British Columbia

Well, I can finally say that I've been to Canada! Hubby and I drove across the border and we were disappointed that you don't get a stamp in your passport when you drive across. What's the point of needing a passport if you don't get a stamp?

We had a lot of fun! The first few days I hung out in Vancouver and shopped (I should say WINDOW shopped) in the Kitsilano neighborhood. I loved this area and actually bought a few silver findings in this really cool bead store. I checked out some thrift stores in search of a springy-looking trench coat and found some that I loved, but they were still out of my budget, so the hunt continues. We ate at some awesome restaurants in Gastown and other areas. We had been warned that Vancouver was pretty pricey, but it didn't shock us too much because things are pretty pricey where we live and were actually about the same. It's such an easy city to drive in, so I also explored some ritzy neighborhoods while hubs was in the conference (which was held at Canada Place).

It rained for the three days we were in Vancouver, but the weather was still pretty warm, so it didn't really dampen our spirits. Before heading out of town on Wednesday to head north to Whistler, we drove through Stanley Park to see all the totem poles. We were going to take the horsedrawn carriage ride, but decided that'd be better done on a nicer day.

We then stayed a few days in Pemberton which is about 20 minutes north of Whistler. Whistler is where all the skiing and sliding events are going to be held for the 2010 Olympics. We got to see the bobsled track (one of my favorite winter events) which was pretty neat. The town is designed to be walked, not driven. It reminded me a lot of Breckenridge/Aspen/Vail. While in the area, we hiked to Nairn Falls, took a zipline tour, ate more good food, and relaxed around the hotel and caught up on our reading. If you're ever in the area, we highly recommend staying at the Pemberton Valley Lodge. It has it's own little kitchenette which we took full advantage of to help save a few dollars.

I'll post some photos of the trip in another post. I'll also post a video of my husband ziplining (and yes, I did ask his permission prior to posting!). He's quite the daredevil. Oh, while talking about ziplining, I should say that it was my idea to go, but that didn't mean I was excited about it. You see, I'm terrified of heights and have never really believed that those little harnesses will actually hold me. Our tour was Friday morning, but I made our reservations on Wednesday and everytime I thought of it between then, my palms would break out in a cold sweat. But, I'm proud to report that I went off each zipline with no hesitations whatsoever and was loving it each time! The longest line we did was 1100' and about 60' high!

On our flight back home, we had a layover in Denver, so my parents drove up from Colorado Springs and we had dinner with them. So, I got to see all my family besides my brother because he was busy working at his new job as a park ranger.