Whistler trip report
Aug. 21st, 2006 10:47 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
jinianThe situation: Mom has worked for her main employer for five years, so he and her other employer bought her weekend lodgings for six in Whistler, B.C., as a gift. She, because she values family and because we have a little trouble bonding with them, invited the women of my dad's side of the family: my half-sister-in-law and her two daughters, my half-sister, and, since she was in town from California, my dad's ex-wife. (They get along, don't worry.) Yes, that makes seven of us, but it wasn't a problem with air mattresses available. We drove up in two vehicles, since some people had to work Monday and some didn't. Here's what I wrote about it. You should, of course, feel free to skip around or skip entirely.
18 August 06, 6:29pm
I kind of like Whistler and kind of hate it. It's similar to my problem with having been driven up here in a big-ass SUV: hateful on principle, but it was awfully comfortable just the same. Whistler is... well, there is too much there there. The first lodge you see coming in in this monstrous faux-Swiss thing ten stories high with absurd gingerbread and the fanciest railings ever, and they get more polished and modern from there but not any less ridiculous.
Everything here also appears to cost too much. For instance, the hotel/time-share condo place wants me to pay for wi-fi -- about as much for the weekend as I would pay for a month's service at home. Bitches. Other things are also stupidly priced, including canoe rental.
Strange tastelessness abounds. Wicker chairs in zebra-striped patterns, but black and tan. Cut-iron icons of the fun things to do around here built into the railing in the lobby, but poorly done and not matching each other in degree of detail. Some of the hotel furniture is nice in a heavy, dark way, and then some is Ikea and some is flea-market.
18 August 06, 7:37pm
And now I am getting a migraine because people dithered too long over dinner, which of course means I don't want to eat a damned thing. Everyone knows fondue is expensive, what the hell did you think? Dumb relatives. So here I sit, annoyed and headachy and foolish, trying the myriad wireless networks out here by the cheap-ass dinner places. None of them works.
Yes, instead of dinner, not in addition. I am annoyed. I would have gotten a meat pie if I had known whether I was paying for it or what, but that was totally unclear. How do I know when Mom is paying? If she's not, I need to get cash. So frustrating.
At least the light-pole banners are cute. Parent and baby animals, looking silk-painted. Some are interacting and some not; the black bear is touching noses with her cub, which looks a little strange with a light pole intervening. The salmon don't appear to have fry with them, just adults in mating colors. [Later: Aha! Orange roe at the bottom of the salmon banner.]
It is possible that I'm just pissed off about everything. The drive was long but very pretty on the coast, and the mountains look great despite the zigzagging clear-cut ski runs on so many. I am looking forward to the zip-line tour, which will be Sunday morning. I am not looking forward to tomorrow, when I expect dithering from dumbasses to eat a lot of our time. The real question: Is it worth it to go home Sunday when it means riding with people I don't care for? Hmm, I guess the one I really don't like now is planning to go home Monday. I was hoping this trip would go a lot better than this.
... 7:51pm
This blue thing I've been sitting right next to is the trash can.
(The trash cans have a little enclosure you have to reach into to press a lever upward before you can lift the lid, to prove you are not a bear. They are rectangular and sit at about a 45-degree angle to the ground. Funny-looking.)
[Later: Food was procured at the grocery store, which was curiously lacking ingredients on, for instance, loaves of bread. The best part of the whole evening was this little guy. Note that the Mac Photo Booth application gives mirrored pictures.]
19 August 06, 5:13pm
It's still exhausting interacting with the group, but we actually did stuff, hurrah. In the morning (after the maddeningly tedious getting ready, talking about stupid stuff, ironing clothes, doing makeup, argh doom -- they are being bondish, but can't they bond over something interesting?), we walked around Lost Lake, which was fun. Highbush cranberry, something that might be baneberry but doesn't seem quite right, queen's cup in cute blue berry. I saw a man with his bum bare, and got chewed out by my mom for not sharing when I sighted THE NUDE BEACH, which the local alt-weekly informed me last night should be referred to as "the locals' beach" if you want to be cool.
