Emily likes organizing surprise weekends. Last year for my birthday, we took our bikes on the train to Portland. This year I didn’t know where we were going except I needed a bathing suit and my bike.

On Saturday morning, we packed, jumped on our bicycles, and headed down to Cambie and 10th where there was a Modo co-op car with a bike rack. It took us a few minutes to figure out the bike rack – Emily was searching the car for a manual, I was looking for a video online, but once we took a closer look at the rack we realized it was surprisingly intuitive – and then we were on the road heading east.

It wasn’t until Surrey that I realized we were probably headed towards Harrison Hot Springs, but first we had to stop in at our favourite restaurant outside of Vancouver – Limbert Mountain Farm. Nothing says “local” like eating on a farm, and the food at Limbert is the freshest, tastiest food around.

At Harrison, we spent lots of time relaxing in the thermal pools and exploring the area by bike. Our friend Leanne gave us a copy of Easy Cycling Around Vancouver – 40 short tours for all ages. Cycling is a great way to explore an area – the pace is slower, you’re more likely to stop, and you see more then just the side of the highway. We followed two of the routes listed in the book: Harrison-Agassiz and Seabird Island. Both were flat routes, with little traffic, on nicely paved roads through scenic farmland (including most of the stops on the Circle Farm Tour). The only downsides were the pervasive smell of manure and some brief stretches on the highway shoulder.

On the way home, we stopped in at our favourite road stop tourist trap, Castle Fun Park, and played a round of mini golf and a few games of air hockey.

What a perfect weekend.