The Blog of Blues

[blues2cruise]

It has been brought to my attention that someone is trying to make trouble for me...or so it would appear.
I enjoy writing these stories, and from the feedback I get, I know people enjoy reading them.
I even showed "Jake" my blog. He was quite amused at some of the things I wrote.

I won't go into detail...at least not yet....but why would someone go out of their way to try to make trouble between "Jake" and me?

On a more positive note, I am heading out shortly to meet up with another rider and his girlfriend to go daytripping out to the valley somewhere. Keep your fingers crossed that it doesn't rain. It should be a good day. He knows the roads out there very well, and I have a feeling I will ride places today I have not yet ridden.

Until later........

[blues2cruise]

May 19, 2006

A quick trip to visit my Mom

I finally felt well enough to go for a trip up the coast to visit my Mom and since the weather was forecasted to be decent, I called my Mom and made arrangements to go. I arranged with my workplace to get off an hour early so that I could catch a particular ferry.
I packed my overnight bag the night before and had it ready to take to work with me in the morning. At the end of my shift on Friday, I secured my things back into the crate, got geared up and headed to the ferry. So far, this weekend showed great promise. I got off on time, the traffic was light and more importantly, and the weather was cooperating.

My plan was to be at the ferry terminal by 4:30 so that I could get in the ferry lineup for the 5:20 ferry. That would have allowed me enough time to park my bike and wander down to the village to get a cup of coffee from the local roaster there. However, as I approached the terminal, and prepared to get in the long line of cars waiting to pay, another biker rode past me and went right to the ticket window of the truck and bus booth. He paid and was through instantly. Prior to seeing that, I never knew that anything other than trucks were allowed to go to that window. So-o-o-o-o, I followed suit and moved out of my line over to the truck booth. I pulled out my fare and was through the line in a jiffy. I rode to the appointed bike loading line and as soon as I arrived the bike ahead of was directed to load. I didn’t even have time to drop the kickstand. I followed along and rode to the front of the ship where the bikes park.

It turned out that this was the ferry that was scheduled to leave a long time ago, but it was running late. That was a shame for the people who had been waiting a long time for the ferry, but it was a bonus for me. Apparently there was a clutch problem with the ship that was causing it to run slow.

BC Ferry Corporation used to have a fairly decent safety record and/or relatively problem free system….with the exception of incredible volume of traffic causing huge lineups and long waits. The current government here has been on a mission to unload all our crown corporations to private enterprise. We, who live here, might be a little more accepting of this if the private companies were Canadian, but they are not. Little by little, the politicians who run this country are eroding everything away. Although the ferries are still owned by us, the corporation is now an American company. Ever since the ferries were turned over to this American company, there have been numerous ongoing mechanical and safety problems. This is what happens when a “for profit” company takes over. The ferry fleet is an extension of the highway system and needs to be kept in tip-top shape. Sometimes more money should be spent on the refit of the mechanics instead of the cosmetics.

For once the ongoing mechanical problems were a benefit to someone. Me. If I had been in my car, I would never have been able to get on the ferry, but being on the bike, put me at the front of the line and straight onto the ferry. I quickly parked and found a wheel chock to put under the frame before leaving the car deck to go upstairs. I took my magazine with me, went to get some tea and found a little table with a view to sit at. I got my cell phone out and called my Mom to let her know that I would be arriving earlier than planned. It was fish and chips night at the legion up there, so she asked me to meet her there and she would buy my supper. Although the ferry ride was a little slower than usual, it was a pleasant trip because of the nice weather. It gets so tiresome when it’s always grey and rainy outside.