I kept bringing up the idea of riding the gondola to the peak, and with a little pushing from Mom and my half-sister-in-law we actually went. Yes, it was $30CAN, so fucking what. It was amazingly beautiful. The gondola has these sort of mini-benches built into the sides, so six or seven people can perch around in it for the 25-minute ride. Sadly, it has no useful vents, so it was a hot little box in the lovely sunshine today. But you go up and up, seeing more and more mountains and lakes, and if you're lucky enough to have a local ride up with you she'll tell you all the names of the lakes and point out where the people who work at Whistler live (for $1200 for a one-bedroom apartment) and explain "gladed runs" and pretend to be interested in her thirteen thousandth bear sighting.
At the top of the gondola run, there's a plaza with tourist shops and vending machines, plus some small trails. If you want to go to the real peak, you walk about ten minutes to the steepest chair lift ever, which takes you up another thousand feet to the bare rock summit of Whistler.
(Dear nattering relatives: No, you guys, I do not have internet in here. Mom writes in her journal, I write in mine. Sheesh.)
At the summit, someone sometime started a tradition of rock stacks, like trail markers but everywhere. There's even a large concrete henge that looks like stacked stones, which we assume postdates the institution. (Have you any idea how badly we want to Google this? My Seattle sensibilities are deeply offended by this contrived lack of access.) [Later: Okay, the henge is an inunguat that looks like the 2010 Olympics logo. Causation of the other rock-stacks, which I think it's fair to call inuksuit, is unclear.) Stunning views of more and more mountains, amazing lucent lakes, smooth and quilted glaciers, overwhelming beauty all around. I can see why people come here and why it costs so much. I took a bunch of pictures on Mom's camera, which I hope to be able to share at some point.
Coming down was much less scary than going up. A controlled descent felt less strained, and I didn't have things I was looking at fall away FAR BELOW. They were already far below, no problem for them to get closer slowly.
I definitely noticed the altitude once I started walking on uphill slopes. My legs felt floaty and uncontrolled, though my head, the canonical place you get light, seemed fine. I'm quite a bit more tired than I would normally be after the light hiking we did.
If you are ever here, do not purchase a "Screamer" at Zog's in the village. The soft-serve ice cream is queerly foamy, and the smoothie stuff is repulsively artificial-tasting. The worst part is, if you've just hiked at 7000 feet and ridden a hot gondola, you are at risk of consuming the whole thing despite cursing every mouthful.
Back to the Get Rid Of Smelly GirlS routine: Apparently these people want to dress up for dinner. Actually I would have been okay with this if we weren't traveling, but I didn't fucking bring fancy clothes. I have my hemp pants, because they travel well, but the nicest shirt I have is this navy one with the ties, and that is not going to match my black pants. I think what will happen is this: They can bite me. Too bad I didn't bring extra-scungy clothes with rips and stains. (Not really liking the way I'm turned into Pissy Teen Me by all this. At least now I have a better idea what's doing it.)
19 August 06, 9:23pm
Walked back here after dinner, with a stop at Armchair Books on the way:
Poisons, Peter Macinnis
The Carpet Makers, Andreas Eschbach
It's just not vacation without interesting new books. Both of these were printed in the U.S., but I've never seen them there, so they seemed like good choices.
The walk, all by myself, was wonderful. The sun had gone down but it wasn't yet dark. I dead-reckoned my way through Whistler Village when there wasn't a sidewalk on the road. I waved to babies who looked at me and went around smiling, which often seems to cheer people and did this time too. So relaxing to be alone for a while.
Dinner was fantastic. The restaurant, Araxi, specializes in seafood, and dressing up was somewhat warranted. My natural poise seemed sufficient to counteract the casual knit shirt, sunburn (damn! I totally did sunblock! 45!), and jeans.
Appetizer: English Pea Puree
Warmed, pureed fresh peas in a tiny tureen with tendrils of prosciutto hiding within and three viola blossoms on top. (It had one of those baked cheese-wafers too, which I duly tried and still don't care for.) This was fantastic. It had all the goodness of fresh peas, with a smooth texture, and the soft, salty prosciutto was a startling and wonderful contrast. Loved it.
Main course: <some local place name> Dungeness Crab Roll
Crab, avocado, shiso, and tobiko in what amounted to a California roll, inside-out with sesame seeds on the outside. This was tasty, but after the peas it was as nothing, and I wanted more delicious shiso, maybe instead of the nori it was jammed up against, which overwhelmed its flavor pretty thoroughly.
