Whistler...to Vancouver....to Victoria!

So you are awarded something special from your company as a result of your work...and you get to go on a trip. Cool. Even better...you find out that your destination is Whistler, British Columbia.
Very cool. And you get to bring your spouse and get pampered for four days. Now it's over the top!
Wednesday, 5/31/06
We left Greensboro at 6:30 in the morning and had the longest travel day of our lives. We arrived in Vancouver 11 hours later. We were met by drivers who picked up our luggage and boarded us on private coaches as a group for the two hour drive to Whistler. When we arrived at the Chateau Fairmont our luggage was already whisked away to our rooms and an army of people was there to respond to our every need and rush us through check-in. The resort was beautiful and care was taken to anticipate our every need and meet it.
We dressed and arrived at a reception that first night on the rooftop of the hotel under a tent where everyone began their weekend with appetizers. We then went to the ballroom for a wonderful dinner of filet and B.C. salmon. As with most of the weekend, place cards assigned seats which turned out to be really nice because it made people mix. We got to know alot of people from many parts of the company and the world. Al Kelly introduced our hosts (20 executives in all) and then after dinner a curtain at one end of the ballroom was drawn back to reveal a private lounge complete with a jazz trio. The endless first day finally ended. When we returned to our room we found a gift on the bed....matching black fleece jackets and caps as well as a backpack. All perfect gear for our upcoming adventures!
Thursday 6/1/06
We got up and had breakfast down in the ballroom (and who ever saw such a buffet...complete with eggs benedict and fresh waffles and hot bread pudding!) and discovered that a private lounge area would be available to us all day, every day- complete with coffee, drinks, snacks and event staff to help us out with any of our activities or concierge needs.
Wade got himself a lift ticket and rented some skis...and went off up the mountain. He got to ski mountains like he'd never skied before. And it snowed while he was on the mountain! Imagine...it was 65 degrees for me at the base of the mountain and snowing for him at the top! That's what happens when a mountain has an elevation of 7,500 feet. Whistler normally has over 200 runs open...this was the last week of winter ski season so Wade had to make do with only 2o something. I took it easy and then met some friends for lunch. But at 2:00 we had our first adventure. We took a Hummer ride up Cougar Mountain. We found out what it was like to take a vehicle so verticle that the only thing holding you in your seats was the harnass they strapped you in. It was fun to push the vehicle to its limits. Our tour guide, Marty, knew the trails like the back of his hands. Every man in the vehicle wished they had his day job by the end of the tour!
We came back to the hotel and put on our dancing shoes...because we had an awards ceremony to go to. Separate venues had been set up for each division with formal stage areas and a photo op with each our our head honchos. Bound books had been prepared and were at each place setting that included everyone's photos and accomlishments. Jim Bush made thoughtful introductions for each of us in my group (the SDN) as we received our award. We felt truly appreciated. We then took the gondola ride up the mountain to the "Roundhouse". The Roundhouse is a meeting place and watering hole at the top of the mountain...but it had been transformed into an exclusive formal dining room and dance floor for the evening. Al and Ash both made sure that we all knew we were there to celebrate our achievements and once again the food and drinks just kept coming. The DJ was spinning records late into the night as the crowd hit the dance floor. The evening ended by returning down the mountain in the gondolas in the dark. The village below looked like a fairy land. It began to mist and as we arrived at the bottom...staff met us at our gondolas with umbrellas for everyone so no one would get wet on the way back to our shuttles and then they drove us back to our front door. Once again the evening ended with a present: a copy of the awards book was there as well as some green tea products from B.C. (lotions, soaps, candles) and a bottle of ice wine (which is apparently well known in the region and very delicate as it is made from grapes just as they hit the freezing point).
Friday 6/2/06
Somehow we managed to eat yet again...and once again breakfast was fabulous. We headed out to Cougar Mountain again to ride the Skyline (wanna see a movie of it? click here and here's a faster zip line click here). They gave us each helmets and strapped us into harnasses and we took a small run as an introduction. Clipping the harness into the trolley on the line created a very comfortable seat that you ride in. At the end of each run are giant springs on the line that slow down your impact. You tuck into a cannonball and hit against the springs. The next run was Godzilla. 2,000 feet long and 225 feet up in the air. Wade landed at 43 mph. We got to do several different runs. It was a blast. Scary, too. But the view as you zoom down the Skyline is breathtaking.
