Fabulous Whistler Trip Part Two

Saturday morning started with a walk around Whistler Village. As the mountain biking competition Crankworks was on when we were there there were demonstrations and competitions going on in several spots. It was great to watch the skill level of these competitors. We also took advantage of a couple of freebies. I ended up with a free cup of Ben & Jerry's icecream as they were doing a promotion (Cherry Garcia) and hubby took a testdrive in a new Jeep over gigantic rocks. While we always purchase our vehicles used it still is a good idea to test drive a new model to get the feel for the cars. I really don't think a Jeep is in our future but you never know.

We stumbled upon the finals of the men's freestyle and got to see the winner (the guy on the screen). The event was held at the bottom of Whistler mountain right where we got off the lift. It was something that I would never go to watch but am so glad we did. These mountain bikers are the worlds best and the crowd was treating them like rockstars, very fun to watch.

The mountain was dotted with thousands of wildflowers. One of my favorite parts of the trip was going up the open chair lift on Blackcomb mountain. It was so peaceful and quiet.

The Peak To Peak Tram is the jewel in the Whistler Blackcomb crown. A feat of engineering opened just before the 2010 winter Olympics it connects Blackcomb mountain with Whistler mountain. It is the highest lift of its kind in the world and it spans over 3 kilometres unsupported. It was truly amazing.

Part of the prize was tickets for the Roundhouse BBQ that runs weekend nights in summer. Normally I avoid buffets as dislike overeating and never feel I get my moneys worth. This one is $30 per person but was one of the best buffets ever. Absolutely everything was tasty, not a single miss in the entire menu.

We bought our own beer and were entertained by a good band playing at the BBQ and this tiny chipmunk scavenging for bits under the picnic tables. He was fast as lightening, obviously a return customer.

This picture shows a little red and blue dot on top of the cliff. Those are people who somehow managed to hike and climb there. Just looking at them gave me the willies.

The vistas were breathtaking, and we were so fortunate for the clear sunny skies. Normally you only get views like this out of an airplane.

We had lunch on Sunday, which was my Birthday at the outdoor view patio at Christine's at the top of Blackcomb mountain. I had what possibly might be the best mixed green salad ever made with pea shoots and candied almonds. We had several cocktails in celebration and then did some hiking to walk it off.

It was a wonderful holiday weekend and we discovered something new - we actually enjoy hiking! We have finally figured out a way to get exercise and spend quality couple time together so I see local day hikes in my future. The weekend was far more than we could have hoped for and I would love to return to Whistler one day.

Fabulous Whistler Trip - Part One

Late December last year I received a voicemail message indicating I had won a three night trip to Whistler. A part-time hobby of mine is entering contests and it has paid off big-time in the last several years. Due to our recent move to B.C. the trip had to wait until this past weekend, booked to co-incide with my 43rd Birthday.

We had wonderful weather, clear blue skies and hot summer days. First, the ferry crossing from Nanaimo to Horseshoe Bay, then an ocean cliffside drive up into the mountains.

Our budget of $500 for expenses was as follows:
Gas $25
Parking $100 ($30 per night plus tax)
Ferries $160 ($80 each way for a car and two passengers)
Meals and drinks $220

$505 Total. This was my birthday weekend as well as our only real holiday this year so we budgeted for it. We packed our own alcohol, muffins, fruit and snacks for the room.


No trip is totally free even if won as a prize. This one did not include transportation to the resort and only included two meals. When researching the trip I quickly realized that Whistler has absolutely no free parking. An outdoor lot for the day costs a minimum $8 so our hotel charge of $30 per day for underground secure parking, while high, was not unexpected. We planned it into our trip budget as could find no cheaper way to get there than driving. If I had not researched this, it would have been a very bad shock. The trip did include unlimited passes on the chair lifts on both Whistler and Blackcomb mountains and peak to peak tram so that was our main form of entertainment for the trip.

Hotel Fairmont Chateau Whistler and the lift chairs at base of Blackcomb Mountain


We stayed three nights at the Fairmont Chateau Whistler, an old-world charm five star hotel which lived up to our high expectations. There was lush bedding, bathrobes, hot tubs and pools enjoyed every evening after a long day of hiking and sightseeing. The hotel is in a wonderfull location right at the bottom of Blackcomb mountain and we rode the lift down right to the hotel at days end.

Whistler hosted many of the skiing events from the 2010 Winter Olympics and is definitely a world class town. We ate great meals, did some hiking and conquered our fear of heights (not quite but we pushed ourselves) to go as high as you can go on the mountain.

I am breaking this post into two entries due to the number of photos I took. Part Two to come shortly.

