Thanks to all of you who have generously given for our cause so far, we really appreciate it…

It has been a while since we’ve had some time to update this site, but we are in Chase BC right now under the hospitality of 2 sets of Aunts and Unlces who live next door to eachother… Thank you so much Aunt Kathy and Uncle Steve and Aunt Judy and Unlce Marsh for putting up with us for a day!

As this is our first day of rest, it was well needed, let me assure you. So let me give you a brief update on our time so far:

Day 1: Vancouver to Misson: Woke up to wet and cold. Planned on taking the #1 to Abbotsford. Crossed a bridge we weren’t supposed to over the Fraser river. Faced certain death. Faced traffic fine. Walked through jungle to change route. Zig-zagged through Surrey to find a bridge to the #7. Found bridge. Found sign telling us not to cross bridge. Found rocks to throw. Found kind old man on bike telling us about bike path across bridge. Crossed bridge. Found the #7 through Maple Ridge to Mission. Found hotel but no camp site.

Day 2: Mission to Harrison Hot Springs: Woke up to wet and cold. Ready to go. Walk out to street. Find front tire flat on Jordan’s bike. Braden repairs tire (not because Jordan doesn’t know how;) Leave Mission and find that terrain is relatively flat. Get chased by loose dog and then yell at dog to go. Dog listens. Travel 6 kms off the highway to Harrison Hot Springs. Find campsite. Pay to put up tent. Receive generous offer from kind lady to sleep in fifth-wheel for same price. Accept offer. Go to hot springs next door. Relax.

Day 3: Harrison Hot Springs to Hope: Woke up to wet and cold. Bike up hill for 6 kms to get back to highway. Bike half way to Hope and stop for a packed lunch. While stopped, a young couple from Ontario stops by on their bikes and we chat about our trips. Thomas and Emily are their names and they are very nice. Jordan realizes his chain has been troubling him and Thomas helps him fix it. Braden and Jordan finish their ride to Hope with relative ease and meet Thomas and Emily again at the local Subway. Stay at cheap hotel for the night.

Day 4: Hope to Boston Bar: Woke up to the sun for the first time. Showed off my skin tight shorts for the first time. Left Hope on the #1 and started to climb mountains. Went through numerous tunnels including one of which was called “China Bar”. This was the longest tunnel and it was the only one without a sidewalk for pedestrians/cyclists. Oh, but there was a button to push to illuminate to dull flashing yellow lights to alert any would-be drive-by assassins that we might be lying dead in the tunnel somewhere. We waited for traffic. Started through tunnel when we thought it was safe. Immediately passed by 2 semis. Got through most of the tunnel. Passed by another 2 semis. Jordan actually says outloud, “God my life is in your hands.” God listens and lets the brothers live. After exiting the tunnel, we contemplated life and continued on. Beautiful scenery. We climb a large mountain pass and arrive at a restaurant dedicated to Elvis. The manager’s name is Norman. Norman gives Jordan an ice-cold Coca-cola and tells him of a campsite called Canyon Alpine just outside of Boston Bar. While at restaurant, we run into some cyclists from California heading to Jasper and then meet them again at the campsite. After arriving at Boston Bar we find out the campsite is several kms down the road. We make the journey and chat with a sweet old man who runs the site. We set up our tent for the first time and slept well.

Day 5: Boston Bar to Lytton: Mostly uneventful except for the beautiful scenery once again and climbing more mountains. Met a kind Chinese lady working at a restaurant at the top of a mountain pass. We camp at a provincial park outside Lytton next to an ant hill. The ants are amazingly accomodating and stay out of our stuff.

Day 6: Lytton to Cache Creek: The heat wave comes. We consume a lot of water. We stop at Spences Bridge for lunch after replacing another flat tire of Jordan’s and stopping for a bag of cherries for 50 cents. After leaving lunch we come to a bend in the highway where traffic is backed up for miles. We stop and ask what’s up. Two young and attractive females get out of their vehicles and engage in conversation. Time stands still. Half an hour later we leave and pass by all the vehicles until we reach the accident point. A small, smashed Yaris is all that remains and an ambulance leaves the scene. We follow the Ambulence for a few kms to a helicopter. Apparently the helicopter couldn’t land so close to the cliffside. We wait and watch the accident victim get transported to the chopper and then it takes off. We escape traffic long before they are allowed to leave. Traffic catches up. They all honk at us. We climb an enormous hill in terrible heat. Jordan needs water. Jordan gets water from kind family man’s water bottles. We make it to Cache Creek, eat blizzards at DQ and they go to our campsite where Jordan lounges in the pool and talks to a schoolbus driver from Vancouver for an hour. Jordan gets pruny.

Day 7: Cache Creek to Kamloops: We knock off 30 kms before we even realize it and then it gets tough. A lot of hills to climb. Excruciating heat. We stop half way for lunch. Climb another big hill. Need more water and stop at a farm house where no body was home. We poured from the tap on the side of their house. Thanks. We make it into Kamloops and stop at a hotel. Jordan enjoys the hot-tub, Braden enjoys the TV.

Day 8: Kamloops to Chase: We realize that we’re not aloud to be on the freeway through town. We ask directions from a few locals and get through quite easily. Mostly down hill the entire way to Chase. Except for the heat, it was an easy day.

Day 9: In Chase for rest.

We leave for Salmon Arm or further tommorow and I just have to mention again that we might not have internet access for a while. We recently added some pictures (although I need to add captions) and some videos too.

I hope to add a section for comments soon.

Thanks to Matt Morrison for updating our Trip-Tracker daily.

And last but not least, we remember that though this trip is an adventure for us with highs and lows, we want to raise awareness for those in Calgary who use the food bank. This is a good cause and we want to support them as much as we can. Please help us!

I just want to say to my friends and family that I miss you guys and love you all.