Tuesday, July 2, 2013

Canada Day Weekend - Two Wheel Journeys

Canada Day weather - here on the west coast - was so nice, we took advantage to roam the countryside on two wheels.
Harrison River
We only had a half day to ride on Sunday before heading to Langley City to look after Easton while his parents enjoyed a date night out at the movies.  We rode east on Highway 7 towards Harrison Mills before making the turnaround and heading back for home.  Awesome, best describes the Sunday ride!

We had hoped to drop by Sassy's - BACK - On 'Da Road who is presently parked at a great RV park directly across the  Harrison River from Rowena's Inn.  Time restraints prevented that on this ride......but we'll attempt to get out there in the near future.  
Rowena's Inn
We enjoyed an ice tea at Rowena's Inn - located at the Sandpiper Golf Course.  This is a most beautiful place.

Click on this links for access to the WEB sites.
The view from our outdoor table @ Rowena's Inn
We've traveled here several times before -  often for golf - and often as a destination motorcycle ride.  It never fails to impress us.  It is such a beautiful environment that is nestled in the mountains and borders the Harrison River which flows into the mighty Fraser River. 
The Sandpiper statue that overlooks the No. 16 Par 3 green along the Harrison River.
It was hot!  Back on our ride, we rode straight for home.  The motorcycle garaged, we drove to Ginette and Trevor's home - about ten minutes from ours - to look after Easton.
Busy playing with his toys in his little pool in the shade.
Easton was keeping his cool while splashing and playing in his little fun pool.  It took little time before Jeanette and I were drenched too.  With such hot temperatures, the splashing  brought welcome relief. We welcomed it....and the fun he had drenching us!
Although hard to see in the photo, Easton's shirt is completely drenched.  And he is quite happy about that!
When Easton's folks returned from their movie outing, we sat around and chatted till about 10:30 pm, before heading for home.
Canada Day - Monday, July 1st ride to Pitt Lake
We chose another destination for our Canada Day ride.  Crossing over the Fraser River River, in Mission BC, we rode along the Dewdney Trunk Road above Mission and Maple Ridge before meeting up with Highway 7 in Pitt River.
Heading north from Pitt River towards Pitt Lake
All the lakes were crammed with families looking for some respite from the heat.  The three lakes we visited were dotted with boats and other water craft.  Shortly after our arrival at Pitt Lake, we were looking out on the water near the boat launch when an ambulance screamed in and I was immediately asked if I knew where the plane crash site was.  "What plane crash", said I. We had neither seen nor heard about an supposed accident.
Everyone was enjoying the water
Within a few minutes, the ambulance attendant walked by and told us that the accident was in fact an ultralight aircraft that had crashed into the lake.  Jeanette counted eight (8) emergency response vehicles that showed up on the scene.  Minutes later a boat docked near the boat launch and a late 50's fella - dressed in a flight suit and carrying a float saving device - walked off the boat and was immediately met by paramedics. He showed no sign of injury.  I have a photo of him but chose not to post it on my blog; privacy reasons, mainly!

The ultralight was not recovered while we were on scene and the local TV or radio news did not report anything about the incident when we tuned in last night.
Pleasure boaters were ambivalent to the first responders on scene....
Once all the hullabaloo had died down, Jeanette and I rode off, back towards home.  All told, we rode well over 200 kilometres yesterday alone.  Combined with the other long weekend days, we covered over 600 kilometres this long weekend.

Two of the 8 emergency vehicles on the scene at Pitt Lake.
Jeanette captured the photo below before we rode off towards home.  We chose to head east on Highway 7 (The Lougheed Highway) towards Mission - over the Mission Bridge - then back through the back country roads.  Back home, we settled in for a lovely evening barbecue and just enjoying the nice summer temperatures.
Readying to leave Pitt Lake
One the route back from Pitt Lake is the entrance to the beautiful Golf Resort that our daughter Ginette and son in law Trevor were married at.  
Swan-e-Set Bay Resort & Country Club - Weddings
Our Canada Day long weekend was a fantastic opportunity to visit so many of the great spots we enjoy in this area.   Another - much longer - ride is planned in the days ahead. We'll focus on that in the next blog.
 Thanks for dropping by.


4 comments:

  1. sure seems like the two of you made the most of the sunny warm weekend!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Great way to spend Canada Day, with some excitement!

    ReplyDelete
  3. I agree - you filled up your Canada Day weekend with family, some excitement and mostly a lot of fun.

    I really enjoyed all your pictures too.

    ReplyDelete