In my own backyard

The remnants of the Easter ham are safely cooling in the fridge, shiny wrappers from chocolate eggs and other sweet goodies are tucked into different nooks and crannies around the house, and the bottle of Tums that has sat unused for several weeks has been accessed by all the members of the family. Easter weekend is over.

Many of the blogs about scooters that I read, including mine, often focus on trips to scenic places or interesting destinations. I, for one, love that feeling of scooting someplace simply for the love of riding, taking some photos, and riding back. If only I had more time to ride like that.

But the reality is that most of my trips on the Vespa are rather mundane - off to the grocery store to pick up a bag or two of groceries, over to the hardware store to buy some paint, or to the speciality liquor store to buy a couple bottles of red wine. I don’t usually blog about these kind of trips but it’s exactly these trips “in my own backyard” that motivated me to get the Vespa.

If I have the time, it’s nice to be able to walk or ride my bicycle. Walking to shops takes about an hour so isn’t practical for a lot of things. My bike is faster, but I’m so worried about it getting stolen, that I don’t like to leave it in busy areas.

The Vespa, then, is the best choice for making trips around town.

Today, it was to pick up some frozen quesadillas at a food store. I did take the long way home and stopped at a couple places on the way home.

The first was the Billy Miner pub. It is in a historical building and named after a famous train robber who committed Canada’s first train robbery. Legend has is that he was the first to use the phrase “Hands up!” and after the robbery in 1904, he said, “Goodnight boys, sorry to have troubled you.” I didn’t stop in for a Guinness this time, but I was there last week for a meeting, tipping my glass to the memory of the Grey Fox.



Nearby is the Port Haney wharf, a public wharf, still in the ‘historic’ area of Maple Ridge. The wharf is on the Fraser River.

After taking the photos, I scooted home and smiling, parked my scooter. It’s wonderful that even the most mundane of trips can be made enjoyable riding on my Vespa!