We started off Canada Day by going out to Kraus Berry Barms in Aldergrove for the free pancake breakfast. We rode our motorbikes out there. We arrived around 9:30am and the parking lot was already full of cars with several staff directing parking. Because we were on the motorbikes they parked us under a tree across from the store. Very nice. Then we stood in line for 20 minutes to get 2 pancakes topped with fresh raspberries and strawberry syrup. They were good, but they weren't worth the wait. We bought baskets of raspberries and strawberries, a loaf of cheese and asparagus, and raspberry shortcakes. All became part of our Canada Day dinner later on that evening. When we drove out the driveway was now packed with cars and there was no more room. People had to park on the street. There had to be more than a hundred cars on the property. Most of the people showed up with buckets in hand ready to pick their own berries after eating the pancakes. I'm sure Kraus made more money on July 1 than they will in the rest of the month put together. It was a great way to get lots of people to descend upon their farm, most of whom would be paying customers of some berry merchandise. But I think we'll pass next year on their Canada Day free pancakes.
The Cloverdale Millenium park had an estimated 125,000 people show up. We stayed well away from the intersection of 176th and 64th. At 10pm we drove up to Lord Tweedsmuir to watch the fireworks from the football field. We weren't the only ones with this idea. A lot of people were already there but there was plenty of parking. The fireworks were supposed to start at 10:15 but 10:35 was more like it. By that time we were being eaten alive by the mosquitoes and after about 5 minutes we headed back to the car, slowly so we could still watch. We were planning to drive back down 180th Street to 58th Avenue to head home, again trying to avoid the general area of the fairgrounds. By the time we left the police had blocked off traffic on 60th Avenue heading downhill towards Greenaway Park and the fairgrounds. The only options were to go up 60th or continue along 180th. I guess they wanted traffic to head to Highway 10 to get out of town, and bottom line that was probably the fastest way for the partygoers to go. We still had a pretty good view of the fireworks on the way home and we parked for awhile in the parking lot of the old Shop Easy. What do they call that grocery store now? Cloverdale Market? We could see the police were set up on the corner of 58th Avenue and the Cloverdale Bypass, so when the fireworks ended we drove alongside the old Cloverdale Mall and out 57th Avenue and home. No problem with traffic other than going a couple of blocks out of our way. One of the advantages of knowing your way around Cloverdale. However shortly after 11pm when the fireworks ended we were inundated with traffic coming along our quiet street. Cars were lined up way down the street, a huge traffic jam. Cars were driving down the no exit street alongside our house and then driving out again. Honking and yelling until well past midnight. I don't know what was up with so many cars. Our neighborhood is kind of a weird one that way, not set up for a lot of through traffic. No exit streets and if you go on long enough you end up in cowtown driving in circles. A lot of lost people trying to find a quick way out of Cloverdale. The unfortunate thing is most of them ended up turning back towards 60th Avenue, which I'm sure was jammed packed with wall to wall cars trying to get out of Cloverdale. Bad choice choosing our street as a get out town fast route.
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