Oh Canada!

My long weekend was great. We left around one for the 5 hour drive up the Whistler. Our timing was perfect; we missed rush hour in Seattle, Everett and Vancouver. Friday night we just relished in the fact that we were on vacation, ordering in pizza and soaking in the hot tub.

Saturday morning we were up early, hitting the slopes of Blackcomb. There was no fresh snow, but the conditions weren’t bad. It was not nearly as cold as had been predicted and the sun was shining. We actually managed to stick together as a large group, with the better skiers often leading the more inexperience skiers into some pretty steep and bumpy slopes. But thankfully everyone was a good sport about it. Saturday evening was a debacle of a dinner out. We arrived at the Brewhouse at 6:30 (as suggested by the hostess when we called to ask about getting seated as a large party) and were told it was an hour wait. Knowing the wait would be no better anywhere else, we settled into the lounge area to wait. Almost 3 HOURS later we were seated!! We didn’t get out of there until after 11pm and the food was nothing to write home about.

Sunday was another early morning, this time on Whistler. The groups split up in the morning and we all managed to arrive at the Roundhouse for lunch at the same time. After lunch we tackled some big bowls off the peak chair. I was a little disappointed in my effort. After skidding into one of the bowls that was all ice at the top (because everyone was skidding into it and scraping off all the snow) I managed to convince myself that if I turned I’d lose control and go tumbling down the steep pitch. I traversed across the slope, inching down little by little until I ran out of room and was forced to turn. Once I made the first turn I realized that somersaults were not in my future and continued down the bowl fine, making turns at every bump. It is always that first turn that gets me, but I did redeem myself when we did it a second time! After a full day of skiing, we decided to avoid the restaurant scene in the village and had ourselves a huge spaghetti feed! It was delicious and finished off with a few rousing games of Catch Phrase.

I had to leave on Monday in order to get back to work today, while most of the group stuck around another night. I met up with 2 friends from college who also were in Whistler in the weekend and we had lunch while watching the Canadian women win the gold medal hockey game. I limited my shopping to one big purchase - new skipants to replace the pair which are held together by duct tape. The new pair - cute Helly Hansens in bright baby blue! The ride home was uneventful, except for the crack in my windshield (obtained on the drive up) that grew exponentially. It isn’t anywhere near my field of vision and I rarely drive, so I think I can put off replacing it for a bit – or I should say I *hope* I can!

Back to work today was quite a drag, but tomorrow is Hump Day (and a free lunch) so it could be worse!

I'll add some pictures once I get home.