(From Rigel's PoV)
Starting mid June Erin and I came to Vancouver after a short stop in Calgary so I could see family that I haven't seen much in the last few years. My nephew, Zen, turned 5 this July and I guess I visited him about 10 times over the course of the summer. Mom has been coming to terms with her rheumatoid arthritis that she discovered she has and trying to avoid the pain thru diet changes. Camilla is putting off going to grad classes while she works in the field she was going to go to school for anyway which is in the planning department of the City of Vancouver and her boyfriend, Daniel, is an entrepeneur with all sorts of adventurous stories about trying to get things done on Vancouver island with kelp and such.
I would definitely like to continue working on the wave power generator dad and I came up with in collaboration with friends and get a working model of it together. The biggest and best waves for a wave power generator are between Vancouver Island and Alaska, but I will not be doing it this year, it appears, as I am about to go on a travelling adventure!
Speaking of which, Erin bought herself a Surly Disk Trucker, which is the disk-brake version of their classic steel touring bike and I bought myself a Steelwool Tweed which is another steel touring bike with disk brakes. We bought both bikes after we arrived in Vancouver this summer and plan to adventure on them with all of the camping gear and modifications we bought at MEC and neighbouring shops over the summer.
We added aero handle bars to our bikes so we can almost lay down while cycling straighter highway sections as well as lights, bottle holders, front and rear racks, paniers, sprung brook's leather saddles, clipless peddles, reflectors, mirrors, handlebar bags, and trip computers. We had to buy almost all of our camping gear from a tent all the way to a tiny can opener blade.
Today is Sunday, tomorrow we have to pack up all of the stuff we're taking and load our bikes to our satisfaction, and then clean up dad's house where we've been staying so his life can go back together and our stuff is safely stowed in a closet or what not. Tuesday morning we will be starting our by going to Swartz Bay on a ferry, and then cycling to Sidney, and then a ferry again (after customs I suppose) to Friday Harbor on San Juan Island. Unfortunately we'll be ariving after 7:30 pm and haven't figured out how we're going to get to a suitable camp ground before dark - so we'll discuss it more tomorrow but so begins the adventure!
