We got up early and took an Amtrak train from Seattle to Vancouver, rented a car in Vancouver and then drove the Sea to Sky Highway to Whistler. Wow! Such beautiful country! Such a beautiful day!
The train hugs the coast for most of the trip. It took about 4 hours. We ate breakfast on the train, read, and watched the world go by.
The next few pictures are taken through the train window. So they aren't the best. We saw seals and eagles en route.
I like the next picture because you can see the train track going right along the coast.
finally Vancouver...
We loved the train, but it seemed to take forever once we got to Vancouver. We had to drive so slow into the city and customs took a long time. But it was a cool way to travel, and I'm glad we did it.
We took the Sky Train from the train station to our rental car place downtown. On the way, we stopped for lunch and took our time. After having a little trouble finding the car rental shop, we walked in only to hear they were already closed. Mind you, employees were at the counters waiting on another customer and the front door was open. The conversation went something like this...
Employee A: We're closed
Matt: You are? What time did you close?
Me: laughing (I thought it was a joke. They looked VERY open.)
Employee A: 2:00
Matt: What time is it?
Employee A: 2:03
Matt: For real? Can we still rent the car, please? We have a reservation and our hotel reservations for tonight are in Whistler.
Employee A checks with Employee B.
Employee B: Fine... with a very nasty tone and attitude
The rest of the check out was done with lots more attitude on their part, but we got a car (phew!) and off we went to Whistler via the Sea to Sky Highway.
We stopped twice.
The first was to see the bay and mountains. It was so pretty.
The second stop was to see Shannon Waterfall. Also gorgeous!
We got to Whistler and checked into our hotel (the Fairmont Chateau Whistler - also pricelined and so fancy).
A few other residents from Matt's program were also in town for the conference so we met up with another couple, Katie and Bryce, for dinner at their hotel and talked and talked.
4 comments:
Cool jumping pictures.
What an amazing place! That waterfall is tops!
The hotel looks gorgeous. The scenery is so different from anything and EVERYTHING I see on a daily basis. Makes me want to travel!
Yep. You've just confirmed to me that I need to take a trip out to the Pacific NW. Since the Olympic coverage in Vancouver, I've always wanted to go.
p.s. Until this past April, I hadn't left my kids for more than a day, either! I'm glad you guys were able to have a nice getaway.
Post a Comment