Trip to Seattle

As I sit here in front of the computer, I am basking in the glow of success after completing my Vespa ride on 50ccs to Seattle and back. Woot!

Monday

Odometer Reading - 8661 km


I left yesterday morning,, taking the Albion Ferry once again. I take a photo almost every time I cross lately because the ferry will stop running when the Golden Ears Bridge is complete in 2009. I’ll miss the ferry, especially since I get to jump to the front of the line on my Vespa!

When I got to the border, I had a good chat with the US border guard who couldn’t quite believe I was headed for Seattle. He was pretty amazed at my mileage and wished me luck. Pretty cool!

As I rode into Bellingham, 2 hours after I left home, the weather was still sunny but wasn’t particularly warm. I stopped in the downtown area and parked at a meter that thankfully had some time still on it as I didn’t have any US change on me. As I looked at a couple of restaurants, I was famished as I hadn’t had any breakfast yet.


The first place that grabbed my attention was the Horseshoe Cafe. Looking closer, it seemed pretty empty and was more a bar than a cafe. Around the corner, though, was a restaurant called Little Cheerful. It was busy and smelled good!


I sat down and the waiter greeted me with a “Howdy”, not something I usually hear in Canada. The breakfast I ordered was the Cyclops (one egg) and was very tasty - especially the hash browns mixed with fried onions. I didn’t feel that the portions were huge - they were just right. The coffee was excellent - heady praise from a guy that usually drinks only lattés.



I left Bellingham and headed down Chuckanut Drive. I stopped near a viewing spot and took a snap of the ocean. Sad thing was, there was a car parked beside me with a person living in it. I’ve heard about people living in their cars but this is the first time I’ve actually seen it happen.


Chuckanut Drive was one of the most beautiful rides I have taken.


Imagine, I’ve lived just a couple hours north of the drive and I’ve never taken this scenic route.


It was delightful!


At Burlington, I took the road - under construction, lots of rocks, “motorcycles use extreme caution” - to connect to SR 20 and headed towards Fidalgo Island and Whidbey Islands.


Just before I crossed onto the island, I went to the Swinomish Northern Lights Casino. I spent my customary $5 and lasted almost a half an hour!


I liked the dedicated motorcycle parking at the casino - I’d love to see more of that sort of thing.

The island road was a nice ride but because it was a main highway, and I didn’t really go off that road, the scenery was just OK.


The photo above was one of the exceptions - Pass Lake just past Desolation Pass. This part of the ride was over 40 miles so it took a while.

Odometer Reading at Deception Pass - 8807 km
Fuel used - 0.879 gallon


At the south end of Whidbey Island I took the ferry to Mukilteo on the mainland. It was a $3 ferry which lasted about 20 minutes.


It was a very enjoyable ride on a mostly empty ferry. I had time to eat a bowl of Ivars clam chowder.


Before I went back t the car deck, I took this photo from above of my Vespa.
After docking, I rode south into Seattle. As the weather warmed up, the traffic increased - something that I’m used to from riding in Vancouver (I actually don’t mind riding in traffic).

Odometer Reading at Seattle - 8925 km


Last night I stayed at the Moore Hotel - downtown, clean, and cheap ($74). It was a pretty small room but fine to sleep in. I dumped my stuff, parked the scooter in a secure parking lot, phoned the family to tell them I had arrived safely, and headed to Pike Market to grab a bite.

I ended up at the Soundview Cafe and had an excellent meal of crab cakes accompanied by a nice glass of zinfandel.

That night I got together with Navin, a university fraternity buddy I hadn’t seen in over 25 years. We had a great time catching up on each others lives and mutual friends.


We went to an area called Fremont (Fremont Troll pictured above) and hoisted a few pints at a bar called the Red Door. The years seemed to disappear as we chatted and laughed about things past and present. We finally ended up at the Whisky Bar, near my hotel, for a final night cap before I retired to the room at about 1 AM.

Tuesday

Feeling a bit fuzzy in the morning, I had a cereal bar and headed out into Seattle.

I like Seattle. I like Vancouver more but seems to be a similar type city - sort of a parallel universe version of Vancouver.

I went to the secure parking which only charged me half price because I was on a scooter. Nice!


I left the garage and rode north up a series of giant hills. Poor Vespa! I made my way past forbidding I-5 signs through different parts of Seattle - Lakeview, Kenmore, Bothell and ended up in Woodinside! This was a surprise because that’s where Navin lives! I didn’t try to find his house but at least I’ll know for next time.


