Run To Youth Detention Centre

AS A URAL BIKE PASSENGER, I look forward to adventures on our shiny green Patrol. Our riding friends have a Gear Up and together we pour over logging road maps to point out our newest destination. Today, we headed out to find the Vancouver Island’s youth detention centre.

We headed north on Island Highway and after 30 kilometres turned west on Lakeview Road. The pungent odour of evergreen trees filled my nostrils and the narrow gravel road made me feel like it was for our exclusive use. Hundreds of intertwining logging roads on Vancouver Island provide adventures for those of us who enjoy nature.

We stopped once to check our map and arrived shortly at our destination. It was no longer a youth detention centre; it was Edaus School, a place for Korean children to live and study in an English-speaking environment.

We walked around the outside of the facility, peering into windows to see bunk beds and small dressers. We enjoyed our lunch with a spectacular view of Maud Lake. Later, we drove home.

Checking map coordinates

Lunch at Maud Lake

Food Run Memories

WE EACH JUMPED OUT of our sidecars and scampered from house to house gathering up bags of non-perishable items. We placed them in the back of the attending truck and brought our load back to one of the Ural troop’s garage. There we sorted the goods to fit into the sidecars and on the racks of each bike.

With our brilliantly decorated Urals, we rode in a parade-like fashion to deliver our treasures to the local Campbell River food bank.

Our lead driver was dressed up as Santa Claus and drove a Gear Up, Frank, my husband, followed in our Patrol and the third driver closed ranks with his Gear Up. We three monkeys followed them in a regular vehicle.

Along our route, the drivers got honked at by passing motorists and waved at by people out for an evening stroll. Once we arrived at the drop-off site, folks interested in the Ural bikes surrounded us. Some even helped us transfer the perishables to the waiting storage trailer. We left the parking lot with upbeat hearts.

Food Run Memories 2011