Here’s some random thoughts and pictures from Amanda’s perspective.
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Andrew has an actual GPS computer for navigation and statistics. I have a ‘manual GPS’ system as a passerby referred to it as. |
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This was a river we rode over between Squamish and Whistler. The water was like chocolate milk it was so dirty it was weird. We didn’t drink it. |
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Andrew just at the start of the Duffey Lake road climb. |
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Andrew getting us some much needed water from a nice clean run off. |
We embarked on this trip with a goal of testing our ability to live on a tight budget and to ensure we still had the love of touring. While we rarely doubt our desire to travel the world on our bicycles it has been two years since we went on a tour. This was a short one compared to others and compared to what the future holds. We are however confident it accomplishes our goal.
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Andrew tucked in as it was 8 degrees Celsius one night. |
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Sometimes a shoulder isn’t good. Looking closely just to the left of the gravel there is a worn out white line indicating to cars that we have a shoulder. I found cars gave us less room since the road now had this super sketchy shoulder. |
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A look at the upcoming decent after our hard climb of the Duffey Lake Road. |
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Andrew running into my picture of the sun rising over Lillooet. |
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Our first attempt at stealth camping. Look to left of the cement barrier. That’s our tent. |
The budget was always at the forefront of my mind. With our relationship, I’m the budget part. I’m the person who is always harping on not spending money on unnecessary things. I’m also the one who typically is reviewing our financial situation on an ongoing basis. With that in mind, I was thinking about our budget at every turn. It’s good to be aware of it, but not so good to deprive yourself of the basic necessities. When riding your bike for endless hours a day, food and energy is critical to successful trips. Looking back I could have likely eaten more food. I was really feeling it the day that Andrew challenged me on my speed. At that point I confessed that I had woken up a couple of times hungry and went to bed hungry. I’ll need to work on that. Budget is important, but not at the expense of enjoying your trip. I’ll need to keep that in mind.
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Not only was Andrew sweating, apparently he was losing a lot of salt! I added salt to our meals after seeing this. |
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I kept seeing signs for the Circle Route that we were apparently riding. This is a map of the different routes you can take. It was at a rest stop. We sort of did a mixture of routes. |
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Andrew checking out the sunset at Monte Lake after dinner. |
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Improved stealth camping set up and one of my favorite spots at the edge of Monte Lake. |
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The view from the tent. |
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We came across two people who were walking along the highway with a vehicle behind them. Andrew chatted with this fellow. He said they were raising money and awareness for the people who have lost their lives on highways and the campaign is called Tears for Justice Walk. They began in Nova Scotia in June. |
I was also reminded of how cleanliness is imperative to my ability to function. Not having a shower for a few days caused me some psychological challenges. I needed a shower which ended up costing us money. I’ll need to give more thought to washing daily, even if it is not in a shower.
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Sunrise at Monte Lake … equally pretty. |
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Andrew arriving at our destination in Vernon. |
I was reminded of how lucky I am to have met Andrew and to have the same dreams. Not too many people would give up everything they own to ride their bike around the globe with one person. After spending 9 days with Andrew I feel closer to him now than I did the day before. Based on our love for each other, I expect that will continue through our adventures and carry us many miles.
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Just outside Whistler |
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Joffree Lakes |
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Lillooet |
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Outside Kamloops |
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Vernon |
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The Rise … Vernon |
And so we will resume our daily lives and save, save save.