the adventure across state lines

Who knew Vancouver could be exciting? Andrew and I had heard about a bike trail in the Couv a week ago from one of his friends. We set on a quest to find it today and had a great time, even in misadventures.

I got a thrill as we rode over the I-5 bridge. The Columbia River is huge and all of the traffic on it made it really loud. However, the bike lane was separated from the vehicle traffic so it was surprisingly calm. We rode in downtown Vancouver for a short while, trying to find the Burnt Bridge Greenway. Once found, there was the momentary thrill as we got to ride through the lush scenery. However, it ended too quickly and too confusingly. I led us on a goat trail path for a bit through the woods which was adventuresome but resulted in a flat tire for me. I bought a tube patch kit not that long ago so I was able to patch it quickly but the patch didn't hold. Andrew volunteered to ride two miles into town to a bike shop to get it fixed. In the meantime, I got to sit on the side of the path by the interstate, listening to a reggae cover of Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts' Club Band while eating berries. It was surprisingly delightful.

After he returned, we biked for a while longer, trying to find another good bike path that would lead us to Vancouver Lake. We settled for some country roads that dead-ended at the lake and chilled out in the meadow grass pictured above. It was even more delightful even though there were hunters near by firing gun shots periodically.

Biking back proved to be difficult since we wanted to do the 205 bridge instead. Getting to it was complicated but we eventually managed, opting to take a sure road instead of a scenic road. The bridge itself felt like a giant reward since the first mile of it is all downhill.

We concluded the evening with a deserved dinner at the Observatory. It was all good but the Oregano Fry Bread was awesome.

What else?
Yesterday was really chill. I ended up biking around a bit, buying a bottle of Rose for today (my new thing), getting a new tail-light from Corey and another new pair of sunglasses (I broke two pairs of sunglasses this weekend). I ended the day at Andrews, hanging out with our friends Jason and Lauren who introduced me to the reggae which soundtracked my wonderful day today!