I eventually connected with Highway 9, making my way through traffic and construction, stopping at Snohomish for breakfast/lunch. It’s a great little place with western looking false fronts...


That is, except for the neo classical Roman building!

Stopped at Grilla Bites for a great coffee and and sandwich (turkey, avocado and bacon).

Big Lake - Odometer Reading: 9070 km
Fuel used - 0.952 gallon

I continued on Highway 9 because around Big Lake, the traffic disappeared. It was a great riding highway, nice curves, not too hilly, lots of trees.


I stopped at Sedro Wooley for a pop and, despite the beautiful square downtown and the nice residential streets, the rest of the downtown core looked pretty nasty.


Maybe the fact that it started to rain coloured my impression.

I continued on Highway 9 until the Lynden turnoff and then through the border and home. It was the soggy portion of the ride but I stayed warm and relatively dry as I had expected a lot more rain than I actually got.

At home, I parked the Vespa, hung up all my rainwear to dry and sat back, feeling success at completing what was for me a challenging ride. And only 2 or 3 near death experiences!

Now, where to go next summer.....

Final Odometer Reading - 9183 km

Total Distance - 522 km

Average consumption - 94.5 miles/gallon OR 3.65 L/100km

Seattle Bound

Couple of things for today's blog.

First, the comments on my last entry were very engaging for me to read. As I tell my kids at school, I don't care if you agree with me, just make sure you tell me why. I appreciate the time people take to comment - I know that I read a lot of different blogs but I'm terrible at taking the time to comment. Many thanks.

Second, a reader made a comment today on a blog entry from over a year ago (A Recovered Stolen Car and a Ride in Pitt Polder). His comment was this:

Alex said...

Sounds like you're really taking that thing wherever it can go.
By the way, I've been bouncing an idea of taking my Vespa ( Now a 70cc due to an upgrade) across the rockies... Anyone have a suggestion as to the fastest route across, starting from Vancouver....That obviously wouldn't get me run over by an 18 wheeler?
...Ultimately, I'm considering getting across Canada
on my Vespa. But first things first.

I replied:

I think a ride across the Rockies is great - I would suggest using Google maps and check the "Avoid Highways" box.

I'd like to go across Canada too but not this summer....

I'm also interested to see if anyone out there in the blogosphere has a route from Vancouver to the Rockies?

Finally, it looks like I'll be heading for Seattle on Monday. I have a long lost University buddy that I'll meet up with there, I've planned out a route on Google Maps, and the weather looks like it will be OK. I have to say, I'm getting excited! More info to come soon!

Carbon Footprint

Ahh, the carbon tax. A perfect way for me to make enemies of my friends and tick off everyone else I meet.

But first, a little background.

The government here in BC has decided to add a tax to our gasoline - which is already taxed - to help reduce consumption and, therefore, to reduce pollution. It also applies to home heating, propane and diesel.

The tax is stating at 2.4¢ a litre (about a dime a gallon) and will rise each year. In four years it will be about 7 and a half cents. To help compensate people during the initial phase, every person in BC recently received a cheque for $100 to make it revenue neutral - sort of a way to ease you into it.

With our gas hitting $1.50 a litre ($6 a gallon), a lot of people are mad about this.

Not me.

In fact, I wish it was more. Yeah, I know it’s an unpopular stance.

Many people will not change their driving habits or what they drive if they’re told that the environment is suffering. But hit them in the pocket book and, lo and behold, people start driving less, buying fewer SUVs, and thinking about riding a bus, taking their bike or even (gulp) buying a scooter!

I think this is exactly the kickstart that people need to make real change to our environmental challenges. The only problem I have with the whole carbon tax thing is that it’s not certain that the money will go to fighting climate change.

How about this? Add 25 cents a litre ( a buck a gallon) and put that money straight into something that will really change how we do things. Public transit, zero emission vehicles, you name it.

Did I tick you off?

I’ll get off my soapbox now....

Summer's here!

Ahhh, summer... here at last.

A few days ago, we had a family luncheon in West Vancouver. The day was so nice that I thought I’d take the scoot and meet the family at my brother-in-law’s newly renovated house.

The ride was pleasant and warm from Maple Ridge to Vancouver. Once I was downtown, the traffic increased but was fine.

To get to West Vancouver, the road goes through a causeway in a huge park called Stanley Park. After the causeway is the famous Lions Gate Bridge which connects West Vancouver (part of the North Shore) to the city of Vancouver.

The causeway is three lanes so there was one going to West Van on the day I was riding. I was a bit worried about keeping up but the traffic was a bit congested so I had no problems.