A New Creature

Just back from our amazing FREE trip that I won to Whistler. In the end we still spent about $500(ferry, gas, parking and a few meals and drinks) but had several days in a fabulous spot and felt like it was a true five star holiday. No regrets on the money spent - it seems there never are when it comes to travel and we were within $10 of our allotted budget. I will do a separate post (or two) on the trip but wanted to introduce you to the newest resident of our Island Pad:

We have yet to name him but he is already making himself comfortable. A bonus is that he seems to have the same friendly temperament of our late hamster Chewy. We picked him up on the way from the ferry today, handled him lots and no bites. Now I have to go unpack, and get some rest as back to work tommorrow.

Cheers!

News

A whole lot has happened in the past several weeks:

My elderly hamster passed away after a two week struggle with life, we are heartbroken.
After we get back from our trip next weekend we will be looking for a new furry creature to join us at the little island pad.

After a wonderful two months off I have gotten a job in a completely different field that my last insurance job as did not want to go back to that. Our Alberta home did not sell as hoped and so we have a small mortgage which I need to help with. I was starting to get bored and need to get out and meet new people so am looking forward to new challenges.

I won a wonderful trip to Whistler last winter which we are finally taking for my 43rd birthday next weekend. Three nights in a four star hotel, two meals and some attractions. I can't wait. A mini-vacation that someone else mostly paid for. We still have to buy gas to get there, ferries, and a few meals but it is an inexpensive weekend away to somewhere we have never travelled. You cannot beat that! I hope to take lots of fabulous photos.

We have brand new neighbors next door who are fast becoming new friends. They were building a fence for their dog so we hired the same fencers to finish the fencing on our property as well. Our mutual fence on the property line is now a shared expense versus one we were expecting to pay in full. This is a large expense but one that adds to property value and one we had factored in when purchasing the house. We are saving money by staining it ourselves but it is a huge job.

My two youngest stepkids are coming for a visit for a few days before they start school in September again. It will be nice as we haven't seen them for two months and we can show them our new town.

The blackberries are almost ready for picking, just a week or two more. I am ready to do some serious picking and freezing as do not want to miss this window of opportunity for natures free groceries.

In a nutshell, that is my life. If I blog a little less this month - you will understand why. Cheers!

A Very Sad Statistic

I was reading the Huffington Post this morning and came across this article on how 46% of Americans die with no assets or assets of less than $10,000(the basic cost of a burial).

It is a sad fact, one I am sure is equally reflected in other parts of the world. Why is this? Some may have spent their way into the hole, keeping up with the Joneses. Others may have been in this situation due to death of a spouse, illness, or unemployment or the collapsed real estate bubble.

Every person needs to save for a rainy day so that your debts are not passed on to others like a bad inheritance.

Easy Homemade Salad Dressing From Grandma

I was invited over for dinner by a friend that I have known for over ten years and lives minutes from my mothers house this past week. She is a great cook so I would never turn down a dinner invitation. We had a great time catching up and I managed to snag this simple salad dressing recipe that she got from her Grandma.

Don't you love finding simple recipes that you have all the ingredients for without going to the store? The basic recipe:

3 tablespoons oil (olive, or vegetable)
3 tablespoons white vinegar
1/2 teaspoon salt
1 tablespoon yellow prepared mustard (just regular old mustard you put on hotdogs)
1 teaspoon sugar

Mix it all together and pour over a large bowl of salad. That is it. Easy and it tastes great. We tried it at home last night and hubby agrees, this is a keeper. Next time I will try it with honey versus sugar. I am sure you could substitute the sugar with lower calorie options as well or add a specialty mustard instead of regular prepared mustard. Another tip I like is that we always add fresh ground pepper to our salads, no matter the kind. It gives it some added zest.

Patrick The Starfish

This morning I was drinking tea reading my favorite blogs and came across a very timely post by one of my favorite bloggers, Lavender Dreams. She was posting pictures of lovely sea stars on the coast of Florida nearby where she lives. Now, I live on another coast, the shores of Vancouver Island on the Pacific. Today was far too hot to do anything but go to the beach, fortunately only five minutes away to enjoy a bit of the wind that comes off the Ocean. Hubby and I have been getting braver and wading through the yucky seaweed that hugs the shore to the sand bar just beyond. Today we hit payday.

In addition to several small bullhead fish and wee harmless crabs hubby spotted this fabulous starfish. We have not spotted a starfish on this beach since we started coming to it two months ago. The tide was so far out that it allowed us to walk out to where the starfish hang out. We put it back after examining it and will now be looking for other creatures further out.

One day I hope to learn how to dive as apparently, some of the largest most beautiful Octopus in the world live just off these shores.

It was a lovely day. We ended it off with some homemade salsa (see recipe here), bacon wrapped chicken breast done on the barbeque(add bbq sauce before wrapping, secure with toothpicks, cook on lowest heat possible) and corn on the cob topped off with B.C.'s finest pear cider, Growers. It is supposed to stay hot for the next ten days so I have a suspicion we shall be living at the beach.