Thursday, May 22, 2008

An easy ride to our first rest day in Revelstoke

After spending a great day in Sicamous with the Thomsens, we had what was probably our best night of sleep since the trip started on one of their houseboats. We got a later start than usual, but still got in a few pictures with Knud on the docks before taking off. I still can't believe we were on a houseboat.

Right as we left town, we stopped for breakfast at Tim Horton's. All of us are big fans, and the previous evening, Paul, a friend of Marianne and Knud's, stopped in at dinner to give us a $100 gift card. What a gift! We ate well and headed off for Revelstoke. Just as we did, we were stopped by a woman pulled over on the side of the road who asked if she had seen us on TV. Tracy (hope I didn't get that wrong) was very appreciative of what we are doing, and said that although she didn't have a lot of money, she wanted to contribute. It was quite a moving encounter, so I hope she's reading!

To our surprise, the road there was relatively flat, so we made great time. With only a 76km day ahead of us and quite a bit to see, we made a number of quick stops. The first was at a museum commemorating the driving of the last spike in the CP Railway. They had a mural set up and we took a picture. Later on, we tried to get to a suspension bridge along the highway, but figured it wasn't worth the $9 just for a picture.

For lunch, we stopped in Three Valley Gap, but were expecting to grab a quick snack before heading off. That is, until Russ, one of the employees, came out and asked us what we were doing. When we told him, he went inside, later returning to tell us we could come in and get a soup and sandwich on the house! We even got a donation out of it, and were able to get some good pictures outside. It was a pretty touristy day for the group.

After getting into Revelstoke, we brought our bikes into a shop and got into Pat's aunt Barb's place. She had set us up with free passes to the aquatic centre in town to recover. Tomorrow we will take a day off, but will still be busy. We have a spot on the local radio in the morning, a helicopter ride, and a meet-and-greet in the afternoon outside of the bike shop. Should be fun!

And you heard right, a helicopter ride!

Sent from my BlackBerry® wireless device

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

WOW and I thought that you were only going to be biking. You are all really living an exciting life. The trip is giving you so many more advantages and excitement other than the ride it self. This is what real memories are made of; you will have many, many stories to tell all after it is over. Your children will be very impressed when you have them. Keith I am wondering if there is any way that you can post your pictures as you are going along, it would be wonderful to see them at he same time as we read the Blog? Have a wonderful day off.
All the best and good biking
John, Odile, Matt and Sam

Gdaddy said...

Men,

Yes, we'd all like to see some more pictures. How about getting out of the helicopter on top of Mount Revelstoke in your spandex suits for a picture! One for the ladies? Or the future office wall!

Just another pause on the series of mountain tops of the ride. Ride on!

Anonymous said...

Hey there, Keith. I'm here with your incredibly proud mama. She just gave a presentation for the Grade 4 students. They are all wearing their red hats! Hope the helicopter ride was fun. You haven't mentionned seeing any animals - hope you see at least one moose from afar. Your mama sends you a big kiss.

Knud Thomsen said...

Hi Guys, glad you made it to Revelstoke O.K. We were happy to have you here with us and that you enjoyed the houseboat, only next time we will have to get you up the lake. Enjoy your day to day, although it sounds like a busy one. Knud and Marianne