The most exciting part was when I was on the Lions Gate Bridge. (Above picture from here) I’ve been on a few bridges already but not one so scenic and so high! It was a bit windy which was a bit scary but the thrill of being up on top of the world was amazing!


When I reached my brother-in-law Rob’s place, my little nieces and my year-old nephew were very excited by the Vespa. I didn’t take them for a ride but they had a blast posing on the seat.


Then I did what I always do when people admire my Vespa - I invited Rob to take it for a spin. He was gone for about 15 or 20 minutes (I was just a little bit nervous) and returned with a large smile on his face.


There were some beautiful views off of their deck. In the picture above, there is a great photo of the Lions Gate Bridge. Behind the bridge are the trees from Stanley Park. The city is beyond that.


After a great time,. I headed back through Vancouver, taking this photo of a couple of Vancouver’s tourist attractions, Christ Church Cathedral and a tour tram. Unfortunately, when putting away the camera in my pocket (as the light turned green) I jammed the lens and now my new camera from Japan (which isn’t covered by the warranty in Canada) is kaput. Oh well, at least summer’s here!

I Hate June

Yes, I know it’s been a log time since I’ve posted, but you gotta understand, it’s June!

As a teacher, we always get a hard rap about those terribly long summer vacations - and possibly there is something to it - but we pay for it in June. Report cards, marking, assessments, retirement functions, intake meetings, the list goes on and on. Add to that my eldest daughter graduates from high school and I’m changing schools and, well, it’s a really hectic time. Luckily, I am able to get my head above water for a little while as some of these things are finished now. Here’s some of the highlights over the past month....

Wettest June on Record

We sometimes joke that the Lower Mainland of BC is on the Wet Coast. This June has been unseasonably cold and wet. I mean really wet. I’ve ridden my scooter lots but not on many long trips since my trip to Bellingham as it has not been particularly enjoyable riding. But with the price of gas, I'll put up with some wet weather if it will make transport a bit more affordable.

Talent Show Performance

One highlight that I’ve had the past few years is performing at our school’s talent show. After the kids have performed, I lead a group of teachers and a student in a song or two to close the show. We had three teachers and a Grade 6 student on drums in this year’s band. We even had a name, Trainwreck, named after one of the guys said, after our first practice, “Man, what a trainwreck.” The rest is history.

We practiced a lot and didn’t sound half bad. We performed “7 Nation Army” and “Blitzkrieg Bop”. During the second song, all of the kids got up and danced. It was a bit chaotic - something a teacher doesn’t particularly enjoy, but as a performer, it was great!

Vespa Surfing

In my school, Grade 7 is the last year of elementary school before high school. To recognize this, we held a nice dinner and activity afternoon at a local ranch. Problem is, when I was near the ranch, the road was flooded. No problem I thought, I’m on my Vespa, and so I negotiated the ridges of the road without difficulty. That is, until I reached the entrance. There I had to cross a lake of water. Although it was only a few metres wide, it was a bit deeper and my Vespa actually sounded like an outboard motor for a few seconds. Luckily, it was fine after the watery encounter.

Daughter's Graduation

This was a great time - starting at 9 o’clock in the morning we went to commencement, then a lunch at our place with both sides of the family, then make up and hair appointments for my daughter. After, a few photos and then off to dinner. After dinner, a dance and then to the dry grad, starting at around 11:30 PM. I dealt black jack there until 3 AM and then everyone went to watch a hypnotist - one of the funniest things I’ve seen. Then an hour of draws and it was 6 AM - time to go home with everyone tired but happy and safe. Whew! I’m still catching up on my sleep!

So that's just a taste of my hectic June. But with only 6 school days left, I can see the end of another year. Ahh, to be riding my bike or taking my Vespa for a long ride - I'm really looking forward to it!

Trip to Bellingham

Friday was one of those perfect days. My school had the day off (long story - not a Pro-D day but and actual holiday), the weather was absolutely perfect, and I was psyched for a new personal challenge - scooting to Bellingham, USA!

Last summer, I made my first scooter trip into the USA - just south of Lynden, Washington which is a few miles south of the border. Ever since that trip I have been thinking of pushing the distance a little bit.

Friday was ideal as my wife an kids had school so it was like a bonus day for me to do what I wanted. I go up early and by 7:45 was on my way, crossing the river on the Albion Ferry in the sunshine.

I got to the border about an hour later. There was quite a lineup because this particular crossing is only open 8AM to midnight. I did the terrible cut in thing by zipping down the breakdown lane (which, I found out, is technically illegal in British Columbia) and only had a five minute wait. The border guard was not overly unfriendly and I was on the road.


