Good Morning Sunshine

Our first day on the road is often short on distance but important because it is our test run. We need to know how the bike will handle with the load and we need to be close to home in case we’ve left anything undone or forgotten something. So we spent our first night at our son, David’s place in Kitsilano, which is a great destination anytime. Kitsilano is an older, high-density suburb of Vancouver, with tremendous charm, great shopping and fabulous beaches. Barry enjoyed barbecuing chicken for the four of us and David’s partner, Iwona made a wonderful Butternut squash soup (we weaseled the recipe out of her). In Iwona’s cooking nothing is wasted and this tasty soup uses the nutrient-rich skin of the squash as well.

Iwona’s Butternut Squash Soup
Wash two butternut squash (these are the yellow ones plentiful all summer while their skins are still somewhat tender). Remove the stems and put both whole squash into a large pot and cover with water and boil until fork tender. Remove the squash , chop into pieces, and remove and discard the pulp. Put the pieces of squash back into the pot, add chicken broth or chicken Oxo flavouring, or any vegetable-based flavouring you like, lots of rosemary and salt/pepper to taste. Use your hand blender to blend all the ingredients and reheat. The squash thickens the soup nicely. If you don’t like sprigs of rosemary floating in your soup you can strain it or use ground rosemary. Enjoy!

We awoke to sunshine this morning even at the early departure time of 6:30 which we chose to avoid rush hour traffic. I am not a morning person - I like to have at least half a pot of coffee on the inside before I tackle anything like getting dressed! Despite my lack of enthusiasm, I am always amazed to see all the people who are up at that time of day - walking dogs, drinking coffee on patios, and reading newspapers at bus stops. Of course there are also many rather glumly beginning their commute, probably I look like them! Our reward for early rising was to see the sunshine dancing on the surface of the mighty Fraser as we zoomed across the Port Mann bridge.
We made great time all the way to Hope, taking perverse pleasure in going the opposite direction to rush hour traffic. Hope is a talisman spot for us, we stop there outbound and inbound, hoping for safe traveling and thankful for good journeys. Of course the fact that the Home Restaurant makes the best breakfasts and wonderful pies is a further enticement to stop.
Route 3, also known as the Crowsnest Highway is our route of choice for today. We love the way much of the road follows rivers: we ride beside the Skagit, the Similkameen, the Okanogan, the Kettle, the Columbia, and the Salmo. Route 3 also traverses beautiful river valleys and climbs and descends through the Northern Cascade mountains, the Okanogan highlands, and the Kootaney Range before twisting its way through the majestic Rockies! We ride through a variety of small towns and villages; communities rooted in farming, mining, or forestry that are increasing turning to tourism to maintain their viability.
We stop for the night at the Sunset Motel in Creston, BC. This older motel is well-kept by its delightful long time owners. The small pool is a remedy for tired muscles and sore bottoms after a long day of riding more than 750 km.