Raptor's Journal

Bikes and Vancouver and Stuff
So the week before my last post, my bike broke, and it made me mad because it happened just as I was all pumped up and ready to take it out on the trails. It's actually just the seat that broke (again), but since I was planning on replacing this bike by the end of the year anyway, I think I'll just accelerate that plan a little and get myself a new one. I'm planning on spending a bit more than the $400 I spent on the last one (about 4 years ago...I think I've got more than $400 worth out of it in that time).

So my budget this time is about $1000-$1200, and I'll be looking at an XC bike of some sort, which should be good for both city and trail riding. I actually knew very little about mountain bikes when I bought my last one, but I've learned a lot more over the last little while so I should be able to make a smarter purchase and get a more durable, comfortable, and appropriate bike for my needs.

We got back from Vancouver this weekend, and it was a really great time. We stayed with my Aunt in Lynn Valley, in North Van, which is a neat area in itself. Some of the highlights of the trip:
- Frequent trips on the SeaBus
- Canada Day downtown Vancouver
- Chillin' on the beach at Ambleside
- Dinner with an old friend at a Microbrewery in Yaletown that has awesome gourmet pizzas
- Dessert at an amazing dessert shop in the west end of downtown
- Driving over the Lion's Gate bridge during the day and again at night
- Buying shoes at John Fluevog's in Gastown
- Riding the SkyTrain to Metrotown
- Blodel Conservatory and the Dr. Sun Yat Sen Chinese Garden (again)
- Delicious sushi at Lynn Valley Centre including fruit sushi
- Brews with said old friend on Commercial Drive and finally meeting his pregnant wife
- Hiking in Lynn Canyon
- Crossing the Lynn Valley Suspension Bridge (not nearly as huge as the Capilano, but impressive nonetheless)

We also made a trip down to Seattle. I have to say I was a bit underwhelmed by that city. It seems nice, but nothing I saw was truly spectacular, with the one exception being the Science Fiction Museum. That was very, very cool. While we were there, they had a great exhibit on Jim Henson, the man behind the muppets, showing some of his early artwork and some of his short videos. It was very interesting to see.

While there we also saw the Pike Place market (including the famous Pike Place Fish Market, but no one was buying anything so it wasn't very exciting) and the Space Needle, which was pretty cool (not as cool as the CN Tower though). For dinner, we tried to go to The Crab Pot, which is apparently a pretty famous restaurant, but it was packed. We found another seafood place nearby on the marina, the name of which escapes me at the moment. The salmon there was very, very good.

Though Jenn was doing all the driving, it was a pretty frustrating experience in Seattle. Some of the roads downtown are extremely steep, the one-way streets are extremely inconvenient (it didn't help that the map we had didn't indicate any one-ways), and getting back onto the I-5 to get out of the city was next to impossible.

On the way back to Edmonton, we stayed in Jasper overnight. We didn't do much there but eat pizza and sit in the hot tub, but it was nice nonetheless.

All in all a good vacation. Going back to work this morning was pretty hard to do.

Sorry I don't have a photo to go along with this post. I took over 2000 photos and it will take me some time to sort them out...

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