Dessert: "Peaches and Cream"
Back to the heights of wonderful food: This was blueberries and two kinds of peaches, warmed through and coated lightly with slightly caramelized sugar syrup, on top of scattered pistachio-mince topping creme non-brulee custard. So, so good. Some of the peach slices were obviously from donut peaches, which I've never liked before but were excellent in this, and others were more strongly flavored golden peach slivers.
I did end up eating last night, some BBQ pork buns from the grocery. Lunch today was a cinnamon roll, cheese and salami on crackers.
Lunch yesterday was also remarkably good, at Ariston in West Vancouver. They had wonderful hummus, very garlicky and lemony and smooth, with freshly baked crisp-soft flatbread. Excellent salads, very good spanakopita. We got baklava to go, and it's amazing. Most of the group doesn't like it, which means more of its rolled-filo and headily coriander?-spiced goodness for me.
Drama apparently followed my departure, but people seem to have mostly made up after their misunderstanding. [Later: Mom had to process a little after we were in bed, which was fine.]
20 August 06, 9:13pm
We got up this morning and went on a Zip Trek tour, which was amazing. Five zip lines running from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain and back, across Fitzsimmons Creek (the official line of demarcation between the two), plus high platforms for launch and landing, a couple of swaying but sturdy boardwalks, and mini-lectures on sustainability. The longest of the cables was 2300 feet long and ran lengthwise down the river bottom, so we crossed the river several times. Those zipping tended to spin a bit due to cross winds, so we got a very good view in several directions on each line, but I think we all envied the guides' leather gloves and suave self-braking by the end of the morning. I have photos of me and Mom taken by a professional photographer, who was set up on the bank under the end of the longest zip line; as we expected, we had to pay for copies, but the person really did do a good job so we bought them anyway. Here's my favorite. Niece 1 got video of a couple of her trips! I'm hoping to get a CD of that soon.
The scary part of zip-lining was the way you would walk down steps to ease your weight onto the line, and there were no railings -- no anything past about step six. The whole intention was to slide along the line, and that's what would happen if you fell instead of easing on, but being mentally ready was an important part of the process that none of us wanted to skip. High staircases a hundred feet up are scary!
The annoying part was the harness, which went around each thigh and the waist and over the shoulders, very secure but also restrictive. For those of us foolish enough to wear shorts, the harness was in just the wrong place on the thighs and caused unfortunate fabric incidents while walking. The big pulley attached to the harness wasn't so great hanging down and banging on the bare thighs either. I adopted an attitude as of a lady holding up her skirts to keep the harness from being too awful, and that worked all right though I wanted both hands free for the bouncy boardwalks.
The wonderful part was being so high and going so fast. I kept being nervous, because every line was a different challenge, and it was so exciting for so long that we were all pretty floppy when we zipped back to the village.
Lunch was at the Old Spaghetti Factory, so nothing too special, though the chicken in my pesto linguini was notably good. The jalf-sister-in-law and Niece 2 took off after this, since they had to work Monday.
Next was the farmers' market, yay! I got lots of food: a lovely nectarine, some giant cherries [good but no Bings], a lavender caramel from a woman ("Sarahendipity") who made beautiful glossy chocolates decorated with colorful abstract designs [rapturous], some maple sugar cones [not tried yet], and a cherry turnover [very good too]. A glassblower had a $10 seconds bin, so I got a wonderful fist-sized clear glass fishing-net float with strands inside.
We came back to the hotel, then I took the shuttle back to the village for our Zip Trek photo cd, visited the chocolate place (a chain store, lame) and the internet cafe (no ssh, lame), and returned to the hotel on the shuttle, which had the same driver as my previous shuttle rides. Others napped before dinner; I finished The Privilege of the Sword, which was excellent and makes me want to reread Swordspoint.
Dinner was at the Teppan Village. Is there a collective term for the Japanese steakhouse in which the chef comes and slices and cooks at your table? This guy was also funny, which I didn't expect but liked. Mom and I got the tasting menu, hers with half a lobster and mine with a salmon filet, plus the standard chicken, filet mignon, prawns, shiitakes, and vegetables. So, so good. The real standouts were the shiitakes and beef, but it was all lovely, and the flavors were complemented very well by the three dipping sauces (soy-lemon with horseradish, sweet soybean sauce, and ginger sauce). The teriyaki sauce on the chicken was a bit much -- "Japanese ketchup!" proclaimed the chef as he doused the meat -- but the chicken was cooked perfectly.
