My Trip Report: Whistler

My first trip to Whistler since June/04. My first ski trip to Whistler since March/03. Yippee!!

The new and improved highway is absolutely wicked. (Thank goodness we won the Olympic bid to expedite this improvement!) As I drove the new section just before Lion's Bay, I heard myself giggling out loud at the improvement to two lanes in each direction. But the real kicker was through the Canyon north of Squamish, where BOB has a new bridge beside it, and the northbound lanes have doubled. It doesn't even look like a canyon anymore; that's how much blasting they've done to widen and straighten the road. Wicked!

Friday night I hung out with two of my best gal pals, ordering in sushi and watching the Canucks game (they lost in overtime). We caught up real good, having not visited in 2-1/2 years, and shared gossip as best we could. I love those gals!

Saturday, I volunteered at the Gala event of an annual fundraising event for a charitable foundation, which took place up top of Whistler at the Roundhouse. It was good fun, and we helped transform the cavernous facilities into a gorgeous, intimate lounge-type venue. Well, maybe not a lounge, but it was still pretty amazing how much of an improvement it was. I was, of course, working the Martini Bar. Being the bartender extraordinaire that I am, they knew where to highlight my talents!! Offering a choice of Orangetini or Crantini, we pleased many of the partygoers with our wit, wisdom, and worldliness.

But then the real fun began. I skied today. And the good news is that my tree-trunk legs are still good for something! It was great to give 'em a good workout by doing some punishing runs, but I still need to work on pivoting my skis instead of just sliding turns when I get lazy. Still, however, I had a great time and felt pretty rock-solid on top of my Salomons.

The day was picture-perfect, with plentiful snow coverage, a chance to ski the new Symphony Express, and nary a cloud in the sky. I cut some turns with friends in the AM, but was on my own for the last couple of hours, so could hit the Singles line and practically ski onto the lift every run. Fairly stellar : )

I offer proof of the kind of day it was with the following photographs, taken from the top of Whistler at approximately 12:30PM this afternoon. Ain't Black Tusk somethin' else?!

I hope you've enjoyed my trip report. Next visit to Whistler: two weeks!

Rusty

I'm a bit rusty, but at least I'm back!

I played volleyball for the first time in 3-1/2 years tonight, and it felt great. Rusty for sure, but great nonetheless. And none too soon, either, becuase I really need to shed some of this, ahem, additional weight I've accumulated over the past couple of months.

I wouldn't say I've gained all this weight simply because of all the partying for my 40th birthday and a home-for-the-holidays Christmas. I guess I now realize just how physically active my former circus job was. I used to blog about the trials and tribs of Set Up and Tear Down and all the physical output accumulated with both of those arduous tasks in each city, but I suppose that was just part of the picture.

Every day in the process of doing my job, I must have walked miles. And, trust me, I didn't cover nearly as much real estate as Tower Girl or Lucky, who logged a mini-marathon every day. Still, my tent was always located at the front of site, so I routinely covered plenty of ground walking to the back of site to go to the kitchen over and over again, to put in laundry, to move laundry, to get laundry, to go to completely unproductive meetings, to move inventory, to sign payroll, to do whatever. And then when it was showtime and my VIP suite was open, it was always go go go! I circled repeatedly to make sure that everything was going according to plan -- observing, puttering, adjusting, fixing, hosting, chatting up the cute guests. Seriously, it was rare to ever stop and smell the chocolate fountain fondue because I was always running around.

During my last eight months with the circus, I used to tell everyone that I was conducting a physiological experiment: I didn't do a freakin' bit of exercise, I ate everything in sight, I gorged on desserts, and still managed to avoid a weight gain of 50 pounds. But now I realize that it was all that walking and moving and lifting and everything -- in addition to the craziness of Set Up and Tear Down -- actually kept me within an acceptable weight range. Even if I wasn't doing any extracurricular exercise, my on-the-job output was enough to work wonders.

But, not surprisingly, it's all gone to pot now. Perhaps it's time to start workin' on that and lose this mess of a middle I've suddenly acquired.

Stay tuned.

Jealous

I just spoke to Lucky this morning, and I'm really jealous.

He's heading to Toronto to visit Tower Girl for a few days. Why, if I didn't have commitments this weekend, I'd have half a mind to jump a plane and surprise 'em with my own visit. But, alas, it ain't gonna happen.

Have fun, guys! I expect a drunken text or call!

Back on the wagon

Even though Mr. Ottawa is a Leafs fan, he still lives in Ottawa. So this one's for him, too.

Vancouver Canucks 2

Ottawa Senators 1

Oh ya, and there's the little matter of the previous game: Vancouver 4 - Montreal Canadiens 0.

I'm sure you've heard the sound? It's the crush of people jumping back on the Canucks' bandwagon.

Eat that

Ahem. This one's for Tower Girl's boyfriend.

Vancouver Canucks 6

Toronto Maple Loafs 1

Eat that : )

More

OK, so maybe I just can't stay away from the blog. But I just had to show you more pics after last night's amazing snowfall. Yes, it puked again last night, and here are the pics to prove it -- this time showcasing the beautiful sunshine that brightens up all that gorgeous snow and makes it a picture-perfect day.

From top to bottom, you see my view over English Bay; overlooking English Bay Beach with a peek-a-boo view of Stanley Park; northwest overlooking the West End towards Grouse Mountain; and north towards more of the North Shore Mountains.

Ain't it a pretty view from my skypad?

Let it snow, let is snow, let it snow

OK, I had to briefly interrupt my hiatus to post a picture of another snowy day in Vancouver. It might normally snow once, maybe twice, a year in Vancouver. The snow stays for about 18 hours and then flees like snowbirds to Florida.

This Winter, however, we've seen a few snowfalls already. In fact, if you're Canadian and don't live under a rock follow the news, you'll know that the coverage of the West Coast's November storms was picked as the top news story of 2006 by a number of news outlets.

And here is the latest proof. After last month's windstorm that caused such widespread damage to Stanley Park, we had a big ol' follow-up that dealt a further blow to the old-growth forest in the park. So much damage to so many trees!

But on the bright side, things eventually calmed down and we were left with this beautiful blanket of snow overnight. Please enjoy a portion of the magnificent view from my skypad.

Hang tight

Yup, I'm still here. Alive and kicking, chillin' and drinking. But I think I'm just gonna take a bit of time off from this medium. I'm still a happy blogger, but I'm just figuring out what the purpose of this thing is.

Hang tight, folks. I'll be back.