The Fraser Valley

Well, this may be a long posting.
I did hit on the idea of doing little aside posts to cover miscellaneous things that don't make it into the more journal-y posts.
So, the Fraser Valley. Lots of things I wasn't too pleased about.
It was crowded. There were people and development everywhere. Even on the secondary highways, there was constant traffic going by until about Harrison Hot Springs, where it slowed down a bit.
The Fraser Valley is also an expensive place to camp. There are practically no options for free camping, unless you want to trespass or break some laws. And forget about the BC Provincial Parks. They are uber expensive (35$ a night for basic tent spots) and on the weekend they fill immediately with Vancouverites.
Anyways, after a night in Goldenears Park, I pedalled along the neverending sprawl until Mission, where the craziness of Vancouver began to subside.
Climbing up to Harrison Heights, and zooming down the other side, I came out into a beautiful valley of farmland framed by dramatic hills. I was making great time with a tailwind so I opted to make a detour to Harrison Hot Springs. Seems like mainly a resort town but you can swim in the local indoor pool for 10$, and get your mineral springs experience. I slogged my bike up some insanely steep hills to Sasquatch Provincial Park afterwards, only to find out that the campgrounds were full. Despite the assurances of a park employee that "some spots will probably open up", I had a brief argument regarding the possibility of camping in the day use area. More on that fun conversation in another post, but I ended up biking back down towards Agassiz. Two hours and an emergency coffee break later, I was just rolling into a campsite when I threw my chain on a downshift and totally bent my little ring up front.
After a few beers, a few tears and some emergency picnic table bike surgery I decided I needed to backtrack 30 km to Chilliwack to get a new ring.
Unfortunately, after rolling into town the next morning (a Sunday), the only bike shop open did not carry road bike chainrings so I was forced to wait another night for the other bike shop to open.
This ended up working out alright actually. I met a really cool and also really good looking woman who bought me a coffee and drove me out to the Chilliwack River to show me some awesome campsites. After parting ways with her, I hit up the local brewery (Old Yale Brewing) which not only happened to have some of the best beer I've had on this trip, but also had a deal for two big slices of pizza and a pint for 10$. And it was also live music night! I maybe ended up spending a lot of time and money at the brewery, but after a long, and not great 3 days in the Fraser Valley it was exactly what I needed.
The next morning I hit up the other bike shop where I had the new part purchased and installed in 15 minutes flat. The new chainring is actually smaller (makes hills easier) and sturdier than the old one so bonus. The rest of the day I spent biking back up to Hope and onwards into the mountains.

(Screams internally and externally)