Breehy's First Sky Train Ride - Exploring in New Westminster - mini bridges, pretty rivers, and no pie ...

July 3, sunny with a nice breeze, and the promise of a NOT hot day - just as good a time as any to take Breehy-hinny-brinny-hoohy-hah  for a few firsts.

Here she is, all sparking after a $100 trip to the bike shop a couple of months ago. Besides getting rid of all the cobwebs and dried up leaves, she got all new cables, a new tire tube, and an odometer installed. The rack and basket on the back was thanks to Howard and me ... so we were all set to go. All we needed was some muscles and stamina. Hah.

After a leisurely pedal and walk down the Hydro path (where, by the way, she and I found 4 Budweiser, 8 Cool Shots, and a flask of Spiced Bacardi the morning before - all unopened, and obviously forgotten by a bunch of drunk teenagers celebrating Canada Day, and just waiting to attend an impromptu 'kitchen party' in our backyard that evening) and then up the street, we arrived huffing and puffing at King George Sky Train station. Well, at least one of us was huffing and puffing. 

This was a morning of firsts for Breehy - first time in an elevator (not a whole lot of fun, these elevators aren't big enough for her to stretch out straight) - and also her first time on a sky train.

So off we went, wobbling and hanging on as we headed to Columbia Station, where we switched to the VCC train on our quest to find the Bailey Bridge that connects New Westminster to Port Coquitlam.

Now, I knew that bridge was closed to traffic at least twice in the past two years, as it has been deemed unsafe, although I can't understand why a few cracks would close it off to bikes and pedestrians. It's not like it's over the Fraser River - just a smaller river. Actually one web site I found said it was open to bikes and pedestrians, so that was my plan - to pedal over another bridge.

I'd already done the Patulla Bridge , and didn't feel the need to risk life and limb redoing it - two out of three sons had warned me never to cycle over the Patulla, for reasons I was soon to discover. However, I was glad I did, for if not, photograph below would never have been captured.

I'd also gone half way across the  Alex Fraser Bridge on another hot, sweaty and trembling-muscle day - the sewer plant on the other side of that bridge was a deterrent to my nose crossing the whole way. So today wasn't to ride a rerun, but to discover new and farther away stuff.

Unfortunately, the elevator at Braid Station was out of order, so Breehy got another first - she had to pull me down a flight of stairs. She is one heavy bike, and going downstairs isn't an easy task, as she behaved like an ill-trained dog - it wasn't easy slowing her down once she got her momentum.

And of course, when we exited the station, I had no clue as to where to go next. So of course, I went the wrong way. Uphill. That's me. 

The first person I asked for directions had no idea where the bridge was, and neither did the second. By this time I was once again pushing uphill, after taking a side road for a little while, until I saw some signage that we were entering Sapperton, and I'd already been there, done that, and it was in the wrong direction anyway. However, the second fellow said that this hill went on forever, basically, and the river was sort of in that direction, waving in a wide arc that basically took in all of New Westminster except the way I was headed. So it was back downhill, across the street, and towards the sky train again.

This was mainly industrial, and I came across the Brunette Highway, which seemed a bit familiar from my Google Map check. There were a few older houses tucked here and there, brightened up with a bit of lily,

-

and a bit of art

and after waffling over which direction to take (which meant taking the wrong one first, turning and going a bit, then rethinking and re-turning, then finally going in the original direction) I came across Braid Street ... and this wonderful sign. Well, not really wonderful - it did warn that the bridge was closed - but didn't say anything about no bikes or pedestrians. I am an optimistic, so we kept on going. Until we came to this ...

 I did consider just walking in to get a better view, and maybe see that river, but my feet wouldn't take me past the barricade. Even though I didn't see any of the 24 hour security patrol, that didn't mean there were no big bullies waiting in the bushes with pepper spray and rubber bullets waiting for their Fun of the Day. However - this wouldn't be the first time I missed what was on my To Do List and found something else to do instead, so I just decided to keep travelling around the bend of the road, and see what I would find. This turned out to be Capilano Way.

