We spent a few more days at D&S’s cabin on beautiful Beauvais Lake. Did some paddling and walking, and Ann did more swimming and bicycling. After a few more days of bliss we were ushered up to the big house in Calgary. So we hopped on our little bikes and Rode Forever! back up to Calgary.
While in the big city we connected with Peggy and Phil (Sr.). I discovered the joys of no-name IPA beer and Ann did some small repairs on her delicate little bike. We also got a taste of urban wildlife as we watched a family of deer chow down on S&D’s backyard plants. Very cute.
We spent a little over a week in the big city — long enough to hold a mass gathering of all western-based Cacophoniers. They insisted we all perform …
RIDE FOREVER!!
The next day we hopped back on our little bikes for the ride back down to Beauvais Lake. We settled back into the cabin, and eased into the tough life. OK, it wasn’t all fun and games, or naps and paddles. We also helped Sam re-varnish a lot of both the interior and exterior cabin logs. It felt a lot like being at home. Our boat also has a lot of wood. Varnishing or oiling is just part of life.
Days came and went. We enjoyed the semi-wilds of the lake, paddling and swimming and generally taking it pretty easy. One day Kevin and Barb (Ann’s cousins) showed up with their ‘big’ sailboat. We managed to help launch it, and they sailed it on Beauvais in some pretty incredibly strong gusty winds. Way too hard for Ann and me.
Besides, we had more Cacophoning to do while Barb and Kevin were sailing.
In preparation for our journey west to Vancouver Island we decided to get our little bikes serviced. I needed some air filters changed and Ann wanted a new front tire. We booked our bikes into a shop in Pincher Creek, so dropped them off and spent most of the day wondering the mean streets of Pincher. Most of the day was spent down by the crick, and generally trying to stay cool. It was HOT!
A few days later Sam and Donna came down and we went off to Waterton Lakes National Park. This was our first visit back to Waterton since they had the big fire in 2017. According to the official site the Kenow fire burned 35,000 hectares, including 19,303 hectares in Waterton Lakes National Park. The townsite was threatened, but in the end only the park’s visitor’s centre was destroyed.
We drove up to Red Rock Canyon along the rollercoaster road — the one Ann scared my mom on 32 years ago 😯 . From there we did an easy hike in past the canyon, then followed a horse trail down to a creek. The walk took us through some of the burned out areas. Most of the trees were killed off, but it appeared the fire didn’t burn very hot, so the soil wasn’t too damaged. The regrowth is already coming along wonderfully.
We then wondered the Waterton townsite, checking out the various sights, and eating beavertails.
The days slipped away, and soon it was time to RIDE FOREVER! We loaded the bikes and headed west towards our first house sit since the Covid Apocalypse struck back in March. A nice young family on Vancouver Island was taking a short holiday to deliver their eldest to university, and to visit some family. So we arranged to look after their home, and their two pets, for a couple of weeks.
We travelled highway #3 along the south edge of BC. It was a wonderful ride through some interesting twisty paths. It took us three nights, staying in Castlegar, Princeton and finally Langley on the mainland.
We decided to take the ferry from Tsawwassen to Nanaimo. Due to the whole pandemic stuff we knew ferry sailings had been reduced, and therefore each one was pretty busy. But they would not take motorcycle reservations, so we just decided to show up and hope for the best. And indeed the best was on offer. Even though the lines were already loooong, we were told to go to the very front 🙂 .
We were first on, and first off! The seas were calm for the ride over. Caught sight of a couple dolphins/porpoises, and a bunch of sailboats. It was amazing being back in the salt air. Made me a bit homesick for the other coast … hopefully next year.
We arrived at our new temporary home in Black Creek and checked in with the family. We arrived to a small crisis. We’d originally signed on to look after a dog, a cat and five chickens. Sadly, the chickens had just been all killed by a mink. The family was in shock, and in mourning. But we were still greeted warmly, and given the tour.
At least our two main charges, Bobo the dog and Assy (short for Asteroid) the cat, are alive and cute:
The home is a lovely place in a gorgeous location not far from the ocean. We’re going to spend some time exploring the area, snooping on marinas and generally seeing if this might be in our future. We also had just enough time to work up our act for one more Cacophony session. We traced our recent journey through the songs of James Keelaghan.
wonderful to see how your making out .We are semi retired in Sault Ste. Marie drop by for coffee if you happed to be heading our way Doug and Mary
Hi guys, it’s been a while. Great to hear you’re “semi” retired. Is that like being partially pregnant 😉 . Anyway, I’ll send you an email (now that I have yours). We do pass through the Sault a couple times a year. Hard to get together these days, but maybe we can find a physically distant location to connect.
Thanks mom 🙂
Great to hear “Ride Forever” again.
Your trip to Waterton and B.C. looks wonderful.