Jono's Travel Blog

02/09/2010 Day 2 Vancouver to Mexico

Distance Travelled: 70km

Money Spent: $7.00 – Peanut butter and Jelly not Jam (because I’m in America) and a lighter for my stove.

I woke up this morning having my tent lying on my face, one of the poles had snapped but using my ingenuity I managed to fix it using some duct tape, serious what doesn’t duck tape fix, well there’s a stubborn screw or a squeaky wheel, but that’s what WD-40 is for.

Enough of that; I slept unbelievably well last night, I didn’t wake till 10.30 which is uncommon for me as I’ve been waking up at 7 am for some reason but getting this extra sleep was certainly something I needed.

For breakfast I picked some blackberries from the surrounding bushes and mixed it in with my muesli (granola), it was a good breakfast to begin the day.

I set off from Ferndale close to 12.00 and made my way through Bellingham then to Hwy 11, got a little bit lost along the way and things would be much easier if I could cycle on the Interstate freeway but I suppose it wouldn’t be very scenic and I would have to put up with the passing traffic going at high speeds, so if anything I suppose I really should invest in a map so I don’t get lost.

What really sucks is that there are no mile markers to let me figure out by doing some math how fast I’m going and how far things are away, so as an alternative I’m always asking randoms in the street for directions and distance.

Hitting up highway 11 was amazing, the views of the bay were stunning enough, let alone the curving roads that reminded me of the motorbike trip I went on in Pai to My Hong Son in Thailand, this had similar winding roads and cooler weather and of course the fact that I am cycling.

I took what I thought was going to be a shortcut to Hwy 20, although not knowing whether it was or not I suppose it worked out ok because I got there.

I got to Fidalgo Island where I made my way to Deception pass; it was getting close to sunset so I headed to a park (Rosario Beach) where I thought I could camp for the night.

When I arrived I met a nice Korean lady and her family who was tending to a BBQ, she offered and kept offering me BBQ ribs, I refused them after about 7 or so of them and cooked up some noodles as I was keen on using my homemade stove. All in all it was a good and cheap dinner for me.

As sunset passed a Park Ranger told everyone that the park was closing, I asked him hypothetically “if someone were to camp what would be the worst case scenario”, he told me it wouldn’t be worth it as the fine is quite a lot, but not actually telling me how much the fine is because the people who ask generally would camp out anyway. I said fine and he directed me to a campsite.

I was cycling in the dark now and I passed over Deception Bridge which is something like the 3^rd tallest bridge in…. I dunno, you’ll have look it up, I don’t want to mislead you.

So I went to the camping ground and they charge $14 to pitch your tent. I said that was ridiculous and id rather find a spot on the side of the highway and so I did; I literally cycled for a minute and I found a rundown building that didn’t look like it was in use and camped behind it. I’m trying to do this trip for as cheap as possible, that’s why I’m writing how much I’m spending for each day. So far as you can see, I’ve spent less than $10 in 2 days, go me!