Day 4: Sidney to Saanich

August 24, 2014

I will just start off with a few "beyond their years" statements from Avi and Violet today:

Dodie: "Pedal hard Violet!" Violet: "I don't want to blow out my knees!"
Violet in the Mattick's Farm toy store: "How about this as an option for me."
Steve: "Let's not forget the bakery in Sidney". Avi: "No, we already had breakfast!"

We woke up at the campground, and did have that breakfast, of granola bars and apple sauce. Burned off some of the resulting energy by jumping on the picnic tables. Ranger Frank came to call. We knew it would be him because he told us last week that he works Sundays. He got a big hug from Violet. Really nice man.

We took advantage of the low light in the forest to review the photos taken by Avi and Violet yesterday. They got some really good ones. In fact, in the aquarium, Avi's are generally better than mine. We will have to wait until we are back home, though, to do the work of incorporating the kids' photography.

Burning off energy by jumping on the table top I

Burning off energy by jumping on the table top II

Burning off energy by jumping on the table top III

Burning off energy by jumping on the table top IV

Burning off energy by jumping on the table top V

Sidney is about 4 km down the road to the south, and was the first stop for us as we headed south toward Victoria. sidney really seems to have its act together, with always something going on. This time it was a classic car show. Beacon Avenue was closed, and the space filled with several hundred restored cars. Again, I think Avi got some pretty good shots!

The closed street, filled with people even at a quite early hour, was the kind of thing we enjoy walking through on a bike tour. We parked the rigs, quite confident that they would not be disturbed, and walk down and up Beacon for quite some time.After passing through the car display we once again were at the pier and the beach, and we continued our hunt for "sea glass". A large and heavy container of this got dragged back to be loaded on the bikes. Sure enough, while we looked at the bakery, we did not go in. Of course, we had earlier bought a dozen hot donuts from a cart in the street with the classic cars!

We left Sidney and headed down the Peninsula on the Lochside Trail. We didn't get too far, though. We had planned to go about half way down the Peninsula before looking for lunch, at Mattick's farm. But we had spent so much time in Sidney, that the McDonald's now looked very enticing. The food, of course, was despicable, but this branch did have a very nice play area.Basically, you could climb up a dozen feet in enclosed stairwells, and then slide down. Lots of fun, and a bit of a break for parents.

Next up we encountered the Vancouver Island Model Engineers installation, on the grounds of the Saanich Historical Society. They have a narrow gauge railway system, and offer rides to the public. From the trail it looked like just a small circuit, but we gave it a "spin" and found that the system is quite extensive, going back into the forest and crossing several bridges. Though small, the train still makes a satisfying clackety clack, as it passes over the joints in the tracks. The cost is by donation, something that intrigued Avi and Violet. For them, even putting money in a slot can be fun.

With three long stops before really getting going, we began to keep watch on the clock, recognizing that we had to get to Karyn and Erhard's place in Saanich in time for a planned family dinner. Still, we did need to stop again at the Mattick's Farm toy store. This is where Violet considered her options for a toy, as reported above. We did find each kid something, and continued gaily on our way.

That is, until we came to the pigs. This group of large animals must be famous with cyclists along the Lochside. Avi, again, took some careful photos of them. But looking at his stuff later, I was also impressed by the composition of a shot of a sunflower that was standing nearby.

Pedalling from Avi and Violet is naturally not consistent, so especially when we come to a bit of a hill, we call on them to push harder. Even though when you consider the Weehoos, kids, and gear, our loads are insanely heavy, the generally flat trail allows us to cover the needed distances with no problem. So by 3:30 p.m. we rolled casually up to Karyn and Erhard's place, 28 km from where we had started. While 28 km might not seem far, the idea is that we are balancing just continuous cycling with the need to stop a lot, to make it interesting for the six year olds. Frankly, while I can enjoy just hours of pedalling - lost in thought, or enjoying the exercise, stuff like the model train ride was a darn lot of fun!

At Karyn and Erhard's, Avi and Violet also got to climb Amelia's rock mountain, not to mention playing games with is wonderful grand aunt and uncle. We get to sleep in their large upstairs room, a luxury after one whole night in a tent!

Tomorrow we ditch most of our luggage and cycle into downtown Victoria. There is lots to check out this elegant town at the end of the quite wild Vancouver Island. Then it's back to our upstairs room for one more night, before heading off to the wilder West.

Beacon Avenue closed for the classic car event

A 1957 chevrolet is always found at these things

The game heere was to match nine price stickers to nine pictured used cars. Most people, including us, have no idea. We got two right, the best peerformance so far was four right.

A blue, but not quite powder blue, cadillac.

This Cadillac limosine was our favourite, We had read about this very car in a newspaper. It had once been used as an ambulance, and had a door cut away to admit stretchers.

McDonalds. We are definitely not in Europe now!

Around a curve - this allows you to see the small engine

Aha, the source of the horse poo we keep seeing on the trail

Construction as we get deeper into downtown Saanich. Workers were very considerate of the cyclists, though.

Today's ride: 28 km (17 miles)
Total: 123 km (76 miles)

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