Once the ferry docked, the other biker and I were first off the ship and on the highway while the other vehicles were still offloading. This was promising to be a great ride tonight.
I thoroughly enjoyed the ride. The roads were dry the whole way and the traffic was moving along at a good pace. It must have been all locals on this particular trip. Tourists who aren’t used to this highway have a tendency to dawdle and drive with one foot on the brake the whole way. Why, oh why, can’t people figure out that if you downshift it is so much easier to maneuver those twists in the road?
I made good time to the legion but my efforts were wasted if I thought I was going to get supper right away. There were more folks than usual for fish and chips night so the kitchen was falling behind in getting the food out. It would appear that “the summer people” have arrived. This, being the Victoria Day long weekend was the weekend that somehow indicated the start of summer, even though summer doesn’t officially start for another month. It turned out that the 61st annual fair was this weekend which helped explain why so many more people were here. My Mom had the whole day mapped out already. After 1-1/2 of waiting, we finally go our food. I didn’t order the deep fried stuff, but because it was on the same order as my Mom’s, I had to wait. I was so hungry that I ate, but I don’t normally like to eat so late in the evening.

The next day we went to the pancake breakfast put on by the Lion’s Club and then wandered through the fair site for a while to wait out the time until the parade started. One of the local businesses had put out a few dozen assorted chairs (brought by the locals) so we got to sit in a roadside seat sipping café lattes, while the parade went by. When it was over, we walked back to my Mom’s house so I could pack up my belongings for my ride home. The trick to a great trip on a long weekend is to go home on the middle day of the weekend. There were very few vehicles on the road because most people will go home on the Monday, not Saturday afternoon. I enjoyed the ride to the ferry. The ferry trip was good as well, because there were so few people on this particular boat. It made for a nice quiet trip.

I made it home in good time and when I got to the garage, I left the bike in the carwash area to cool. The bike was in dire need of a cleaning. The dust and grit from the construction that is going on by my workplace makes everything so dirty. I have gone back to taking the bus to work most days because of the extreme dirt everyday. I must go buy a cover for my bike, so I can protect it. The debris that is flying from the construction cannot be good for the bike.
As soon as the bike has cooled for little bit, I will go with my cleaning supplies and make my bike look showroom new again.

[zarakand]

Hi there,

I just started reading your blog, and it's a lot of fun. Looking forward to the next couple of episodes, and sorry to hear about whoever is attempting to create issues between "Jake" and yourself.

Saif

[blues2cruise]

Hey, gummi......did the package arrive on time?

Zarakland, I will be writing another entry very soon. Thanks for the compliment.

[Gummiente]

Hey, gummi......did the package arrive on time?

No package yet.

[blues2cruise]

Hey, gummi......did the package arrive on time?

No package yet.

I knew there was a reason I kept the post office receipt. I will go and see them about it. I spent $24.00 on express postage and it should have arrived last Thursday or Friday.

Maybe dr_bar can help with the investigaton.......

[sv-wolf]

Blues! You have fish and chip nights in Canada!!! Well, I'm feeling at home already. When can I come?

Over here our entrie railway network was privatised a few years ago(along with everything else that could make some money for someone) and bus routes were deregulated. Now travelling around by public transport is chaotic. Nothing runs on time and the safety record is disintegrating. Canada sounds more like home every minute.

Cheers

Richard

[blues2cruise]

Blues! You have fish and chip nights in Canada!!! Well, I'm feeling at home already. When can I come?

Over here our entrie railway network was privatised a few years ago(along with everything else that could make some money for someone) and bus routes were deregulated. Now travelling around by public transport is chaotic. Nothing runs on time and the safety record is disintegrating. Canada sounds more like home every minute.

Cheers

Richard

Any Friday night at the Pender Harbour legion.

Although any night can be fish and chips night complete with mushy peas and whatever kind of beer you may like depending on the shop. Cockney Kings maybe? The Windjammer. Pennyfarthing.

Or there is the Cheshire Cheese Inn if you're in the mood for steak and kidney pie or a nice little jaunt to Steveston for Cornish pasties and even better fish and chips.

Fear not, comfort food won't be hard to find.

[Nalian]

Your blog is awesome - and definitely both inspiring and helpful to a new rider!

[roscowgo]

/me agrees with above post. Blues makes a good blog.