into the deep end

We managed to get most of our packing done by 3am last night... woke up today to finish up and ended up taking the 12:30pm ferry. We arrived in Horseshoe Bay (Vancouver) at 2:30pm and started riding towards the towering mountains.

That's when the rain started. And it didn't stop the whole day. And so we decided to keep riding as long as we could and get a motel room for the night... somewhere...

It's strange being in your own world and not being able to talk to anyone. Every corner we turned I would be like 'wow' or 'ahhh'.. Several times already I've gotten a bit teary-eyed at how beautiful the landscape is. When you're riding on a bike, you are consumed in your own world, and you feel like it's just you and the road and your million thoughts that are running through your mind.

Still, there's only so much daydreaming and thinking you can do. The road ahead demands your utmost concentration. We took the SEA TO SKY highway from Vancouver, twisty roads and quite a lot of pre-Olympics 2010 construction (deep potholes and gravel, which basically translates to a mud bath - great for the BMW but not so Shadow-friendly).

We passed the ski resort towns of Squamish and Whistler, then fueled up the bikes at Pemberton (and ourselves at the local McDonald's).

Eventually, we stopped at the Hotel DeOro in Lillooet, "the little nugget of BC." There's free  wireless internet and cable tv so we are very :) Oh, and there's a continental breakfast too which suits my morning coffee addiction just fine.

Matt's gone next door for a beer while I'm feeling antisocial having just showered and sitting comfy on the bed.. We've got all of our soaked clothes and bags strewn across the room, hopefully it will dry overnight. Our gloves are so wet, all you have to do is squeeze them slightly
and a waterfall of brown silty water gushes out.

It's definitely been one of those 'right into the deep end' kind of days. But oh, it feels so right to be here right now.