May 22 – 28, 2011 (Fort Camping, Brae Island Regional Park, Fort Langley, BC)

Another week here at Fort Langley has slipped by again...and the weather has been “so-so” at best.  This has been the coolest, wettest spring since the early 50’s.  Steve has coined a new term...”May-vember”.

Sunday was our 29^th wedding anniversary.  It was awfully nice that the hockey game schedulers decided to have the game start at noon so that it didn’t interfere with our dinner plans!  The only time we are interested in and watch hockey is during the playoffs and our Vancouver Canucks are playing.  Go Canucks!  Before the game started, we decided to get out for a walk along the Fort-to-Fort Trail.  We stopped to watch a fellow catching a small sturgeon....

We arrived at The Keg in Langley around 5:30—after having to phone the restaurant for directions since Serena took us to an address which she insisted was The Keg’s...but there was no Keg in sight!  Turns out, she had us turn left and it should have been right...hmmm...just don’t know about this GPS technology sometimes!  I thought we would be arriving early enough to beat the crowds but I was wrong...it was already packed with a 40 minute wait.  Luckily there was room at the bar so we had a drink while waiting for a table. 

We walked into Fort Langley Monday morning to watch the May Day Parade.  It drew a huge crowd to the town’s main street.  It even got quite warm out for the few minutes that the sun tried to break through the clouds. 

The Vancouver City Police Motorcycle Drill Team...

This week we decided to unload our bikes from the back of the trailer and take them out for some rides.  We both really enjoyed out bike rides and it renewed our intent to get new ones...maybe we’ll finally get our Christmas presents!

Our first ride ended up being cut short when Steve's back tire loosened and became jammed up against the frame.  Of course, we had no tools with us so I had to ride back to the trailer and get a wrench...

Our ride the next day was more sucessful...we rode all the way along the Fort-to-Fort Trail to Derby Reach...

We stopped there and went for a walk along one of the trails...no bikes allowed on this one...

There are some heritage buildings...

Milkhouse...

The scenery along the path is really beautiful...

The old train station in Fort Langley was open...it is now a museum...

There is a miniture train set-up inside one of the box-cars...

And here is a real train...

We also got the results of Steve’s PSA test and although the count was down, it is still in the gray area so the doctor wants to do a biopsy.  Not the news we were hoping for but it’s good to get it checked out.  So we will be heading back over to Victoria next week.  The biopsy is scheduled for next Thursday but we are going to head over on Tuesday.  Again, rather than take the truck, we are going to borrow Chris’ car.

Steve did some research on local bicycle stores and on Friday we went to Bicycle Sports Pacific in Langley.  After discussing our needs with the sales fellow, we decided on the Trek Navigator 2.0.  The only problem now is getting rid of our old bikes since they won’t take them as trade-ins.  He suggested we try a place on the Langley by-pass.  Sports Replay is a consignment store for used sports equipment but they will also buy it, giving a store credit.  This worked out great for us because they also sell new equipment so we will be able to put the credit towards new helmets.  Back home, we washed our bikes and got them spiffy’d up ready to take them to Sports Replay in the morning.  We had no idea how much we would get for them but were hoping for at least $50 for the pair...they were about 18 years old, after all.

We were at Sports Replay shortly after their 9:30 opening time Saturday morning.  The manager came out to take a look at the bikes and after saying they were in good shape for their age, offered us $120 for the pair...sweet!  We both got new helmets and Steve got a pair of new riding gloves and we only had to pay $4.85 extra.

We then headed to the bicycle store to buy our new bikes.  They would have to build my bike as well as put the fenders, kick-stand and water bottle holder on both bikes.  It would take about an hour and a half.   No problem, we would go meet Chris and Sheannie for lunch at Earl’s Restaurant in Burnaby, pick up his car and be back around 2:00.

The trip into Burnaby re-confirmed Steve’s dislike of the “big city”...he hates all the traffic.  But we arrived at the restaurant shortly before noon and even had no problem finding a parking spot for the truck.  After a great lunch and visit, we said our good-byes and I drove the car back to Langley while Steve followed in the truck.   Our new bikes were ready.  One final thing we wanted for our new bikes is a transport cover to keep them clean while on the back of the trailer. Unfortunately the only type the bike shop had were single covers, not large enough to cover both bikes.  He suggested we try one of the motorcycle stores—they might have one large enough to cover both bikes.  After stopping at a couple of places on the way home, Steve had no luck. They have storage covers but they aren’t suitable for transporting.  Another option would be to see if any of the RV places have them.

We took our new bikes out for a short ride along the Fort-to-Fort Trail before relaxing in a little late afternoon sunshine.  That’s it for this week.  We plan on enjoying our new bikes for the next few days before heading back to Victoria.