There’s something about sleeping outside in the fresh cool air ! We woke up ready to take on the day. However, it was slow going this first camping morning. It took us almost 3 hours to get ourselves clean and ready, make breakfast, clean up afterwards, take down the tent, repack…. And then, as we were rolling away, I spotted our tent fly which we’d stretched across another table to dry, still lying there flapping in the breeze.
My sitz bones now feel like they’ve been sitzed on, but otherwise I feel pretty darn good. So does Charlie. The ride wasn’t long or hard today and there was far less traffic than there was down around Vancouver. Trucks still and everything else but luckily I seem to be able to totally ignore them. (Although around Vancouver there were some that passed us by leaving an unbelievable stench in their wake. C thinks it’s piggy poo. Ewwwyuck!)
Charlie had a few things to do when we got to Hope but my priority was to head straight to Tims and get some coffee. I was ready to mainline, almost. I sat there for quite a while, catching up on email, blogging, etc.. Charlie came back and a minute or so later two other touring cyclists who had spotted him in town tracked him down. Andy is from Germany, an optometrist, who has quit his job to come to Canada and cycle. Melonie is a graduate student of McGill, from Niagara, who is cycling solo across Canada. We thought they were a couple, but no, they’d met only earlier that same day.
We had a “Warm Showers” accommodation booked so after visiting for awhile, we said our so-longs for now ( we’ll probably see them again on the road. They’re taking a different route than us), and we headed to the home of Adrian and Matt, loaded up with groceries so that we could cook dinner for the four of us. We had a nice time with them , getting to know them a bit. Very interesting people with a variety of interests, including yoga, cycling ( to crazy places like Guatemala and Belize!!). Adrian is a doula, Matt works on power lines. They have only lived in Hope for a year and a half. Hope is very pretty but I imagine pretty dormant and closed off in the winter.
Thank you Adrian and Matt for making us feel so welcome! We enjoyed our stay with you!
Wendingourway:Across Canada by Bike 2017 