What A Day.

Ugh. Didn't really expect to be writing anything negative this soon. But, ugh. Today was rough...and this is supposed to be the "vacation" part of the trip!  As I wrote in my previous post, I didn't sleep a wink last night because of my epic struggle trying to pack my bike. I got an hour or so of shuteye on the way to Seattle, which helped a lot, but then my flight to Vancouver got delayed a couple of hours. Got another hour of sleep on that flight and was happy to see that my bike box made it to Vancouver in one piece!  It did go through an inspection, but it didn't look like things got moved around too much so that's good.  I maneuvered the oversized box to a quiet, less busy part of the airport and my goal was to put the bike together and ride 53mins to the house I'm staying at.  What a wonderful and cheap way to see the city right?  The problem is that apparently I can't put a bike back together. I was good with the pedals, handlebar, and back rack but for some reason I couldn't get the wheels back on!  I sat there in the airport frustrated, embarrassed, and worried for close to 3 hours. I was watching how-to videos and following step-by-step and still couldn't get it to work. Finally I just gave up, googled the nearest bike shop, and took a taxi there. Not how I wanted to start my trip, but I figured that I'm either an idiot for not being able to figure out my wheels or something got messed up while it was in the box, so it's best an expert look at it. 

Luckily, the bike shop was only about 6 blocks away from the Airbnb I'm staying at so I farmer's walked with my stuffed panniers until I got to the place.  Somehow I always end up wandering in a foreign city, with heavy bags, and close to no idea where I'm going. Usually those are the best memories of my trip because of the adventure aspect, but I don't feel like this is going to be one of those happy memories.  

Anyways, I'm at the place now just relaxing and writing.  I've never done Airbnb before but it's pretty awesome!  My host is super cool and friendly. We talked for awhile when I arrived and it just felt like we've been friends for years. Her place is beautiful and comfortable and my room feels like home.  Normally I would stay at a hostel, but I'm just trying to relax as much as possible before I start biking.  I've been so preoccupied with planning the biking part of the trip that I don't even know what I want to do and see in Vancouver yet!  That's so unlike me.  Normally the first part of the trip is the only part that I plan.  If you're reading this and you've visited Vancouver please feel free to shoot some suggestions my way for tomorrow. It's been a long day, so tonight I'm just gonna walk around for a bit, grab a bite to eat and a brew, and then get some sleep.

Update: The bike shop just called and let me know my derailleur is badly bent, the disc brakes need some work, and something else I don't remember. Total damage: $65 and it'll be ready tomorrow. Not too bad when it's all said and done!