Wandered around trying to find appropriate souvenirs for the employers who gave Mom the trip, but didn't find much except some packets of odd chocolate. Now I am here writing and everyone else has gone off to the hot tub and pool before they close at 10. I'm tired, why should I subject myself to nasty chlorine? I did expect them to protest my lack of attendance more, but maybe they're learning.
I've been frustrated on this trip by how well Whistler is set up for pedestrians, because we have to drive most places. The shuttle wasn't running early enough to get us to our Zip Trek this morning, and that was the only time we were going into town without my dad's ex-wife, who really can't handle walking more than a tiny bit. So we're in this great, easily navigated place with great provisions for pedestrians, and we keep having to drive everywhere, drop off S., go find a place to park, blah blah blah. It's made it really difficult to learn where shops and restaurants are, because the roads are curved and go where the pedestrian malls aren't. Also, I would be more okay with the driving if the driver weren't always bitching about the pedestrians, but she does. Pointing out that driving makes no sense for most people here doesn't have much effect. Oh, and the parking spots are too small for her GIANT FUCKING SUV, big surprise.
I'm also tired of being around (these) people, but that's hardly unexpected. I get to go home soon, yay. We might hit Lush on the way out of town tomorrow, especially since good souvenirs for Mom's employers have not yet presented themselves, but we are going home home home.
21 August 06, 8:35pm
No one in this family can be on time, can they? I was showered, dressed, fed, and finished cleaning the kitchen before anyone else had shut the hell up and gotten ready to go. This isn't even the midwestern branch of the family.
I nabbed the back seat again, foiling Niece 1, who hadn't ridden up with us but had shown a tendency to grab the entire back seat for herself in our rides around town, even when that put three of us in the middle-back seat. She obviously had not thought out the strategic implications of her last-minute bathroom run.
Mom and I went to Lush before leaving Whistler. The others were acting cranky, but they said they didn't mind, so if they were lying that's their problem. We got goodies and were happy, and by the time we got back to the car our compatriots had eaten food bars for breakfast and seemed less bitchy. (Mom decided that the employers were not deserving of souvenirs after all, which simplified things.)
We drove back down, stopping at a Shari's for boring but acceptable lunch. Mom and my half-sister had a frustrating conversation about what "rebellion" meant to each of them. No trouble at the border even though most of us just had driver's licenses.
We got to my place about 4:30. I wound up with all the groceries except the vodka, which is fine by me, plus the all-important baklava.
And now I am home, yay. D-cat got her teeth cleaned (and four pulled, poor baby) while I was away, but she was fine with me once I took off my shoes. Wim seems undamaged as well, and he was excellent in giving Diz her painkillers and canned food. Work tomorrow, but class is over, hurrah! That should be a lot easier, just because I won't be losing time to the class-lab two days a week. I promise to work reasonable hours now that I'm not trying to make up for that!
18 August 06, 6:29pm
I kind of like Whistler and kind of hate it. It's similar to my problem with having been driven up here in a big-ass SUV: hateful on principle, but it was awfully comfortable just the same. Whistler is... well, there is too much there there. The first lodge you see coming in in this monstrous faux-Swiss thing ten stories high with absurd gingerbread and the fanciest railings ever, and they get more polished and modern from there but not any less ridiculous.
Everything here also appears to cost too much. For instance, the hotel/time-share condo place wants me to pay for wi-fi -- about as much for the weekend as I would pay for a month's service at home. Bitches. Other things are also stupidly priced, including canoe rental.
Strange tastelessness abounds. Wicker chairs in zebra-striped patterns, but black and tan. Cut-iron icons of the fun things to do around here built into the railing in the lobby, but poorly done and not matching each other in degree of detail. Some of the hotel furniture is nice in a heavy, dark way, and then some is Ikea and some is flea-market.
18 August 06, 7:37pm
And now I am getting a migraine because people dithered too long over dinner, which of course means I don't want to eat a damned thing. Everyone knows fondue is expensive, what the hell did you think? Dumb relatives. So here I sit, annoyed and headachy and foolish, trying the myriad wireless networks out here by the cheap-ass dinner places. None of them works.
Yes, instead of dinner, not in addition. I am annoyed. I would have gotten a meat pie if I had known whether I was paying for it or what, but that was totally unclear. How do I know when Mom is paying? If she's not, I need to get cash. So frustrating.
