This morning we started our day at the train station in Vancouver. After riding the train for the better part of an hour, we got off and started pedaling towards the ferry to Vancouver Island. One van ride and some miles later, we arrived at the dock. Unfortunately we missed our first ferry so we ended up eating lunch on the causeway. After that we boarded the ferry for some good nap time. Getting off at the port we just tackled a mere 20 miles and were done for the day, arriving at the Victoria hostel. We’re ready for a good night’s sleep! Blog post by Henry
Today was a pretty interesting day we didn’t have to do any biking so we spent the day walking around Vancouver. We went to a thrift store and Ralph bought a neon green shoe horn. Later in the day we came across a book store with weird old books all over the place and stacked to the ceiling. I bought a nonsensical book that tells you what your dreams mean. For dinner we had Poutine to celebrate our arrival in Canada. -written by Trekker Otto
We woke up very early and made cinnamon toast for breakfast. Then we set off into the English countryside, where we immediately got lost as there are no street signs anywhere.
We rode up and down the hills before a nice lady guided us back on track. We had lunch and took a short nap under some trees before the final leg of riding.
We got lost again, but a nice construction worker named Phillip let us use his IPad to find a route and told us interesting stories of his journeys in America. We finally got to Cambridge by riding along a nice bike path after 50+ miles of riding and hours of frustration and rewarded ourselves with dinner at our hostel.
Hey Teen Trek fam. Whats poppin’!? Today in the Teen Trek house we got to sleep in late on Block Island and had some delish oatmeal for breakfast. The boys accidentally started boiling water for oatmeal in the not-fully-clean sloppy joe pot from last night, but we caught their mistake in time! We hung out around camp for a bit and played cards, then headed out for the day to explore Block Island. We had some stinky clothes that we needed to wash so we found a laundry place near our campground. Then we headed out to the beach and got our tan on, buried Nora and Russell in the sand, had ice cream and swam for a little bit. That was legit. After that we went window shopping on the main street by the ferry and saw some pretty dope hoodies. It was nifty. Our group then went back to the beach to take showers, but the showers were closed early so we washed up under an outdoor spigot that was really cold! Shiver shiver. We stayed at the beach a while longer after that and had pullup and flexibility contests (Nora won). The views were ten out of ten, including miles of beaches and infinite ocean. Spectacular. Camp nachos were the dinner of choice tonight and they were great, followed by marshmallows. We head to bed now awaiting the ferry trip to Newport tomorrow!
At the end of every night, the group sits around a warm plate of food and talks about our day. We have a tradition called rose, bud and thorn. Rose is the best part of your day, thorn is the worst, and the bud is something you are looking forward to happening on the trip. It seems like every night at least 3 or 4 trekkers say their bud is going to Vancouver.
Today, their bud finally came to bloom as we passed through US/Canada border crossing. Some were eager to get stamps in their passport while others were excited to move forward and get to Vancouver.
Riding along the greenway trail was a scenic way to experience Canada. We have some mountain bike lovers on the trip, so they were happy to ride on a dirt trail for miles of the greenway.
I was immediately impressed with the biker-friendly roads Canada presented, and as we inched closer and closer to Vancouver, I was convinced biking was the best way to experience this unique city.
The trail opened up at the boardwalk area in downtown Vancouver, with beautiful sites of the water and an architecturally interesting city scape behind it. Boats towed by as a man played piano in the park, it was dreamy.
We made it to our hostel, picked up take-out for the night, and sat down to a relaxing and delicious feast of Indian food and pizza!
What a day! We’re all looking forward to a day off tomorrow and the opportunity to explore the city !
Back in England! After getting off the ferry, we biked just under 40 miles to a campsite in Sudbury. Keeping a steady pace, and only “exploring the suburbs” (getting lost) once, we arrived at the campsite in the early afternoon. This allowed us to set up camp and take a nice nap before dinner. Dinner was certainly a highlight. David brought back delicious food for us all to cook. We ate shredded sweet potato with spinach, onion and sage stuffing, and cooked green beans and peppers, all of which was much more interesting than our daily sandwiches or pasta. Along with some flute playing, courtesy of Aimee, and being able to fall sleep under the stars, we had a very pleasant evening.
This morning Julie made us a special breakfast. We had sausage, turkey bacon, and scrambled eggs.
Then we had to pack our bags and gear at the camp before we went on the ferry to Newport. We had to be on the ferry for 11:15 but before we got on we had time to go out and walk along the jetty and see the port area one last time. There were TVs on the ferry, but most of us slept for the hour ride.
We arrived at Newport around 12:30 and biked to Stop and Shop to get lunch and dinner for the night. I was the group leader for the day, guiding us there with no trouble at all. We went through some neighborhoods with historic houses from the 1700’s on the way.
After grabbing lunch from the supermarket we stopped and ate our cold cuts in the shade near a baseball field we rode past. Then we headed to Melville campgrounds in Portsmouth where we will be for two nights. The ride there was all along the water. They have nice showers at this campground, as well as a basketball court! Everyone was excited about the showers. For dinner we had rice, peas, and chicken fajitas and it was the best meal I’ve had on this trip so far. Tomorrow we head back down to Newport to tour the mansions and explore the town. –written by Trekker Tyler
It is Wednesday my dudes. We awoke to the sound of Julie’s voice echoing throughout the campground like the sound of a thousand angels. After a scrumptious breakfast consisting of the finest Quaker granola bars Stop and Shop has to offer, we set off on our bikes to bond with one another and discover ourselves. Despite a few bumps along the way, including the author of this post getting a flat tire, his hair soaked with sweat, we all made it to lunch safely, where we gorged on a feast of cold cuts and goldfish all the while surrounded by the splendor of the Stop and Shop parking lot. We then biked 5 strenuous miles to the ferry, which we rode to the shores of Block Island. We pitched our tents in a campground clearing of low lying trees, where I now write this post. After dinner we biked to town, swam in the ocean, ate Ben and Jerry’s, and biked back. –Trekker Octavio
Today, we awoke from our camping spot by the ocean and packed up quickly. We ate our breakfast on the beach, and then slowly made our way into the water and relaxed. There were a LOT of dogs that passed by, and many of them came up to say hi. We also saw a very naked old man walking his dog past us. It was quite the surprise to see at 8:30 in the morning. Then we set off at a lazy pace down the coast until we got to the MC Escher Palace Museum in The Hague. The artwork was super cool and their cafe coffee was ridiculously strong. After that we stopped at the beach once more, watching David and Andy have a mini race swimming across a pool of water and then running back. The rest of the way to the ferry was relaxed and scenic, so we took it slowly. Once we got on the ferry, we realized how nice it was. 10/10 showers in our room. –written by Trekker Henry
We biked from Larabee to Birch Bay. We stopped for a couple hours to explore downtown Bellingham, the largest city we’ve passed since Seattle. At Birch Bay we spent time on the beach before enjoying Kyle’s Buffalo Mac and Cheese.
