day 4 - Whistler to Lynn Canyon to Vancouver

May 1

We woke up to rain and clouds again.  We spent a relaxing morning eating breakfast at the hotel and soaking in the hot tubs.

After a late check out, we drove down the Sea to Sky Highway, out of the clouds.  We stopped for pictures and then stopped again at a couple stores.

We had the rental car for another day so we drove to Lynn Canyon suspension bridge in North Vancouver before ending our day in Vancouver.  

Can you see the suspension bridge up in the treetops in the next two pictures?  We crossed it, we're brave! Oh, yeah!

It wasn't actually scary.  The trail we took started at the top of the bridge so we didn't even get the "bridge in the treetops" perspective until later in the hike.

It was fun to look over the edge... 164 feet down to the river.

Then we followed the trail along the river and through the rainforest. I'm not sure I've ever been in a Pacific coast rainforest before.  Matt and I have been in Caribbean rainforests so this was really neat.  Everything was green and growing on top of each other.  There were so many varieties of ferns and moss.

Sorry that I'm in most of the pictures.  Matt is the picture taker of the family.  You'll see this trend continue through this trip report.  I think practically every picture Matt is in will make it on the blog because there aren't very many of them.

We drove to downtown Vancouver after Lynn Canyon.  Oh, Vancouver!  So beautiful!  We checked into our hotel on Robson Street, returned the rental car, and walked to a Mongolian BBQ for dinner.  It was cool.  It was buffet style. We loaded up bowls with fresh veggies, noodles, meat and sauce and then a man cooked it for us on one of those big flat Mongolian grills.  Yum-O!

Day 3 - Whistler

April 30

Our plan was to hit the slopes on our full day in Whistler.  We woke up to rain and the snow report said - spring conditions - which is code for pretty crappy.  But we still went.  We thought we may never get back to Whistler so we should take advantage of the opportunity.

I feel like Matt should write a post of his day also because it would be completely different from my day.  But here's how my day went...

We rented gear and got somewhat bundled up and rode the chair lift up the mountain.  I hadn't snowboarded since we left Utah almost 9 years ago so I didn't know what to expect.  I was really nervous.  I think I was more nervous then I was the first time I ever snowboarded.

On the first few runs, I did really well.  I was proud of myself.  I could still carve and go pretty fast.  I was having fun and was thinking I was so glad we decided to go.  Then we took another lift higher up the mountain, up into the clouds.

The visibility became maybe 10-20 feet.  I couldn't tell where the edge of the mountain was or where the runs went and I got scared.  Then I fell a few times hard on some icy snow.  I thought I was going to fall again and hurt myself.  Matt tried to take me down the mountain where the visibility was better, but it took so long and we had to ride around in the bad visibility for a long time.  So I gave up, left Matt on the mountain (sorry!) and rode the chairlift down.  haha.

I was so done.  I wasn't the only one.  There were a few other people riding the lift down.  I had never done that before and felt stupid, but I just wanted off the mountain.  I returned my gear and went back to the hotel.  I wasn't angry or pouting, I was just done.  I was glad we did it, but I should have done a half day or stayed lower on the mountain.  Matt finished out the day.  Crappy conditions and all.  Good job Love!

I took the following pictures off google to illustrate our conditions...

This is what Blackcomb could be like on a clear day....

This is what our friends said they experienced the day before us - clouds down below but blue skies if you went up high enough - which is why we went to the top of the mountain.  We thought we might get above the clouds...

Wrong!  This is what we were snowboarding in... 10-20 foot visibility...

After Matt finished, we enjoyed the outdoor hot tubs.  Why is it so fun to sit in a hot tub outside when it's freezing out?  Then we did a little shopping in the village (way overpriced!) and went to Tai In the City for dinner.  Oh, my gosh... another wonderful meal.  We did a meal deal thing and were the only people in the restaurant so we had our server's full attention.  She brought us so many courses and everything was so good.  Food kept coming and coming.  Course after course.  I wish I could remember everything we ate... salad, soup (the best soup ever!), 2 or 3 appetizers, rice, a couple main courses, and two desserts.  The portions were small so we were able to eat most of it, but needless to say we left some food on the table and went home stuffed.

Day 2 - Seattle to Whistler

Day 2 - April 29
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.

Seattle, Vancouver, & Whistler Trip Report - Day 1

Matt had a conference in Vancouver, BC, Canada at the end of April/beginning of May.  His way was paid so all we had to do was pay my way and find someone to watch our kids.... done and done, I said and off we went to "O Canada" for 7 nights.

A huge thanks to Matt's mom, Marcia, and my friend, Brittany for taking turns watching our kids.  I hadn't left Willa for more than a few hours since she was born (except when I spent 2 nights in the hospital to have Clark... I need to get out more!).  I had no idea what to expect being away from her and Clark.  But I can report that I was just fine without the kids.  I was really excited to come home and see them, but it was nice to have a week without them in tow.

Day 1 - Saturday, April 28

We flew from Memphis to Seattle, Washington on an early flight.  The conference was in Vancouver, BC, but we hadn't visited the state of Washington together yet so we thought we'd fly in and out of Seattle to save a few dollars and cross the state off our list (only 8 more states to go!).  It was a great choice.  We loved our night in Seattle.

We took the Link Light rail from the airport to our hotel downtown.  We pricelined a hotel and ended up at the Crown Plaza on the 28th floor.  Our view was awesome!  We could see the Puget Sound, the distant mountains, and lots of the city including Pike's Place and the Space Needle.

We checked in around 2 pm, napped, and then went out to explore a little of Seattle and get dinner.

We aren't foodies. I wish we were, but we just aren't.  But for some reason food was a big part of this trip.  Vancouver has great restaurants and tons of them.  Anyways, in Seattle we ate at a seafood restaurant on a pier right on the Sound.  We had the best clam chowder.  Matt got crab legs and steak and oh, they were so good.  Here we are on the pier outside our restaurant.

During dinner, we watched the ferries cruise around.  So we decided to take the Bainbridge Island Ferry after dinner to see the city from the water.  Gotta love ferries.  So cheap and such a great way to see the city.

On the ferry...

I really liked the looks of Bainbridge Island.  We didn't leave the ferry terminal, but it was so pretty.  It was like entering another world.  You get on the ferry, leave the hustle and bustle of the city, take a short ferry ride, and end up in a beautiful quiet residential but rugged place.  The picture below kind of shows what I'm talking about.  You can see the little blue house tucked away in the woods with the city in the distance.  Two worlds within one picture.  

We (meaning Matt) took so many pictures on the ferry.  The Puget Sound is so pretty.  We had typical Seattle/Vancouver weather the whole week... very cloudy and rainy as you can see in our pictures.  But we just dressed right and enjoyed our vacay.

After the ferry we walked around a bit more.  We walked around Pike Place Market

and then stumbled upon the Gum Wall.  It was so disgusting and cool at the same time.

I don't know much about it other then lots and lots of people have stuck their used gum to a wall in an alley and I really liked looking at it.  And no, we didn't have any gum with us so we couldn't contribute. So sad.

the Levitt Shell

Memphis is full of traditions and has a huge music scene.  It feels like summer is really here when the free evening concerts at the Levitt Shell start.  We love attending them.  We took the kids to a show the other night.  Willa danced her little heart out and found a friend to dance with.  Clark stuck closer to Matt and me, but seemed to enjoy it as well.