When we got back, Wade decided to take a walk around Whistler. Next thing I knew, he was calling me from his cell phone and asking me to run the camera down to the lobby to him. He was less than 100 feet from a black bear (click here to see movie) who had wandered out of the woods. (I think he would have brought it home like a stray puppy if he could have figured out a way to pull it off!)
And then back to or rooms to get ready again. This time they shuttled us to a restaurant called Dusty's that they'd taken over entirely for the evening. Big, heated tents were set up outside with clear plastic walls so we could make the most of its mountian view . Each tent had a floor built within it that had been carpeted and formal tables and chairs were all set. We had a cookout of salmon, ribs and chicken followed by lots of desserts. We had made friends from all over the world in the course of the week. England, Australia, Russia, Moldova, India...and when we got to Dusty's we ran into a couple from the UK that we'd been with on the Hummer tour and they saw Wade and said..."Hey, were you the idiot we saw running up the hill earlier today after that bear? We thought that was you!" Good to know Wade makes an impression!
Then they sent us into Dusty's which had been cleared of all tables and chairs to form a large dance floor. They had flown in a band named "Splash" from LA that plays at corporate events and things like the Academy Awards ball and celebrity parties. The band absolutely rocked. Unbelievable musicians...sax and trumpet included. The routines were all choreographed and slick. And there were at least three costume changes in the course of the night...and so much equipment running that they brought their own generator along.
At one point the musicians took a break and we were invited to go out on the balcony facing the mountain. That's when we found a fireworks show was beginning just for us. It was beautiful. And then the party continued long into the night. The band kept pulling people onto the stage with them and everyone had fun.
We dragged ourselves back to our room to find yet another gift. A jade Inukshuk (like the picture shown on this posting) and a beautiful keepsake book about British Columbia as well as some 2010 Olympic momentos were waiting for us.
Saturday 6/3/06
The event was coming to a close. People were taking planes back all through the day. I was glad we weren't having to repeat a long travel day so soon. We ate breakfast and Wade returned to the mountain to ski again. I shopped a bit in Whistler and then took the gondola up the mountain to join him at the Roundhouse for lunch....which had returned to its normal decor and was filled with skiiers and tourists (we ran into another couple from the weekend who had stayed an extra day to snowboard.) I think there were as many kids taking bikes up the gondola as skis....there are race courses and ramps set up all over the trails on the lower portions of the mountains for extreme bikers. We then went into Whistler for the evening and for dinner. Our time in Whistler had been fun and memorable. And it was a delight to spend time with people from the company that I would not have otherwise met. I've been greatful to work for such a great company for many reasons since the day I walked through the doors...this trip was just an extra blessing I hadn't expected and which I will always remember. And now we were about to begin the next chapter because we decided to stay an extra week and vacation on our own.
Sunday 6/4/06
After breakfast, we packed our bags. It was time to head to Vancouver. We took the Whistler Mountaineer and rode in the glass-topped car. It was a beautiful way to see British Columbia. The train runs down the coast and passes the most breathtaking scenery. There is also an open car with only rails on the sides where you can stand and watch the scenery without any glass in the way. But inside the car we found wonderful leather recliners....and we were served formal tea. La-dee-da. Real china. Cucumber and salmon sandwiches. Followed by fresh, hot scones and devonshire cream.... followed by lemon tarts, eclairs, chocolate covered strawberries...followed by more of anything we'd already been served and any drink of our choice for the rest of the journey. (Does food seem to be a theme? I think we ate our way through B.C.) We were free to wander between the cars and were waited on royally. It was a real highlight of the trip. The train would slow down every time we were passing waterfalls or particular sites. As we got closer to the city we began to see more signs of life...and every pedestrian we passed looked up and waved at the train.
We arrived at the train station in Vancouver and they shuttled us directly to our hotel, the Blue Horizon. We stayed in the heart of West Vancouver in a hotel with wrap-around views. We were on the 27th floor with a view of the city and the mountains. We ended our day with dinner down at the waterfront at a restaurant named Carero's listening to live music.
