Part II: Whistler Wanderings

We got our first taste of road tripping on our hour and a half long drive from Vancouver to Whistler. It was clear we were all very excited (to be traveling by mini-van, of course) and to explore a new area of Canada because we were singing, laughing, and screaming almost the whole way. I think Chauffeur Chip was a little worried for our upcoming (5 hour long) trip we would be taking in 4 days. We joked on our drive, saying wouldn't it be funny if by the end of the trip we were all sick of each other and the car was conversationless. Don't worry...it doesn't happen. It's hard not to mention the drive from Vancouver to Whistler. Stunning, really. We followed the ocean much of the way, going up and over mountain passes.

We were lucky enough to be tagging along with the Kennedys to Whistler because having lived there in the past, they had a long-lost friend that invited us to stay in their house with them. Only a few blocks to town, this house was the ideal spot for exploring Whistler, not to mention it was huge and beautiful, too! We loved being able to spend the mornings cooking breakfast while Helena made us smoothies and evenings making dinner.

Whistler is unique in that no cars are allowed in the main town and it's set up like a ski village year round filled with restaurants, ski & bike outfitters, and shops at the base of the ski hill. Our first day was spent lollygagging around the village, which hosted the 2010 Olympic Games.

Next, we took a drive to Lost Lake which we actually did get lost trying to find it even though it's only 5 minutes outside of town. The scene at Lost Lake was exactly what we were all craving. Sun to soak up, water to cool off, and mountains to enjoy. This place was filled with sunbathers and swimmers, families and college students, readers and relaxers. We overheard several groups of people talking about how unusually nice the weather has been. Apparently, this time of the year, mother nature usually dumps buckets of rain so we felt pretty lucky to be surrounded by blue skies. After we had enough relaxation, we met up with our host, Michael, who treated us to a delicious sushi dinner at a restaurant in the village.

Ever since I had begun researching Canada I had been dying to rent a road bike in order to see some sights. And even though I was still sore from the half 'thon, the following day, Rach and I decided to rent bikes and ride one of the popular routes 20 miles outside of town through the beautiful Callaghan Valley. This dead end road led us to the Olympic Park which was the site of the ski jumping and nordic events in 2010. We had come all that way to find that the park was closed and blocking us out by gates. But we were both thinking the same thing...determined to get in, we shimmied our bodies and bikes under the gate and took off to explore the park. No one spotted us (except for a maintenance van that didn't seem to mind) and after 20 minutes in the park we decided to turn around and ride the 20 miles back to town. We had climbed much of the way up so it was at this point that Rach gave me a lesson in comfortably and confidently riding my bike downhill with steep grades of 10%. I was a little shaky at first but I honestly think I overcame my fear of downhills that day..Thanks for that! I'll need it for the Iron Horse!

Sadly, our last day in Whistler had come and it was time to head east towards Banff and Canmore. We said goodbye to our beautiful "vacation home" and all piled in the mini-van, ready for our 4-5 hour road trip. The main highlight on our way east was a lunch/hike stop at Joffre Lakes & Glacier. A beautiful setting awaits here...and to think, we only made it to the first lake. There were two other lakes a few hours away by foot but we couldn't reach them because of the snow. We fully enjoyed ourselves at the first lake though.

Further east, we stopped overnight in Kamloops, home of Nick and Erika! They were kind enough to let us all stay in their pad...it pays to know someone when you travel! Thanks Nickika!
Next stop...Banff National Park, Canmore, blue lakes?, blue skies, glaciers, bears, free gondola rides, hot tubs in the evening, and a lot of ice cream.

Lindsay and Chip