I took mostly quieter roads. One photo I took was a view north to the Golden Ears, in Maple Ridge.


First stop was Lynden. I stopped at the breakfast place I had visited before but instead of having a giant egg, bacon and hash brown meal, I just had a latté and a bagel. I still like the look of Lynden - it’s a very friendly little town.

I then pressed on south to Bellingham. It was a very nice ride, zipping along in the sunshine, although I made sure that I pulled over whenever there were a few cars behind me.



I got a bit lost on the way to the downtown area, but that’s part of the fun of this kind of adventure. I stopped at the Roeder House which is a stately home. He was big into fishing and built the home in 1903. It was closed, though, so I couldn’t get a peek inside.

After a few more zigs and zags, I ended up at the downtown area. It was Ok, the hub of the area being the local Starbucks, but either I was too early or it was a pretty quiet area. I suspect it was the former as there were a nice variety of stores and lots of potential.


I then headed a little north, stopping to take a photo of this great guitar store.

Five minutes later, I was at Bellis Fair Mall. This mall was built when Canadians frequently crossed the border to grab great US bargains as the two dollars were pretty close in value. Then the Canadian dollar slumped to around 60¢ and the mall almost died. Now that the dollars are close again, the mall is returning to its former glory.


A great find was the Daiso Japan store. It’s like going to a bargain store in Tokyo - almost everything is $2 and all the packaging is Japanese. Very cool. I bought some Japanese toothpicks and resisted the urge to cart a trailer full of nifty items home with me.


I then stopped at the food court for lunch. I went to one of those Mongolian places where you pick some food and they weigh it and cook it. I was feeling rather healthy so I picked a bunch of veggies and a bit of chicken. Imagine my surprise when the woman behind the counter weighed it and the charge was $10! Oh well, at what price health....

I then sped back towards the border in the sunshine, this time being given a bit of a gruff attitude by the Canadian border guard. Quelle suprise!


On the way home, I stopped by Otter Park in Langley. It was just a little place that I almost missed but once I was in there, the absolute Greeness of the park sort of summed up how the whole ride seemed. What with the sun , warmth, and amazing greenery on both sides of the border, I felt, well, green! An excellent ride on an awesome day!

Bear in the Backyard

Here's a little video I made of a recent visitor in the backyard.

He's been making rather regular visits of late, attracted by bird feeders and composters. Hopefully, he'll head up to the hills soon.

There are lots of bears in the wilderness near where we live. Unfortunately, the rapid development in our community has displaced a lot of their habitat....

Scooter Gang Terrorizes Community

by Joe King

The sunny weather that Maple Ridge was blessed with yesterday was marred by the formation of a new scooter gang. Two men, wearing red jackets, were spotted riding up and down the streets of this fair community during the afternoon on Sunday. 

According to witnesses, the first scooterist rode his Vespa LX50 across Maple Ridge to visit the second gang member, a local engineer. The second scooterist then rolled out his terrible machine, a 50cc Yamaha BWS. The two then fired up their loud engines and roared through the quiet neighbourhood, disturbing the solitude of a Sunday afternoon.

Their first stop was a local gas station where they made unkind jokes about how little it cost them to fill up, ignoring the unfortunate plight of good citizens gassing up their trucks and SUVs. After spending a paltry $4, they roared off again, this time headed for a local mall.

At the mall, while they took care of errands, they had the audacity to park in the same parking space. "Don't they know that if everyone doubled up when parking, there'd be far too many empty spots," complained Edna Busybody, a local resident.

They then took their foul machines on the backroads, forcing cars behind them to drive at 55 kmh, rather then allowing people to speed as is their right. 

Back at the 'clubhouse' or home of one of the scooterists, they were seen laughing and eating cookies, undoubtedly commenting on the lack of fun they saw others having on the road. It is also rumoured that they are both members of yet another gang, the Volunteer Bike Patrol.

Only vigilance and careful observation will prevent this sort of raucous behaviour from becoming the norm. Can you imagine if everyone in our lovely town were riding scooters? One shudders to think....

Oki-na Gaijin, Chisai-na Kuni (Big Foreigner, Small Country) #10

March 29 - Last Day - Sayonara

This is the last part of my trip to Tokyo series.


This picture was taken inside my apartment 23 years ago for a party when my then-girlfriend (and present-wife) was going to return to Canada.

Had one too many chu-his last night as I woke up with a bit of a sinus headache this morning. After my customary coffee, banana, and tea biscuit, I felt better.

