JULY 27 - Uncoffee Morning, Tynehead Park, and Uphill All The Way

What you see below is the great amount of coffee my loving husband left for me this morning, and I wasn't very impressed when I stumbled out of bed and slithered downstairs for my morning coffee and toast - which turned into Cranberry Juice and toast, and let me tell you, that did NOT do the trick.

So I went back to bed, and slept for a couple of hours, then just stayed in bed for another hour or so, just because I could. I did finally get up though, and was ready to drag Breehy out the door before 10AM.

It was a grey cloudy day, and only 15 degrees when I left. To tell the truth, I really didn't want to leave at all, but I had promised an adventure and I was going to have one even if it killed me. My muscles remembered Wednesday's trip to the Alex Fraser Bridge, and started to ache as soon as I started to pedal, but I stayed true and soldiered on. My biggest incentive was waiting on King George Boulevard, where I was going to treat myself to a BIG COFFEE and a small breakfast at A&W, but of course that didn't work out, not when I got there and realized it was a Dairy Queen location, and not an A&W. Rats. I didn't know if Dairy Queen served breakfast, but I doubted it - even so, I rode around the parking lot,  couldn't find anywhere to lock up Breehy (we are not taking any more chances) and headed on my way again. There had to be a coffee somewhere with my name on it.

My plan was to go down 96th Avenue and brave the big big hill to Tynehead Park. (You can do it, yes you can.) I had done most of this ride last week, a lot of trees, a lot of hills, a lot of residential areas - a bit boring, I suppose. However, it turned quite pleasant as the minutes ticked by, and I had to take off my sweater after a bit.

The outer edge of Green Timbers Park was full of potential treats - Blackberry bushes. I can't wait for the fruit to ripen, and then I'm going Berry Picking! Going to get me a Pail! Blackberries are like giant black raspberries, but they have a different taste, and make great jam, desserts and pies. Yum. And the best thing about them? THEY ARE FREE!

I passed this fence last time, and it still amazes me. Why anyone would entwine old artificial Christmas tree branches in a wire fence is beyond me. (That's not really what it is, but it sure looks like it.) With so many choices for bordering your plot - hedges, cedar privacy fences, picket fences - why oh why would someone do this?

There aren't many eating establishments in this mostly residential area, but every now and then a corner store would appear. I passed by Subway (don't like their breakfast stuff, plus it was on the other side of the road), a Macs Convenience (don't know about their coffee), and a few corner stores. I was getting pretty thirsty and a bit hungry by now - and for some reason starting thinking about lunch when I attended Memorial University in St John's, Newfoundland, when I was oh-so-young. One of our main meals, lunch was 'a coke, a smoke, and a bag of chips' and of course, supper would be that famous student meal, fries, dressing and gravy - with fried chicken added if one were flush that particular evening.

My present diet is a bit better than that of days gone by, but I still got excited when I saw the Golden Arches - and had a muffin with a much awaited Coffee. Without the smoke, a much (?) healthier lunch than years ago.

And then we came upon trouble. This was about where we stopped and wimped out last week. I was pretty certain Tynehead Park was at the valley below, and pretty sure we could make it downhill. We would worry about uphill later. And in case you are wondering - we walked down the hill, although Breehy was like an excited dog pulling at her leash, we walked down the hill.

Unfortunately, the sidewalk once again ended just after the view in this picture, but there was a grass path by the road, with masses of wildflowers and clover at the side, so we had a very aromatic stroll. When this path petered out, we just snuck onto the bike path, even though we were headed in the wrong direction, but it was only for a few feet, and we came to the entrance to Tynehead Park.

Even though we were urged to enjoy the park I found out that Breehy and her kind are not welcome to use the many trails that go past all the fun stuff. We could have done the 5+ km trail around the far edge, but that was it.

We decided to walk to the Serpentine River - at least I would see a river before I started home again. At least, one would think I would. First we found the Tynehead Hatchery, where baby salmon are released into the river.

A little walk away, we find an open gate with a sign OPEN - WELCOME, VISITORS so we went down the little hill, thinking the river must be close by. However, we were met by a not-very-welcoming person, who informed us that we had to leave as he was leaving immediately and was going to lock the gate. I said, do I have time to take one picture - and he said I had one minute. So I took that minute, and got this -
a cool use for dead CDs - if you happen to have a river in your yard to hang them over.

Then of course I had to high-tail it out of there before he ran over us with his massive truck. Not a very friendly species of Park Ranger in this park.

I decided to do the Perimeter Trail - the only one where I could ride, so headed along - and we came to the road. Trail petered out, and once again construction had the sidewalk and obviously part of the trail torn away. A fellow biker near the entrance had told me about a paved Power Tower path that would take me all the way back my stompin' grounds, thus avoiding the noisy highways, so I crossed the road and Voila! there one was!

It didn't take me long to realize though, that this path was actually taking me in the wrong direction. Oh oh. Turn around and head back to the road. Next was a bridge - finally I would see the Serpentine River!

Oh. This would be more of a brook. Or a creek. Not a river.

And just past the ... river ... the Power Tower path started up again. However. I do believe there was a lot more hill than the road I took to get to the park. It was non-stop, as you can see -

I watched, huffing and puffing and hunching over a low fence, as a biker wended her way up the biggest, longest hill in the history of bike riding, wondering how far she'd get before she'd have to walk too. Imagine my surprise when she biked all the way up -

'Wow, I'm impressed,' I panted.

'I think my bike is built more for riding up hill than yours,' she replied - and then she zoomed across the road and whizzed up the hill beyond. She's probably in Alberta by now.

Remember, all these shots are either going uphill - or looking backwards at uphills I've already gone up, even though they may look like downhills, they are not. I never had the pleasure of going down any of these hills.

And just to remind me that Park Rangers aren't the only mammals to watch out for in parks -

I was kind of glad I wasn't East Indian, because if I were I would probably be eaten by a coyote, as the East Indian words of caution are all rubbed and worn out.

I believe these art installations are at one of the entrances to Green Timbers Park on the other side of 96 Avenue. Once again, Surrey surpassed Richmond regarding art.

CONTINUUM: FROM SEED TO SHELTER

When I crossed the next road, just a few meters away, I was surprised (and joyful) to see Surrey Memorial hospital up ahead. Home was but a bit on the level, an uphill, a downhill, another uphill, and then a nice long downhill away.

That wasn't a very long bike ride either - 17.6 kilometers. I figured I didn't have enough punishment to warrant a day off, so after a late lunch ( scrambled eggs with cheese and a Kaiser bun), I headed out on foot with my faithful, much neglected buggy, for a trip to the bank and store. Another 5.6 kilometers.

So, let's see. This plus that equals ...  23.6 kilometers ... and that equals ... 14 miles.