Stanley Park provides

For the last three days staying in Vancouver we have found a very nice camping spot in Stanley park. Located at the end of the trolleybus line, this place felt really peaceful and quiet after crowded streets of the city.
Slept under the cover of huge cedar trees, variety of ferns and wild raspberries which we gathered in big quantities for our breakfast and dinner.

Sweet times!

Vancouver!

This is our second day in Vancouver, and it's going great.
After the solstice, we went for a walk with Stasis and Zilvitis in the Rockies, and we've parted just outside of Lake Louise. It was the first time on our trip that we slept under the open sky, it was good.In the morning, Jack the snowplow driver drove us to Golden and told us stories about his hikes in the surrounding mountains.Once in Golden, we only had to wait for 7 minutes when Jeremiah, a timber framer, a campground and a ski hill owner, father of two, picked us up, headed for Vancouver Island.
The ride was amazing, Olga, the VW bus, burnt a lot of oil, but pushed on through some of the most amazing scenery in all of Canada.
In Vancouver, we're staying in Stanley Park, there are huge Red Cedars, lots of raspberries and tons of good places to camp. Today we're going to see our friend Cameron, and probably go on to the ferry to the island tomorrow.

Solstice in Calgary

It took two rides to get from Winnipeg to Calgary. The first was a life-time trucker with his wife going to visit his mom in Brandon, a very genuine and funny guy, he told us how he drove through a tornado, as we were driving by the spot where it happened. After he dropped us off, Anastasia said: I'd like to go across the prairies in a truck, all the way to Calgary. And guess what? That's EXACTLY what happened. The trucker was young and he smoked dope in the truck. We slept sitting up in the cab on the side of the highway, and made it to Calgary at 7 in the morning:)

Here, we went to see our friends Stasis, Violeta and Zilvitis. With them we went to the Lithuanian Solstice gathering. There were a lot of mosquitoes and we decided not to camp overnight.

When we came back to the city, we went to the nearby park, made a wreath and, with a candle up on it, let it sail down the creek. On the way back to the house, we saw four deer, and a big buck was looking at us. That was a very powerful solstice.

Today we're going to the mountains, finally!

To the plains!

Our stay in Winnipeg beach has come to an end. We made huge progress on the cottage, installed doors and windows, built decks and stairs - it was fun! Tara's parents came up on the week-end and cooked amazing meals for us, thank you for that Wiebe's Taco Salad!
In the evenings we biked to the beach a couple of times, and hidden in the forest, we found this old mill.
Heading out of Winnipeg tomorrow, hoping for good rides, weather and pretty rainbows in Saskatchewan!

Manitoba

Last week we have finally reached Winnipeg Beach, a small rural town 70 km north of Winnipeg. For the next little while we are staying with our friend Tara and helping her do some work on her house.
WB is absolutely remarkable small place, reminded me a lot about old Russian country house- dacha. Compared with other Canadian cottage towns this place has its own unique and very familiar charm - rusted community wells on the corners of the streets, one-speed bicycles, badminton players and numerous folks promenading on the unpaved streets in the evening. So much like Russia!!!!

Greetings from friendly Manitoba!

A.

Finally on the road

George here,

So, yes, we've finally escaped the Big Smoke, and bussed it up to Barrie yesterday. Then we split ways, I went to see friends in Minesing and Anastasia went to see Bill. The hitch to Minesing was examplary easy. When I was crossing a north-bound onramp of the 400, a lady pulled over, thinking I was going North. I was just walking by! That was super nice, I thought, a good omen. Made it to Minesing just in time, socialized and threw various metal tools at the target from 20 and 50 feet away. The double-headed axe and a skil-saw blade flew well and far, but the fireman's "destroy-framing" hatchet required certain skill to make it travel straight through the air. After everybody went home Klaus took me to his place in a civic that he modified so it only uses 4.something liters per 100 kilometers!!! Now I'm in the library, waiting for Anastasia, and then we're off.
It feels good to be traveling again, it's a gorgeous day outside, too!!!
Next stop in Winnipeg Beach, MB!