Whistler

Today we had to wake all the kids up just after 7am so we could make it to our ferry in time for our reservations.  The ferry was leaving from Nanaimo and we needed to leave at 8am to make it in time.

Getting pretty efficient at packing up our room!  This is good because the next 3 nights we are in 3 different hotels 😕

We saw this amazing truck on the way to Nanaimo.

We really wanted to get some Nanaimo bars in Nanaimo.  I figured we'd be able to find a bakery or something but there were none to be found.  In desperation, once we got to the ferry terminal, Anna and I left the car to go in search of Nanaimo bars and we finally found some at a little coffee shop with a huge line.  We didn't want to miss loading the cars onto the ferry but we figured we had enough time.  We waited in line for these expensive Nanaimo bars that I'm sure were from a Costco pack!  But we just had to do it!

On the way back we couldn't find our car in the mass of vehicles so I texted Trevor and he poked his head out of the sun roof and waved so we could find him!

On the ferry the kids wrote in their journals and then did some of the activities in the activity books I made them.  Then we had some lunch at the cafeteria so that we could drive straight to Whistler when we landed.

Owen eating a piece of cantaloupe on a sushi chopstick!  Haha!  Does this piece of cantaloupe counteract all of the candy and snacks we've been using for bribes?  I hope so?

Passing time in the gift shop.

Soaking up the last of the ocean views before we head East!

Back on land, the drive was about 90 minutes to Whistler.  Every 5 minutes we had to shout at the kids "Look at the amazing view" and they'd look up from their screens for a few seconds 😞

You will notice that the weather was beautiful and not the rain we expected.  The hour by hour showed the rain starting around 5pm and sunny the rest of the day.  Our original plan in Whistler was to just do a couple of small hikes around and maybe walk around Whistler village a bit.  We weren't going to take the Gondola up because we planned to do Gondolas in Banff and Jasper.  But because it's supposed to be so rainy for the rest of the week and we got this surprise sunny day in the mountains, we decided we better take this opportunity to go up the mountain! So we had to cut out a waterfall we planned to stop at so we could make it to Whistler before the gondola closed.  But it was definitely worth it!

We did do one short stop on the way and that was at Shannon Falls.  It is about a 5 minute hike to some gorgeous waterfalls!  Owen realized he could crawl right underneath this giant tree through its roots!

The stream on the way to the falls.

Shannon Falls.

The weather was still absolutely beautiful when we got to Whistler.  Up in the first gondola!

From the first gondola, we transferred to the second gondola, and this is where it got scary! This gondola is called the Peak to Peak Gondola.  This is because it takes you from the peak of one mountain across to the peak of another mountain (instead of taking you from the bottom to the top).  This means it goes over a huge valley and you are up very high!  None of us were really that scared but it was pretty intense!   Hard to really capture it in pictures!

Starting to head down over the valley.

Right over the valley now!

At the second peak!

Snowball fight!

Despite the snow, it was warm and sunny at the top.  I'm so tired of the 2 sweatshirts we all brought.  I love seeing someone in something else! 

I figured the prices would be crazy at the top but they really weren't that bad.  It was amazing to have a drink with these mountain views!

Joel LOVED the chocolate danish he picked!

A bit of arm wrestling.

The silver gondolas had glass bottoms!  Yikes!

Right near the bottom of the lift, where there were tonnes of people walking and mountain biking nearby, Owen and Joel spotted this black bear just hanging out!

When you get tired of the sweatshirts you turn one into a cardigan!

It was so amazing!  We felt like we had the mountain to ourselves.  There were people around Whistler village but not a tonne.  And at the top of the mountain it was really quiet.  We walked to a part of the village on the outskirts and had a really nice quite mexican dinner.

Honestly I booked the hotels so long ago that I totally forgot which ones were nice and which ones were meh.  Turns out this one is amazing.  We are about a 7 minute drive from Whistler Village and we have humongous room with 2 bedrooms and a huge living room and full kitchen.  The kids are LOVING it!  They are going to be very disappointed with the rest I think (especially since in Lake Louise everything was so expensive, I booked a hostel!). This is the view from our balcony.

Living room (with pull out couch)

Master bedroom with ensuite and walk out to balcony

Second bedroom.  The kids are hating sharing beds but that's what you get when you need to put 5 people in a hotel room!

Off to the pool!

So much fun in the outdoor heated pool!  It started sprinkling just as we got out there.

Hottub selfie!

There's even a steam room which got very steamy, very fast!

Back in the room and just a few minutes to write in journals before we all crash for the night!  Anna also sends her teacher 2 pictures every night and her teacher puts them in the morning slides each morning to show the class.  We missed sending the one day and her teacher wrote Anna an email asking where the pictures were.  She said Anna's class is loving following along with the trip!

Trev writing in the journal and enjoying the view from our balcony.

And that's it for today.  Here is the dump of Trevor's pics.  Sorry there are so many.  The scenery is just so amazing and the pictures never quite capture it!