As we were leaving today, I thought I could get away with giving a present without getting flooded with omiyage as we weren’t going shopping anywhere. It turned out that I was sorely mistaken.

I gave some candy, a card and a raku sculpture of a salmon that I had bought last December when we were skiing at Sun Peaks. Apparently these were well received as the omiyage doors were flung wide open.

Yoichi proceeded to give me watches for everyone in our extended family. This included a couple of Guccis, Seikos, and about 8 other watches for various members of the family. I thought about giving him Colleen as a slave girl but then realized that it was time to admit defeat.


I took a last look at the apartment building, first outside my old apartment, then on the roof that had been the scene of several fun parties 23 years ago. Finally, I took a walk around the neighbourhood, realizing that most of the businesses had either changed or turned into residential areas.


Here's a picture of my daughter, Colleen, on the roof of the apartment building.

This picture is a blast from the past - my 25th birthday on the roof of my apartment building.

I returned back to the apartment and we did our final packing. Then we all went with Yoichi’s driver in a car to the airport.

We arrived early so we went for a yakisoba (fried noodle) lunch. Interestingly, we were told to leave all of our bags at the front of the restaurant (unguarded) and ate, out of sight of the bags, at the back of the restaurant. This was something I would never do in most places in the world but, in Japan, even the airport seems super safe. When we were finished, of course, the bags were there, untouched.

We checked in and then said our tearful good-byes and went through the security gates.

In the departure lounge, I shopped for a bottle of duty free whisky - and ended up helping several customers with their selection! Maybe I should have worn a “Scotch Expert” T shirt! I tasted a couple of different ones (including a Johnnie Walker Blue Label that was too pricey) and settled on an 18 year old Highland Park.

The flight went well and was comfortable. But I spent a good deal of it trying to estimate what was t the total of all the gifts I was bringing back. Canadians are allowed to bring back $750 duty free after being away for a week but I was pretty sure that some of the watches were worth that each.

Upon arrival in Vancouver, I made an extremely conservative estimate of the value of the goods I had, paid some money for duty and taxes and headed toward the exit. This being Canada, I saw no customs agent anywhere and almost broke into a run when I walked through the exit doors.

It was good to be home but it was also revealing to me that I had such a good time in Tokyo and would definitely consider living there again. Unfortunately, my wife doesn’t feel quite the same....


Parting shot - Yoichi's Aston Martin - we went clubbing in it one night while at the karaoke bars. The absolute coolest car I've ever been in!

Sunshine Coast Cycle

I spent a couple of days at a friend's cottage near Gibsons, on the Sunshine Coast. It is an area just north of Vancouver but you can't drive there because of the mountains and other rocky terrain. The only way to get there is by taking a ferry from Horseshoe Bay (near Vancouver). It is about a 40 minute ferry ride.

On Saturday, we went for a very nice bicycle ride. The weather was sunny and it was fairly warm outside. Unlike scootering, I rarely get cold when cycling because I create my own heat, so to speak.


We first made to 2 km from my friend, Randy's place to the town of Gibsons. It is a little town of about 5000 people that became very popular because of a long running -Canadian TV show called the Beachcombers. Molly's Reach was one of the main locales in the series and serves a nice pint, too, if I recall previous trips.


We took the lower road which more or less runs parallel to the highway. There were a number of stops along the way to take photos. The sun was very cooperative and the views of the ocean made me feel very good inside. We didn't push really hard as it was my first bigger ride of the year so there was lots of time to chat and joke as we rode.


The lower road ended at a beach just shy of Roberts Creek. We then pushed our bikes along the beach, no easy task, for maybe 20 or 30 minutes. It was pretty hard work. We then connected up with a trail covered in roots where we had to carry our bikes until we got up to the road. In the photo, you can see our tire tracks in the sand.


In Roberts Creek, we stopped at the Gumboot Cafe for a coffee and a snack. I had a samosa with tasty homemade chutney.


We continued on to our destination, Sechelt, which is a bigger town of about 10 000 people. We stopped at a park on the beach there and had a nice break, admiring the view. While in the park, I took Randy's bike for a ride. He has a "Bike Friday" which is a folding bike. He has taken it several times to Europe and really likes the mobility it gives him. Not a bad ride, either.


We then headed towards home, stopping at Davis Landing for a drink before we pushed it a bit on the highway back to Gibsons.

It was about a 50 km ride which was definitely long enough for me for a first ride of the year. Back in Gibsons, we headed into Gramma's pub and tucked into a well deserved halibut and chips with a frosty beverage, also well deserved!