60+ km and 1 sore butt later...

It's been 4 days since I wrote my last exam for the semester, and what a great 4 days they have been. Mark took Monday and Tuesday off and we spent several hours out on our deck each day reading, drinking lemonade, and playing games - Tuesday was a historic day for me as I finally beat him at Settlers after many, many failed attempts! Monday evening we took our newly purchased bikes out for their first trek to the dyke, and it was such a beautiful trip. No pictures because I left my camera behind, but we arrived as the sun was beginning to set and we could watch it slowly drop as we travelled. It was the biggest red globe I have ever seen and I think the picture will forever be implanted in my mind.

Tuesday evening we took the bus into Vancouver and enjoyed the Canada Day fireworks from Stanley Park. We had some bus adventures on the way in, but overall still had a great time away from home.


Yesterday, Mark headed back to work but I continued my holidays and went on an overnight bike trip with my mom. We took the ferry from Tsawwassen to Swartz Bay and then biked the 30ish km from the ferry to Victoria where we met up with my dad, who's staying out there teaching a two-week course. It was a beautiful ride and definitely the longest one I've done ever. We followed the Lochside Regional Trail, which follows an old railway line and travels along the water, through farmland, over wetlands, and past suburban neighbourhoods.


We explored Victoria yesterday evening, spent the night crammed in my dad's hotel room with all our bikes, and then headed back to the ferry in the morning. We stopped in Sidney for some lunch and as we were finishing our last bites, looked at the time and realized we only had half a hour left to make the ferry. So, rather than waiting another hour for the next one, we hopped on our bikes and took off. Little did I realize that just minutes before the ferry terminal there were a few big hills we had to climb - and my legs were already tired from the whole trip! But, we only had minutes left and my mom was ahead so I dug in and pushed it until my legs were jelly and felt like they had no strength left. Thankfully, the torture wasn't for nothing, as we pulled up the terminal about 5 minutes before the scheduled sailing and managed to get tickets.

All in all, a great trip although I know I'll feel my legs tomorrow and I already feel my butt.

Note: If you want to see more photos from this past week, look at the links listed under Photo Albums on the right.