AFTER DINNER GEOCACHING

Trail alongside Chehalis Creek in the Harrison Mills area

Ken and I made a quick after dinner trip to Harrison Mills area to replace one of my geocaches which had been hidden 17 years ago.

(Hard to believe I have a geocache hidden that long)

As usual I did a good job of hiding the geocache (old ammo can) among the creek boulders along the edge of the river. Between the many boulders to step on and look under, and the slippery moss covering the boulders, I thought for sure one of us was going to take a tumble and break something important, like our wit !

Buddha statue through which an artesian well supplies water to community residents

We replaced the geocache unscathed, other than a few mosquito bites, and then meandered homeward finding a few geocaches on our way back to Maple Ridge.

We found our last few caches in the dark but even so, that was not a problem as our BAF (Big A** Flashlights) made it easy to find our way to the geocache area and then zero in on the cache itself.

Elbow Creek directly across the road from the Buddha statue

Though we were only out for three hours or so, we still enjoyed getting out of the house to experience the beautiful scenery so close to home.

Ruskin Hall in east Maple Ridge was built in 1922

.

 VISITING QUAYSIDE AT NEW WESTMINISTER

ALL PICTURES FROM THE DAY CAN BE SEEN HERE ON MY PHOTO PAGE

The Fab Four, AKA myself, my "Handler" Annette, and brother Ken and wife Linda, waited out the Sunday morning rain by having breakfast at a local diner, then headed to New Westminster to visit the Quay (pronounced "key"). The Quay is an indoor public market containing gift stores, jewelry stores, craft sellers, food stands and a grocery store.

Today's visit was more about strolling the boardwalk before and after the market place, and seeing the latest buildings and parks as they are developed. 

The New West waterfront was once a run down commercial section of the city; over the years derelict warehouse were torn down and the land left vacant. A few years ago, an arsonist started a fire in the massive wooden pier which caused extensive damage and set back the city's community plans for the area.

Today, the pier has been rebuilt, residential high rises are separated by community park areas containing plenty of activity for little ones and for everyone else. Benches, lounging sculptures, extensive board walks, and clear views are accessed by city spaces and pathways from one end of the complex to the other. All in all, I'm guessing at 2 kms of boardwalk from the newer east end to the older west end now exists.

We enjoyed exploring the new areas and stated that we wouldn't mind living here; many outside cafes and restaurants have opened and the riverside view can't be beat!

After our walk we popped into the quay itself to have a coffee and do a quick shop at the grocery store where we picked up some fruit and veggies, all local of course, and headed back to our cars for our next destination.

Queens Park in New Westminster is a 75 acre park containing a baseball stadium, ice rink, spray park, tennis courts, and multiple buildings used for community functions. Established in 1887, this historic park is well loved by all of the Greater Vancouver residents.  Today we wanted to visit their outstanding Rose Garden as a soft wrap up to our day of walking the riverside boardwalk.

Constructed in 1981, this small garden harbours dozens of roses, along with some other native plants and shrubs. We spent an hour just enjoying the multitude of colours and smells of the flowers, a fine way to end the day.

Afterwards, it was time to head home and rest our feet and plan on where to go next time.  

 A DATE WITH MY DARLING WIFE

YOU CAN CLICK ON THESE FEW PICTURES AND VIEW THEM IN THEIR LARGER SIZE

CLICK HERE TO SEE ALL THE PICTURES FROM THE DAY, INCLUDING UP CLOSE AND PERSONAL WITH A CHOO-CHOO TRAIN !

The City of White Rock is located south of Vancouver BC, along the northern shore of Boundary Bay which derives its name from being divided between Canada and the U.S. by the 49^th parallel.

The Salish people have been living in the area for over five thousand years, with the Semiahmoo First Nations have multiple villages around Boundary Bay both north and south of the present day international border.

Today Annette and I were visiting White Rock to have a walk along the beach and the 1,542 foot long pier which is always a favourite thing to do. The tide was at its high level today, even though the tide charts state it should have been low tide.

At low tide, the water recedes quite far exposing expansive amounts of sand areas to walk along. That was disappointing for Annette, as she really looked forward to walking along the exposed sand.

Instead we settled for a stroll along the high tide line and then headed for the pier. The White Rock Pier is listed as Canada’s longest pier at 470 meters, or 1,542 feet. However you measure it, it’s a long way to the end.

The city had to rebuild the pier in 2019 due to storm damage and part of the rebuild was adding historical information boards about the White Rock area along the walkway. It made for an informative walk and helped to break up the long trip to the end of the pier.

After our “long walk on a long pier”, we had a light dinner at one of the local restaurants and then treated ourselves to ice cream at a takeout ice cream parlour.

The advertised rain was still holding off, so we headed over to the north side of White Rock to visit Crescent Beach.

We wandered our way over there, taking side streets which hugged the coast line. We stumbled across a small park named Kwomais Point Park. Kwomais is a native word meaning “place of vision” and the point of land was used by the First Nations Semiahmoo people as both a look out for their enemies and as a place for spiritual visions. I don’t think I had ever been in this park or at the lookout point, however, checking to see if there was a geocache here, I discovered I found the geocache in January of 2008! So, I guess I have been here before, huh.

After the park we continued on to Crescent Beach were we took a short stroll along the pathway and enjoyed the ocean views. The village of Crescent Beach has a block long main street containing some excellent small restaurants, but as we eaten earlier we declined on stepping inside. 

We wrapped up out short visit by taking a rare selfie and began to walk back to the car just as the advertised rain began spitting on us. As daylight was fading and the sun was going down, it was time to wrap up our day-date and head for home.    

 KANAKA CREEK PARK IN MAPLE RIDGE

Kanaka Creek has its origins in the hills in the northeast of Maple Ridge and winds its way down to meet the Fraser River as its endpoint. Metro Vancouver has created a linear park which protects more than 11 KMs. of the creek. 

Today my honey and I joined a host of other nature lovers and enjoyed a late winter afternoon in the sun in the lower section of the park at the confluence of Kanaka Creek and the Fraser River.

Kanaka Creek is named after the Hawaiians who had joined as crew on the Hudson Bay Company's ships as they sailed north from southern seas loaded with goods purchased in trade with partners in Asia.

When the ships reached Fort Langley across the river from Maple Ride, some Hawaiians left the ships and rowed across the river to live and eventually married into the Katzie First Nations band. 

Nearing its terminus, Kanaka Creek meanders across a flood plain in oxbow fashion before it straightens and runs into the Fraser River. 

In early settler days, a logging railway ran from the forests at the foot of the mountains down to rivers edge. Here there was a dumping ground for the trains and a log sorting area where the logs where sorted by size and species, then boomed together for a trip downriver to one of the many mills on the river.

The wide pathway from the parking lot to the rivers edge is actually the old train bed which makes for an easy walk for everyone.

We enjoyed our walk, with Annette out to get her exercise and myself just meandering along taking pictures and enjoying the views and the history of the park.

After an hour or so we had our required steps in, just in time as the clouds were moving in to eclipse the sun to cool down the temperature as the day came to an end.

Time to go home for a warm cup of tea and a hearty meal of home made soup, perfect for a chilly winter's day.

 ALL PICTURES OF OUR AFTERNOON WALK CAN BE FOUND HERE ON MY FLICKR WEB SITE