This was obviously an industrial area, as there were many truckers going and coming, but as long as the road didn't end in a gated warehouse, that was fine with me. I just kept on going, and around the bend I found a mini-river with maxi-pretty.

I even found a bridge over that river, but it was a railroad bridge. Once again I obeyed the Keep Off signs. I had no desire to see how flattened Breehy and I could become.

But the banks of the river, beside welcoming my flip-flopped feet with scratchy prickly dried-up foliage, were covered in wild flowers.

And this, according to my English cousin, Duncan, is by the side of the river on the left hand side of the bridge - I'm amazed he knew where I was, especially since I don't believe he's ever been in BC.

After taking a zillion pictures in this area, which gave my leg muscles a chance to un-atrophy, we once again headed onward - until we came to this warehouse group on Capilano Way - #6 caught my attention.

So I locked Breehy to the security fence and went into Jam's Cafe.

This cafe had a really nice look - big and airy, with fruit-patterned oilcloth tablecloths, plants, and a wide serving counter with kitchen area on the back wall. I ordered a bowl of veggie soup, and a bottle of water, but was disappointed to find there was no pie. You'd think a cafe in an industrial park that catered to truckers would have pie, lots of pie, yet there was none.

The soup was very good, especially since it had big chunks of potato in it. I love potatoes. 

However, I am disappointed to tell you I have no pictures of the inside of the cafe. The gal behind the counter refused absolutely my request to take a couple of shots. Maybe she's hiding from the law or something. I'm glad I already had a snap of my soup, although she couldn't very well stop me from taking that one, as it was by then my very own soup, paid for - I guess the bowl was hers, but I did feel like I had rented it while my soup was inside.

Besides soup, Jam's Cafe offered a breakfast menu, burgers, fries, and muffins. No pie. Tut.

So, off I go again, a bit farther along Capilano Way, until I do indeed reach a dead end with entrances to two warehouses. So back I turn, where I knew this cute little pedestrian (or bike?) bridge crossed the little river.

What a pretty sky!

And underneath that pretty sky, a pretty, peaceful stream.

So, back to civilization. I didn't really want to do the sky train to sky train transfer again, so decided to ride back to Columbia, where I would hop on the sky train and ride back to Gateway Station, thus getting over the Fraser River and up the dastardly long hill that King George Boulevard follows from Scott Road

However, that meant once again taking the dastardly long hills on New Westminster's Greenway trail from Sapperton to Columbia. I thought I could circumvent the really long steep ones if I pushed Breehy up a really really short steep one on a bike path -see how high?

- only to reach the top, ride a block, and then have to go back down again. Rats. 

I did take advantage of the blooms and blossoms though - each picture meant a break to breathe, sweat, and recuperate. Whew.

 

These look like apricots, but I don't know if it's an Apricot Tree or not. If it is indeed an Apricot Tree, then these are definitely apricots. Since this was a fenced and gated property, I didn't feel I should get closer to investigate.

Ah. At least I know I'm going in the right direction this time.

Imagine, almost half a block of these -

Wow, right?

What a beautiful place to sit, beside (or in) a bed of lavender.

Thank you, Bumble Bee.

Finally, we made it back to Columbia Street, and another view of the Sky Bridge. Didn't realize it had bow legs, though.

So we got to the station, hopped into the elevator, scooted onto a waiting train, where a disembodied voice announced it was going to the waterfront - scrabbled off, as it was the wrong train, wrong platform - hopped back into the elevator, went down to street level, hopped into the other elevator to the right platform, and waited for the train to take us back to Surrey. Whew.

I knew there was a Waves Coffee Shop kitty-cat corner from the Gateway Station, so that's where we headed, for an iced coffee and piece of Lemon Blueberry loaf, and a bit of time to let my ripped and torn muscles to heal before the ride home.

And home we made it - a lot of walk, a bit of ride, the promise of a nice cool shower goading us to our destination. Well, not Breehy so much. 

And that was our first adventure for the summer.