Grant Narrows Regional Park - Pitt Meadows
notes from Coleman
Activity:
Guess what, Daddy finally bought a bike hitch for our car. Now we can take our bikes to far away places and ride them. Let me tell you about our first big bike ride. We went to Grant Narrows Regional Park, a place that has big long flat strips of land with water on both sides.At first, riding my bike along the dikes was easy. I could speed way ahead of Nathe and Jen and let them eat my dust. But after the first lookout tower I started to get tired and I couldn't keep up with Nathe and Jen. At first I yelled at them to wait up, but then they got so far away I gave up. I was stuck with good old Mom and Dad for the rest of the ride.
That's when I started to look around and see how neat it was at Grant Narrows. The water is not deep. I could walk in it and it would never be over my head. Plus it has millions of lily pads. I've never seen so many before. Dad said Grant Narrows reminded him of a show he used to watch called "The Everglades." He was trying to explain to me how the water at Grant Narrows is "tidal" like the ocean. Only it's not the ocean, it's a river called "Pitt". (Isn't that what cherries have?) Not only that, Pitt River flows from Pitt Lake, which is the largest tidal lake in the world.
We saw lots of birds too. One had a long skinny neck, a big beak, and wings as big as me (well, not quite). It was called a Sandhill Crane. And then there was a big fat one with no neck that talked a lot. It was called an Osprey. (I can never say that without spitting). I saw millions of flowers too. I wanted to pick just two, but Mom said, "No." She always spoils my fun.
Anyway, the dike is the shape of a book. It has four sides. We made it all the way to the last corner. That's where our problems started. You see, we didn't know the big fat dike would turn into a skinny, bumpy trail with blackberry prickles pricking our skin and snagging our clothes. Dad read out loud what the sign said, "No Bikes Allowed." I heard Mom say, "There's no way I'm pushing Coleman all the way back." (You see Mom didn't have a bike so she was stuck with me). Mom instantly transformed into the Incredible Hulk, carrying my bike and me over the bad spots. Too bad Incredible Hulk ran out of gas after two minutes. So much for that.
Dad sped ahead on his big bike to tell Jen and Nathe we'd be late, while Mom and I crawled back. Mom got mad at me a lot. She wanted me to pedal more because she was tired of pushing me, but I was tired too. I knew I was in trouble when water started dripping down the side of Mom's face. Just when I thought Mom was going to pop, Dad came back to rescue us. And that's the story of our first long bike ride. Oh, I almost forgot, what happened to Nathe and Jen? They ended up taking the way far away route. Jen said she had to pedal her bike a million times. Lucky I didn't go with them.
Age group:
What's cool about the dikes is you don't have to go up and down hills, and that makes them easy for anybody to walk along or ride their bikes.Expense rating:
We didn't have to pay money for parking at Grant Narrows Regional Park. But Dad must've shelled out around $20 in drinks, because everybody needed to drink a lot.
:
If your family has big kids and little kids and you want to make everybody
tired, you can go to Grant Narrows Regional Park. Everywhere you
look it's flat. You can even see a bird flying in the air miles away.
I saw snow on a mountain top too. I wanted to touch it, but Mom said
it was too far away. Maybe if Dad takes the training wheels off my
bike, I'll get there.
:
I wish we knew ahead of time that the bike path would end just when we
felt all tired. Dad looked at the big map later and he said it did
have a thinner line showing the trail part, but it didn't say "No Bikes".
For big people or ones walking it's not big deal, but for us it was.
Details:
I don't know how to get to Grant Narrows Regional Park. I can tell you it's in Pitt Meadows and it takes the time of about one-and-a-half BeyBlade shows to get there. Dad said he went east on the Lougheed Highway (Highway 7), and across the Pitt River Bridge. He continued on until the Highway intersected with Harris Road. Then he turned left on Harris Road, and went north for a few miles. Then he turned right on McNeil Road, and went along this road for a couple of miles. This brought us to Rannie Road, and we went north on this road. The park is at the end of Rannie Road. You'll know you're going the right way if you pass a big golf course called Swaneset Bay and you see lots of farms with cows and horses.Grant Narrows Regional Park is operated by the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Web site: www.metrovancouver.org, mapleridge-pittmeadows.com.
Area:
Pitt MeadowsSeason:
I think you're better off going to Grant Narrows Regional Park when it's not raining. For some reason it's always windy there, and you might turn into Mary Poppins and blow away with your umbrella if a big gust comes up.Educational highlights:
Did you know in Holland a boy saved his village by sticking his finger in a dike to stop the water from rushing in. You see Holland is flat like Grant Narrows Regional Park and they need lots of dikes to hold back the water, otherwise they'd all drown.Fun for the adult?:
When we got home Mom and Dad needed a rest. And for dinner they both had a super-sized glass of wine. Believe it or not, they can hardly wait to go back. Although I did hear Mom mention something about her borrowing Dad's bike and him walking. Uh Oh!