Monday 6/5/06
We rented a car for the rest of our trip which was a really nice freedom to have. We started out our day at the Capilano Suspension Bridge. That in itself was fun....but they had also built a series of bridges, overlooks and treehouses throughout the surrounding woods once you crossed the bridge. It was like running through the treetops with Robin Hood. The size of the trees was staggering.
We then went to Grouse Mountain which is a resort just outside of the city limits. We took a gondola ride to the top which is an 8-minute almost sheer vertical climb...my ears popped the whole way up! The top of the mountain offers a view of the entire city. Grouse is actually a ski site during the winter. Not enough snow is left to ski at Grouse this time of year...but we took the chair lift across one of the runs just for the view. Endangered grizzly bears and wolves both have habitats on the mountain and Wade spent time trying to "talk" to all of them! We drove back to Vancouver and changed for dinner. The city has a huge park with all kinds trails, pools, restaurants, an acquarium and who knows what else. There is a restaurant on the water in Stanley Park on the pointe and we had a late dinner on the patio of the Sequoia Grille as we watched the sun set. The sunsets in Vancouver are late...9:30 to 10:00 pm...and the air was just a bit cool. Each place setting on the heated patio was complete with a small blanket in case we got chilly. As the sun set...the water sparkled. And as it set more...we began to see the lights on the shore across the sound begin to glisten. The food was just as spectacular as the view...which is really saying something.
Tuesday 6/6/06
We returned to Stanley Park the next morning to head to the largest aquarium in Canada. Beluga whales, sea otters, seals and every kind of underwater life you could imagine were there. As much underwater plant life as marine life. And the plants in the underwater garden seemed to dance. There was also a tropical rainforest environment with birds and butterflies moving freely around us.
In the afternoon we took the ferry to Vancouver Island to Victoria. Like the train ride, this was a wonderful way to view our surroundings. We arrived at the B & B we had chosen, the Humboldt House. It was a historic home near downtown and full of character. It just wasn't our cup of tea (chiefly...no air conditioning and a small, very decorative room that was hard to maneuver in with 10 days' worth of luggage). But we were exhausted and decided to at least stay the night. We walked downtown and had dinner at a little, very authentic italian restaurant named Julia's . Downtown Victoria is beautiful at night. The inner harbor is surrounded with stately architecture and many of the buildings are outlined at night with white lights. It's like stepping into a Dickens village scene.
Wednesday 6/7/06
We moved over to the Grand Pacific Hotel right next to the Parliament. Wade surprised me a got us a suite which was a real treat. It was a beautiful hotel complete with doormen in formalwear. We had a view of both the harbor and all of the most beautiful buildings along the water. We spent our time exploring the shops in downtown Victoria. Just as you would expect...there are beautiful collectible shops, tea shops, linen shops and the like that line the streets. Then we took a drive out to Oak Bay which takes you along the coast and past a long sea wall that we walked along and could see unbelievable mountains across the water in Washington. We ended our evening in a restaurant along the water called the Harbour House that was simple and elegant and old-fashioned. I get the impression it's been there forever and is standard fare to check out when in Victoria.
Thursday 6/8/06
We had kept our suite for the remainder of our last day since we were flying out on the redeye. So we slept in a bit before going down to breakfast. Then we headed to Butchart Gardens which were fashioned out of a quarry in the early 1900's by a millionaire and his wife with an interest in gardening. This created a variety of heights and depths in the gardens. It was filled with one beautiful sight after another. They have 50 full time gardeners on staff attending to the landscape and it is absolutely immaculate. We returned back to the Grand Pacific to rewind a little and finally pack our bags which turned out to be a really nice way to end the day before getting on a long flight. And then we headed back to Vancouver on the 5:00 ferry. We had a final leisurely dinner in the city and then boarded the plane. We finally arrived home Friday morning at 11:20 EST. We stopped and picked up Sasha at Aunt Gina's house and picked up Jake at Wade's parents' house. And then we crashed. It felt good to be home! It felt like we had gone on several different vacations in the course of that week. We are full of wonderful memories and can't wait to head west again at some point to enjoy other mountains!