Ode to the west coast

location: Sooke Library
According to my mathematical calculations, it's been raining 85% of the time. So I'm kinda wet. Also, when I went to ceremoniously dip my foot in the sea at Port Renfrew, I kinda fell in, so this didn't really help things much. My tent is like a soggy garbage bag, but my sleeping bag is warm and cozy so I'm not really experienceing any real hardships. Oh, except I broke one of my gear cables, and my papa tried to mend it, but alas it's time had come and it snapped leaving me with only two functional gears to make it through the hills into Sooke. Hah, better now than later I suppose. We hit up the bike shop here, purchased a new cable and obtained directions to the best most awesome and delicious restaurant in town (Alternative Cafe) where I had the bacon bennie of my dreams, three cups of coffee, and a giant cookie. I rested my soaking wet shoes in front of the heating vent (much to the disgust of the rest of the clientèle) to dry them out, and cleaned the caked mud off of my face and knees in the washroom.

So that's where I am now. Clean, caffinated, indoors and full of Hollandaise sauce. My pops is fixing my cables (he secretly loves this kind of stuff), and then we're off to Victoria. Tomorrow night we're meeting up with my mom and sis, who are going to be in Saanich for a yoga workshop.

Ok, so a brief summary of the trip so far goes like this: cycled from Surrey to the Tsswassen (ferry), Sidney to Brentwood bay (ferry), Mill Bay to Duncan to Cowichan Lake throught the old rail path (camped on route), Cowichan to Port Renfew (camped by a lake between the two), Port Renfrew to Jordan River (HUGE skunk cabbages. Port is shrouded in a foggy mist. So wet!), then to French Beach (camped with the crashing waves lulling us to sleep), Sooke, and onwards to Victoria this afternoon.

Stoked to be back to my hobo ways :) even though the weather is less than ideal, the constant drizzle keeping us in a state of perma-wetness, I can't help but be extraordinarily thankful to be on the road again. It's been nice to spend time amongst the lush greenary of the west coast before I venture inland. After all, this place is my home. There's something so beautiful about seeing the vibrant yellow broom in bloom, orange salmon berries dangling from their branches, and fern fronds shooting up through the pavement on the hwy. The smell of the sea, the rocky coastline, beaches filled with pebbles, washed up kelp and driftwood. These are all things I won't be seeing again for a long, long time. So even in the rain, I appreciate that I am here.
peace,
Meg