Day 12 - Changing Plans and Dining at the Top of the World

We woke up today early-ish, Gord is used to being awake at 6:30 or 7:00 and hasn't seemed to grasp the concept of vacation sleep yet. Nevertheless, we enjoyed a quick breakfast of toast and cereal before we headed to Whistler. Today was the mountain bike day! Or so we thought. My lesson started at 10:00, and I was supposed to be there 15 minutes early, so we thought an hour and a half was lots of time to drive the 117 km from Deep Cove to Whistler Village. We were wrong.

There are few drives as pretty as the 'sea to sky highway' (BC #99), but it's beauty is in part due to it's constant rise and fall and twist and turns. It was nearly 10:15 when we finally got parked in Whistler, and another 20 minutes before we found the bike park. Alas. We headed to customer relations to see what could be done. They said we could switch to a private lesson (more $$$$) or take the later class (2:00-4:00, which wouldn't really work for our dinner plans or our baby) - so we ended up transferring the money towards two 'peak-to-peak' lift tickets and headed for the mountains. 

There was a huge line at the Whistler gondola so the lady at customer relations advised us to take the Blackcomb chair lift. The two peaks are next to one another and the 'peak-to-peak' pass involves passage up one, then you take the gondola across to the other peak, and down that side. Since some folks are frightened of the open air chair, the Blackcomb side had next to no line. Gord had no problem with the height, but got a little bored halfway up and we had to placate him with food. Seriously, bored on a beautiful chairlift, this kid has problems! Anyway, the lift gave us spectacular views and dropped us off at the top of Blackcomb mountain. 

It seemed scarier and longer when we were on it.

But it was well worth it to breathe in the mountain air and see this!

What a view! The Blackcomb summit was fairly empty (compared to the bedlam of the village) and there were lots of little trails and photo ops. There is also still snow at the summit, and lucky youth whose generous parents had signed them up for skiing summer camp were shushing to and fro at the top of paradise. That being said, what caught our eye the most was Christine's - Blackcomb's summit restaurant! We thought what could be better - an open air restaurant with a view that is hard to comprehend. 

To top it all off, the food was amazing. We slogged our way through the bruschetta trio (my favourite was the roasted sweet potato, sage honey and stilton cheese), the artisan beet salad, and the carrot and roast vegetable linguini. A pint of local Whistler suds rounded out a meal to remember. Not to remember was our litter charge - Gord didn't find the view as stunning, and he demanded his own liquid lunch from Mom. To make matters worse, he fell asleep mid-meal and SCREAMED when T took him off. Needless to say, our savouring was cut short by bouncing and placating. Oh the life of a young one.

After dinner we burned off some of the fare with a little hiking before stepping onto the 'peak-to-peak' gondola. Some facts: it's the longest 'free span' gondola in the world; the fastest 'free span' gondola; and the highest gondola ride in Canada (I think). It holds 14 people, but we shared it with a family of five Camadians and three amazed Scotchmen. The views were 360 degrees as well as through the glass bottom in the middle. The whole trip took just 11 minutes.

Once on the other side (Whistler mountain summit this time) we looked around briefly, took a picture at the Olympic rings, and hopped aboard the gondola ride down. The enclosed space was hotter than the chair lift up Blackcomb, but at least we could walk around and take Gord out when he got grumpy.    This was the only time all day when I was disappointed in not getting to ride down the slopes. S rider after rider sped past beneath us I couldn't help thinking 'I can do that' - but who am I to complain after a day like that.

Gord enjoyed the tighter confines of the Whistler Gondola.

We were all spent and headed straight for the car. That's not totally true - we made a stop at the beaver tail shop for, wait for it, beaver tails, and a blue berry squishee. Then to the car, and back down the sea-to-sky highway. Gord blew up outside of Vancouver so we stopped for a short break and T took over driving, which wasn't the end of the world since she was starting to feel a little queasy from all the twists and turns in the back seat. We made it back home just in time for a big dinner with the family. It was cousin Sarah's first time meeting little G, and between her warm spirit and Sophie (sitting on her lap) he was overjoyed. The meal was delicious and the company fantastic, we quietly went to bed before 10 full and content. Tomorrow will be a trip into Van city proper, and maybe a deep in Deep Cove. Once again the Berry-Davies' go to sleep happy and deserving of our beds. Sweet dreams everyone. 

TOTAL FUEL FILL UPS: 5

DAILY WILDLIFE: dogs, marmot (seriously, they have a nest next to the restaurant). I was scared of bear when I thought about coming to BC, but in spite of what people have told me, I'm not sure they actually exist on this coast.