A day in the life of a Canadian bird.

Thursday was the best day of the week.  It was bright, it was clear, it was crisp and fresh, and in a stroke of great luck the man and I were both free, so despite a hangover (mine) and some bumps and bruises (also mine - he's far more coordinated than I am) we seized opportunity by the erm... never mind, and did what we do best.  We went for a ride.

It's unlikely I will ever be able to colour inside the lines, so don't hold your breath waiting for a pretty map outta me.

This is a great little day trip. I'm sold on it because once you start on that long, straight stretch heading north, it's a gorgeous, quiet road up to the parking lot at the foot of the trail, and it just gets better from there. Once you're on the trail, (approx point B) you'll find yourself on a road without any vehicle traffic at all.  It's heavenly.

Course, you'll have to get by a few cars to get to that sweet spot.  Here we are, winding our way through the skyscraper jungle, travelling west on Dunsmuir.

On our approach to Stanley Park we stopped to have a gander at some geese.

Heading for the day's first forest encounter...

Stanley Park on a weekday morning... sweet solitude in the middle of the city.

A sneak peak at our very near future...

Soon as you get to the other side of the Lion's Gate it's just a leeeetle tiny bit like entering the Twilight Zone.  I'm not sure exactly what makes me feel this way, but it's a palpable thing.  It might have something to do with all of the "Look out for flying saucers" signs.

On the right track... it used to be that travelling from the Lion's Gate toward the Second Narrows bridge on the North Shore was a nightmare.  We had no trouble at all, because there were bike lanes most of the way, and reasonable shoulders everywhere else.

Urban sprawl meets temperate rain forest.  How far will we go before we finally figure out that cities are most liveable when they develop vertically?

When a girl's gotta stop, a girl's gotta stop.

We kept our eyes open...

...but even so, we didn't see a single Newt crossing.

Though we did see a coyote on the way home.

I saw all sorts of beautiful things.

This is the best bit, though... roads, roads everywhere, and nowhere a car to be seen. This is right at the top of the trail, near the foot of the reservoir.

This video starts just a little way down the trail from there...

Welcome to my world.  It's good here. You should give it a go.

ps

Next week you will find words to chew on, too, and not just pictures.  This week was a week off, full of all sorts of week-off-busy-ness.