Exploring and Learning

We've had some time to explore and learn about our new city. Saturday I took Sarah into town to see the Science World museum. We spent three and a half hours there. Many science museums seem to rely on interactive displays that are just multiple choice quizzes, and kids come in, press the buttons, get bored quickly, and move on. This was different, engaging for adults as well as kids. I enjoyed it a lot, and it's one place I know I can take Sarah and not worry about her getting bored.

In the afternoon, we went biking to nearby Burnaby Mountain. We didn't make it to the top, but did get about 1/3 of the way there. I have pictures I can share later.

We're getting much more comfortable and familiar. Days ago we were frightened, jet-lagged zombies. Now we are rested and again enjoying professionally home-cooked meals, with local BC wines, and enjoying local weekend papers. (With comics again!)

Today, after getting papers, Margo cooked us a Sunday morning breakfast of eggs, sausages (yay! We can get links again!) and pancakes. Then we did our Sunday morning cleaning for the first time in our new home, me figuring out the vacuum and establishing patterns for cleaning the floors, plus doing laundry, and Margo cleaning the bathroom.

Margo later left for a lunchtime meeting with some classmates. Sarah and I went for an afternoon bike ride to the shop on Commercial Drive where I got my bike, as a destination, and also to get a lock for her bike. But we had an accident on the way. I stopped halfway across Boundary Road when the light changed, and Sarah slammed into me and fell. She was uninjured, but her rear axle was bumped out of alignment, and so her rear wheel was locked. We were about halfway to Commercial, with maybe a mile to go, so we started walking, with me carrying her bike. I figured it would be best to fix her bike and ride it home, instead of taking the bus home and having a non-working bike to fix later. We did ask some passing cyclists if they had tools, but nobody seemed to have a 15mm wrench on them.

We made it later. Commercial was my destination as it's a vibrant street of funky shops, similar to Portland streets like Hawthorne, Belmont, and Clinton. But this is a hilly place, and the five or more substantial hills between us and our destination were tiring for Sarah. We got her axle realigned and her wheel trued (it got slightly bent), then made our way back, which was still quite slow. I don't think Sarah's ready for long rides yet - we'll have to stick to very close destinations, and try for flatter rides in the future.

I'm looking forward to learning more. There are lots of other neighbourhoods to explore. We get to familiarise ourselves with the local newspapers, TV and radio stations. Galleries and museums. Parks and libraries. I suspect I may be getting a job offer soon and I'll have to ensure I get some time to keep exploring before starting work.