Whistler is a fantastic place to visit in the winter or summer - and the forecast in Anacortes was crappy so it made complete sense to drive up north to Whistler where the sun was shining and it was 26
°C (it's Canada people, we can handle the metric system and not be silly Americans). These were probably the last warm days we were going to have until next year, so Jay and I were lapping it up. To add to the fantastic weather - we had fantastic guests! My parents were visiting! They have always come in the winter or spring in the past, so clear skies and mountain views have been rare for them but Whistler delivered the goods!
While the boys had some beer at the Whistler lodge way up high on the mountain, my mom and I took the chairlift to the top of Whistler Peak - the highest spot in the area. Look at the difference between me and my mom (and the rocky Olympic dude) and the photo of Jay with the rocky dude below! Winter versus summer! What a huge and neat difference eh?
Once we took in all the views possible from Whistler Peak we rode the lift back down to the lodge and had a yummy and messy lunch (homemade bruschetta) in the sun. We were not done riding the fun lifts yet though - you may have heard of the famous
Peak 2 Peak gondola that connects the two mountains (Whistler and Blackcomb) together with the longest unsupported span of cable in the world. Riding the gondola is a blast, especially on a clear day when you have great views up and down the alley. So we took it across to Blackcomb and then back to Whistler with a stop on Blackcomb to marvel at more views. We even managed to get into one of the two glass bottom gondolas for the ride back - it wasn't as spooky as I thought it might be - it was actually really fun.
Once we made it over to Blackcomb we cooed like tourists at the cute marmots, ate some gelato, and took in the Blackcomb views. There wasn't much to do aside from have a beer and stare at the view, so we did just that. =)
That evening we went out to a great restaurant in Whistler Village called
Araxi. Jay and I discovered this place over the winter when we spent a weekend here and I drooled over the idea of going back. Lucky for me, it was one day before my birthday, so we decided to have our birthday dinner here. And what a great gift to have my parents with me for my birthday - it has been years since we were together for my birthday. Yummy. I'm posing with my goat cheese stuffed zucchini blossoms and smoked tomato basil soup. Ahhhh.
The next morning we headed into the village proper to check out the Olympic rings and stare at all the interesting people! We noticed quite the change in the crowd from the evening to the morning! The night we ate out at Araxi we must have seen a billion bachelorette parties with lots of boobs, butts, and tutus poking out from tiny dresses. I think we all stared a bit, but that might have been the point! Ha! The next morning we found a different village filled with quiet families, couples past their hangover days, and some sleepy tourists wandering around the village in the warm sun. It was lovely. On our way back south, we stopped at the Whistler Olympic Park which is where the nordic Olympic events were held. It is always neat to see ski jumps, but I must say that the ski jumps in
Lake Placid, NY are far more impressive than these ski jumps were. Maybe I'm biased as a New Yorker??
Our arrival back in Washington was gray and soggy. I'm so glad we had the great weather we did in Whistler because it was crappy for the next few days in Anacortes. That said, our tradition of having a BBQ at Deception Pass State Park did not get rained out! In fact, we saw the most insane sunset
ever that night. Wow. Good thing we managed to cook our food on the pathetic amount of coal we had because it was worth sticking around for this sunset.
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| Happy Deception Pass diners |
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| I guess I just had to put one more sunset shot in. Need I say more? Who is visiting next?? |
The weather cleared up the day before my parents were supposed to leave. I took the day off and the three of us (Jay still had to work) headed out on a whale (orca) watch. My parents do not have the best luck with whale watches in Washington, but at least we saw something! One huge transient male orca. We had to steam for almost three hours into Canadian waters to find this one big guy, but it was a gorgeous day to be on the water with my parents so the steam was worth it. And we saw lots of common murres, a gorgeous little seabird.
T2, the big male, approaching a small whale watching boat from Victoria, Canada
Orcas are not actually whales by the way....they are the largest dolphin. I wish they would call these "dolphin watches" to avoid confusion, but I guess "whale" sounds more impressive eh?
The evening light coming back into Anacortes was stunning on all the fishing vessels.
There is an awesome new rooftop bar in Anacortes that has great beer and cocktails at reasonable prices (forget the wine, you have to be a millionaire!) You can take in the view of our entire awesome town and all the islands. What a great new place! Now everyone has to come and visit again so we can take you here too. Who is next?? Jay's father and Charlotte!!??
More photos here halfway down the album:
https://picasaweb.google.com/111221596171793333099/September2013?authkey=Gv1sRgCI6V-viG8OuUCg
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