She took me directly to the hotel and I checked ............. me in. She stayed in the parking lot. Honest. No sign of my Bro yet, or the Nut Bar for that matter, in person or by way of a message. I stripped down, showered and dressed to do some light riding. I left a note at the front desk for them both and set off to cruise. I drove to the nearest highway and set off. Highway break in is better than the stop and start of the city in the early hours. I was out for over six. Returning to the hotel to find that my brother had arrived.
He fills me in on the details of his journey. Due to the heightened security there were no flights. He did drive all the way, having to swap rentals at the border 'cause they rental he had wasn't permitted to cross into Canada. He traded it in on one that could and carried on. All told, about sixteen hours. By this time it was now pushing nine PM Thursday night. So we walked to a nearby steak house, chowed down and called it a night.
First thing Friday morning, my bro caught a cab to Deeley's. He rented his cycle and we met up back at the hotel. We packed the bikes for the weekend and set out.
Our route took us north, past the cut off east to Whistler, up the Sunshine Coast through Horseshoe Bay, Langdale, Earls Cove, Saltery Bay, Powell River, concluding our first day in the very picturesque Town of Lund. There we stay the night then back track to Powell River in the morning to catch the northern most ferry across The Strait of Georgia to land at Comox on Vancouver Island. From there our choice was a right to Port Hardy at the northern tip of the island or a left and west to Tofino on the Pacific coast.
I had this idea in my head from the beginning, that I needed to baptize the bike with some Pacific Ocean from the most westerly point in Canada that I could find, with the hope that, someday, the same could be done with the Atlantic in the east. Consulting the map, we realize the only substantial north south highway on Vancouver Island is located on the east coast due to the numerous inlets, coves, rivers and lakes along the west coast. Accessing the west coast by heading north was going to take a lot more time than we had available. This pointed us in the direction of a trip south then west, through the Redwood forest, to the Pacific coast of the island.
We set out from Comax south, hanging a right at Parksville, and on to Port Alberni. I will never forget as long as I live, the Redwood forest of Vancouver Island. There was an immense canopy of trees blocking the sun from a clear blue sky, the entire way across the island. And the temperature in among the trees was significantly higher than before we entered in spite of the lack of sunlight. There was a low lying fog hugging the ground cover and the earthy smell of the peat and the humidity of the forest was incredibly pronounced. That's what riding a bike was for. In a car you travel through a scene without the interface. On a bike you are in the scene. Apart of it. And all of your senses are working overtime to take it all in. Absolutely a remarkable experience.
We make the coast just north of Ucluelet and hang a right to Tofino arriving in time for a late lunch in the small harbour town. But first we took the bikes to the Pacific Rim National Park where there was direct access to a boat launch and parking near the water I scooped up a cup full of the pounding surf and flang that wholly water at the gas tank while saying a few words about the life I live, how lucky I am etc. etc. The ceremony behind us, we moved on to flang a few beverages into us.
Later that afternoon we began to retrace our route back through the forest and make the ferry crossing at Nanimo to arrive at our hotel by ten o'clock Saturday night. Still no sign of our third Stooge. Lights out.
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