sleep- the view when we landed was really beautiful- lotsa sun and mountains. The flight to Vancouver was nice and uneventful too- we slept for most of the 3 hours, but woke up in time to see the biggest mountains we've ever seen out the windows at cruising altitude. They were huge! Landed, went through customs, got our pepper spray confiscated- doh!

We found a little alcove in the airport to assemble our bikes. We lost an unessential screw somewhere along the way, but otherwise everything came through perfectly and we had our bikes assembled in about an hour and a half. We'd initially planned on walking with the bike boxes to a fedex to ship them back home, but decided it would be more trouble than it was worth. We abandoned the boxes at the airport and will have to get new ones in San Diego. Here are the lonesome looking boxes as we exited the airport:

Sad bike boxes

We loaded up the bikes, hopped on, and headed to Vancouver! The supposedly bike friendly directions we got from the Vancouver website were not so bike friendly! There were bike lanes most of the way, but the ride across the Arthur Laing Bridge to take us into Vancouver proper was pretty harrowing. The bike lane was really narrow and tons of cars whooshed by. Not fun at all. After that it was pretty nice though- low traffic streets with bike lanes. We drove over the Cambie Bridge to take us into downtown and snapped a few nice pix. The city is like nothing we've ever seen- mountains and water and really unique architecture.

Ready to leave the airport

On the Cambie Bridge

On the Cambie Bridge going into downtown Vancouver

We pulled up to the Vancouver YWCA Hotel and got checked in. It's a nice, cheap, no-frills place located right in the middle of downtown. The only semi-downside is that we share a toilet/shower with one other room. I don't know why but it's a bit weird and we actually think a hall bath woulda been better. Here's the view from our room:

Hotel view

We headed to Gorilla Foods for lunch and had some tasty raw eats:

At Gorilla Foods

Then back to the hotel for some much needed shut-eye! We woke up starving after our nap and decided to check out Chinatown. Vancouver has the second biggest Chinatown in the world (after San Fran) so we figured we'd have good luck finding some authentic treats. We got there around 8pm and found it totally abandoned but for a few muttering bums. Not quite what we expected! We went with plan 2, which was checking out Gastown, an up and coming neighborhood north of Chinatown. We picked a bad route to get into Gastown and ended up on some of the scariest streets we've seen- just a lot of scary peeps and abandoned buildings. We hustled out of there and back to the hotel to get some Italian food recommendations. The kind lady at the front desk suggested a place in Gastown. She told us "now the problem with this one is you're gonna want to take the Skytrain, because if you try to walk there..." We laughed and told her we knew what she was talking about. Too bad we didn't consult with her before our misadventure! We nixed Gastown, so she suggested 2 places in Yaletown, a kinda fancy 'hood close to the hotel. Alas both were a bit too fancy/pricey for our sandal-wearin' selves. By this time we were desperate for anything to eat so we hit up trust old 7-11 for some fine cuisine. We got some ramen noodles, Gatorade and a delishus Cherry Dr. Pepper slurpee. The slurpee tasted like heaven and tided us over till we made it to the hotel. Once there, we picked up our plates and forks in the room and headed to the hotel kitchen, hopeful there would be pots to use. Alas we were out of luck- you had to bring your own stuff. We would have probably ended up frothing and delirious in our room if not for a kind woman from Holland who offered to let us borrow her pot. We chatted a bit with her and her friend whilst the water boiled and then sat down at last to dinner. Yum!

Abandoned Chintown

Today we woke up well-rested and after hanging out a bit in the room, we ventured across the Cambie Bridge to eat and run some errands. We ate at a great fast-foodish place called Everybody Loves Veggies- and if everybody ate there, everybody probably would! It was supa tasty and we took some extra sandwiches to go. Then went to a pretty famous REI-type place called Mountain Equipment Co-op. We bought some bike helmet mirrors (after the bridge escapade we decided these were necessary), a camp pot (we won't get caught off guard again!), and some odds and ends. Picked up some clementines at an Asian produce place, then stopped by Whole Foods for some oatmeal and a delishus mango gelato.

Headed back to the hotel, put the photos we've taken so far on the flash drive, and hit up the Vancouver Public Library to try to update the blog and post some pix. Alas we only got about 20 minutes worth of internet time before a library member reserved it, but were able to sign up for wireless access and would come back later with the laptop.

In the meantime, we stopped by a bike shop where Arik got the missing screw replaced. Then we went on an awesome bike ride around Stanley Park north of downtown. It has water on 3 sides and stunning views of the mountains and the ocean. Here are some pix:

Our bikes, who we've christened Koonta and Dora

Tonight we might go watch a movie at a cool theater here- not sure. Then we'll head out early tomorrow morning to continue the adventure!

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

An Awesome Send-off

I think this speaks for itself:


A GINORMOUS Thank You to all of you! Your support means the world to us and we have been so moved by the number of people who have been touched by cancer and by how generous you all have been. Just really, really incredible.

Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike

Manana

It's 2 am on Monday, so I guess we officially leave tomorrow! It's been a long, mostly sleepless couple of weeks. I took the bar exam Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday of last week, took a day to veg, and we've been anxious to leave since then. We will land in Vancouver around 10:30 am on Tuesday, assemble our bikes in the luggage area, lug the bike boxes to the UPS about a mile away, and then bike about 5 more miles to our hotel in downtown Vancouver. We'll have 2 days to hang out in Vancouver and will start the journey south on the 7th. We are supa stoked but also freakin' out about leaving something crucial. Here's just about everything we're bringing, minus the laptop and our clothes:


Also yesterday we wrote the names of the people we ride for on our shirts. Hope you enjoy seeing your name or the names of your loved ones and friends. We're happy to have the company on our ride!






Be well,

Arik and Mia

http://www.livestrong.org/grassroots2009/ariknmiabike