Didn’t really want to get up today since the longer I stayed in bed the later we’d get to leave. Sadly we left Whistler today and had to say goodbye to Jaime and Lec; I hate visiting people as this day always comes too soon. It was hard, that’s all I’m going to say; I can’t write more as the tears are coming again.
Got off about 10ish this morning and after taking a trip to the dump (uneventful) actually headed out of Whistler just before 11 o’clock. It was a glorious day with blue skies and white fluffy clouds and Nell told us we should be at our destination by 1.05 p.m. We made fairly good time, hit a little rain before heading back toward the sunshine. Then when we were about 25 minutes from Blaine, we hit traffic and sat at the split of the 91 and 99 freeways for what seemed like days. There was an overturned lorry just off the ramp and the road was closed. We sat in line with Mike getting madder at all the people who kept shooting up the outside lane and then pulling in front of us, not fun at all. Then we got diverted north and looped around to head south on the 99, but just before we got through the police closed the freeway completely so we got to go east instead. Mike was beside himself by that point and not having eaten all day didn’t help matters. We finally got to Blaine about 4.30; we were only 20 minutes away for over 3 hours!
The site is nice, very secluded and quiet. Didn’t get much of a chance to discover Blaine tonight except for the Mexican restaurant where we finally had dinner, but will check it out as we are spending the next few days here. Tal-y is happy, as there are lots of squirrels to chase; Mike has already run all over the site after her as squirrel chasing makes her deafer than usual.

Mike: Miserable traffic. I wish I had my gun, and I don’t mean for the squirrels.

Up and at em early this morning. Off to the pub first for egg bennies which were delicious; we even got to sit outside on the patio as the weather was nice. We watched two guys go past us all dressed in their snowboarding gear only to see them come back about five minutes later looking quite embarrassed – they obviously hadn’t checked to see when the mountain closed for the season before booking their trip, poor souls.
After brekkie it was off to the lifts to go up Whistler Mountain so we could ride the Peak to Peak. It was amazing. The ride up the mountain on the ski lift was impressive in itself. First we got to see the bikers riding below us and some bears having breakfast a little ways away. The higher we went the more breathtaking the views of the village and the surrounding area below got, we could see for miles and the pictures in no way do the views justice.
It was amazing at the top of the mountain, it looked like the peaks just went on forever. It’s easy to see why people fall in love with this place, the snow looks inviting even in the summer, I can’t imagine how beautiful it is in winter when everything is covered in new snow.
There were not too many people riding today so there was lots of room in the gondola on the ride over to Blackcomb mountain. The ride was a little scary, especially the part where they fling you out over the abyss at the beginning. We had a glass bottomed gondola on the way over and it looked like it was a long way down; fortunately we made it safely to the other side. Wandered a little before heading back across to Whistler Mountain so Jaime could have banana bread. We had our own gondola on the way back, which allowed Lec to monkey around. It was definitely an experience. The scenery is fantastic and probably not seen by many who use the gondolas since most use it as a means to an end and only have eyes for the powder.
Took the lift back down the mountain, didn’t see anymore bears, and Jaime made me cry!
Took Tal-y for a stroll this afternoon. We started on the Valley Trail and were a bit concerned as there was lots of fresh bear poop – alas poop was all we saw. Then we cut onto the golf course and were rather speedily asked to leave; why do golfers get all the good grass?
It was a grand day.
Not looking forward to tomorrow.

Mike: Amazing ride on the lifts and we had great weather too. I told the girls they couldn’t stroll along on the golf course. Not the sharpest tools in the shed!

Jaime worked all day today so spent a really nice day with just us and Leccie. Went to Pemberton and visited a farm, although it wasn’t really much of one. Pemberton was quite a contrast from Whistler as although there were mountains all around us the area is quite flat and grassy hence the farming that goes on there. It was also a good few degrees warmer than Whistler even though it’s only about a half hour drive away; not 15 minutes like everything else! Lec did pick up some veggies, not Pemby potatoes though, and I learnt that carrots are not necessarily orange.
Stopped in Pemberton proper for a nice little lunch at The Pony where Tal-y who wasn’t supposed to be on the patio but kept creeping on anyway, proceeded to snarl at a woman who was weeding. She’s so tough.
Stopped at Meadow Park on the way home for puppy to have a run and discovered that Alexis throws like a girl.
Spent the rest of the pm reading before having a lovely steak dinner, I mean peanut noodles and veggie sausage dinner. Looking forward to tomorrow.

Mike: The farm was a bust, they only grow about five veg’s. I wanted steak too but they didn’t have enough. Boo!

Well it's been four weeks exactly since the last day of work, and to be honest I still don't really feel retired, I just feel like I'm on an extra long vacation; maybe because we've been with my family for the last three weeks. We are leaving Whistler on Monday to head back across the border for a few days so then reality should kick in, just me, Mike and Tal-y on the road for the forseeable future - will he survive? Whistler has been great fun and I'm kind of torn since I want to get on the road and get going, but don't want to leave Jaime and Lec; hopefully it won't be so long till we see them again.
Spent most of this morning at the coffee shop trying to catch up with this blog so that you all don't have months of entries to read at one time (I'm only one month behind and I blame it on the lack of internet). Then took Tal-y for a run before napping and reading - guess who did which! Finally started reading Twilight and now can't put it down, I'm going to have to find the next three books soon or Mike's life will be quite miserable.
Just got back from having excellent pizza with Jaime and Lec. If I can't have potato tacos then Pemby Potato pizza is the next best thing.

Mike: Great pizza. There's something to be said for "book burning".

It's hasn't rained all day, in fact it's been beautiful. We took advantage of the blue sky and headed to Brandywine Falls. It was absolutely beautiful, both the waterfall and the surrounding area, and not at all crowded. Its still amazing to me that even though there are a lot of people living here and they get loads of visitors, the whole area is still very wild and untamed. Walking through the trees today it wouldn't have been at all surprising to see bears or mountain lions roaming the same paths, very unlike anywhere I've ever been before.
Jaime was nice and got me a book from the library this afternoon so haven't done a whole lot of anything besides sitting and reading, it's going to be a late night since I have to finish it before monday morning.

Mike:Lots of water, hiking. Yeh, LAKER'S (thats one!)

It rained again today so we decided to finally visit the cultural center in Whistler which tells the history of the Squamish and Lilooet Nations. It was fairly interesting, something to do on a rainy day anyway, and we got to have traditional indian bread or bannock with coffee, yum.
Home this afternoon and two of the family members decided to nap, I'll give you three guesses who!

Mike: The cultural center is a bit of a sham. Their ancient tools and canoes were
put together with screws, drywall mesh tape and probably elmers glue.

Slept in this morning, we actually slept in the apartment as Jaime and Lec stayed at the hotel. It was nice and quiet, no rain dripping on the roof of the trailer for us last night. Happy to say Mike woke up this morning with his toothache gone, yeah. He had more business to take care of today though as we finally got the laptop in the mail yesterday (Long story but it was all Mike's fault). Off to the coffee shop to do updates, not very exciting but necessary. Had a nice breakfast with Leccie at Gone before heading off to the park to run Tal-ys legs off in between the raindrops.

Mike: I miss my in-laws, not my tooth ache!