Mountain biking is only easy half-way

  Vernon, British Columbia, Canada
Saturday, May 17, 2008

Some members here have been bugging me to blog despite not making any significant travels since signing up here. Being inspired by some suggestions, I decided to make a go of treating my (current) home town as a destination. It kind of worked out, as having not lived here in Vernon for very long I've not really explored the place beyond my back yard. Granted, what I refer to as a "back yard" most people would witness as "the upper half of a stinkin' mountain", but I digress. Today I pulled my father's old bike out of storage, hooked my camera to my belt, and took off for downtown.

Well, not exactly. First I spent two hours looking for my helmet, realising I sold it when I sold my bike last year, driving to the mall to buy a new one and while I'm there pick up a new lock, stopping by work first because they broke the computer, driving back home, trying to figure out the unusual kickstand and gearshifters on dad's bike, putting together the puzzle that is the air compressor, unsuccessfully attempting to locate the P.S.I. rating on the tires, carefully trying to fill them up just enough to support my weight without exploding, going to the kitchen to appease my stomach which knows it's now lunch time, searching for and applying the sunscreen, and cursing at the garage door control for not closing the blasted door, but I eventually got underway.

First stop: Polson Park. Every city seems to have at least one outdoor location perfect for reading a book, and this is that location here. Despite being boxed between Vernon's two major highways the park is pretty peaceful, for an overabundance of trees prevents the road noise from disturbing the area. Aside from the other visitors, the only sounds here are the fountains and a stream full of geese. Unfortunately I didn't bring a book this time. So let's go to the library.


The library shares the same block as the museum. I haven't actually been in the museum before, so I stopped in. The exhibits are really no more or less interesting than any other museum in any other city, but admission is by donation, and when I opened my wallet to find nothing but Canadian Tire money the receptionist told me not to worry and to go right in. Being a radio geek my eye was caught by the preserved equipment from Vernon's first local radio station CJIB -- now Kiss-FM (CKIZ). A previous job permitted me to see how radio stations are run today and, well, technology certainly changes.

The books I've been looking for were unfortunately already checked out, so I started back along the highway to stop at perhaps the most mysterious fountain in the city. It's located right across from the local Courthouse, and the construction and carvings in the stones suggest it was built for a purpose, yet there's no monument tablet anywhere near to explain the enigma. But the fountain wasn't running today and there aren't enough trees here to block the highway noise, so after catching my breath I decided to head back home. And anyway my short trip around town somehow already sucked up two more hours.

Heading home was a journey all its own. You see, "town" is located at the bottom of the surrounding mountains, but "home" is located half-way to the top. I'm only used to using my bike as a mode of transport in the flat lands of Alberta. But I made it home, and now I have to figure out how to add photos to this mess. 'Cause no-one actually found this block interesting anyway. But that's fine. I mostly took this trip just to play with my new camera before going on real travels.