At least the light-pole banners are cute. Parent and baby animals, looking silk-painted. Some are interacting and some not; the black bear is touching noses with her cub, which looks a little strange with a light pole intervening. The salmon don't appear to have fry with them, just adults in mating colors. [Later: Aha! Orange roe at the bottom of the salmon banner.]
It is possible that I'm just pissed off about everything. The drive was long but very pretty on the coast, and the mountains look great despite the zigzagging clear-cut ski runs on so many. I am looking forward to the zip-line tour, which will be Sunday morning. I am not looking forward to tomorrow, when I expect dithering from dumbasses to eat a lot of our time. The real question: Is it worth it to go home Sunday when it means riding with people I don't care for? Hmm, I guess the one I really don't like now is planning to go home Monday. I was hoping this trip would go a lot better than this.
... 7:51pm
This blue thing I've been sitting right next to is the trash can.
(The trash cans have a little enclosure you have to reach into to press a lever upward before you can lift the lid, to prove you are not a bear. They are rectangular and sit at about a 45-degree angle to the ground. Funny-looking.)
[Later: Food was procured at the grocery store, which was curiously lacking ingredients on, for instance, loaves of bread. The best part of the whole evening was this little guy. Note that the Mac Photo Booth application gives mirrored pictures.]
19 August 06, 5:13pm
It's still exhausting interacting with the group, but we actually did stuff, hurrah. In the morning (after the maddeningly tedious getting ready, talking about stupid stuff, ironing clothes, doing makeup, argh doom -- they are being bondish, but can't they bond over something interesting?), we walked around Lost Lake, which was fun. Highbush cranberry, something that might be baneberry but doesn't seem quite right, queen's cup in cute blue berry. I saw a man with his bum bare, and got chewed out by my mom for not sharing when I sighted THE NUDE BEACH, which the local alt-weekly informed me last night should be referred to as "the locals' beach" if you want to be cool.
I kept bringing up the idea of riding the gondola to the peak, and with a little pushing from Mom and my half-sister-in-law we actually went. Yes, it was $30CAN, so fucking what. It was amazingly beautiful. The gondola has these sort of mini-benches built into the sides, so six or seven people can perch around in it for the 25-minute ride. Sadly, it has no useful vents, so it was a hot little box in the lovely sunshine today. But you go up and up, seeing more and more mountains and lakes, and if you're lucky enough to have a local ride up with you she'll tell you all the names of the lakes and point out where the people who work at Whistler live (for $1200 for a one-bedroom apartment) and explain "gladed runs" and pretend to be interested in her thirteen thousandth bear sighting.
At the top of the gondola run, there's a plaza with tourist shops and vending machines, plus some small trails. If you want to go to the real peak, you walk about ten minutes to the steepest chair lift ever, which takes you up another thousand feet to the bare rock summit of Whistler.
(Dear nattering relatives: No, you guys, I do not have internet in here. Mom writes in her journal, I write in mine. Sheesh.)
At the summit, someone sometime started a tradition of rock stacks, like trail markers but everywhere. There's even a large concrete henge that looks like stacked stones, which we assume postdates the institution. (Have you any idea how badly we want to Google this? My Seattle sensibilities are deeply offended by this contrived lack of access.) [Later: Okay, the henge is an inunguat that looks like the 2010 Olympics logo. Causation of the other rock-stacks, which I think it's fair to call inuksuit, is unclear.) Stunning views of more and more mountains, amazing lucent lakes, smooth and quilted glaciers, overwhelming beauty all around. I can see why people come here and why it costs so much. I took a bunch of pictures on Mom's camera, which I hope to be able to share at some point.
Coming down was much less scary than going up. A controlled descent felt less strained, and I didn't have things I was looking at fall away FAR BELOW. They were already far below, no problem for them to get closer slowly.
I definitely noticed the altitude once I started walking on uphill slopes. My legs felt floaty and uncontrolled, though my head, the canonical place you get light, seemed fine. I'm quite a bit more tired than I would normally be after the light hiking we did.
If you are ever here, do not purchase a "Screamer" at Zog's in the village. The soft-serve ice cream is queerly foamy, and the smoothie stuff is repulsively artificial-tasting. The worst part is, if you've just hiked at 7000 feet and ridden a hot gondola, you are at risk of consuming the whole thing despite cursing every mouthful.
Back to the Get Rid Of Smelly GirlS routine: Apparently these people want to dress up for dinner. Actually I would have been okay with this if we weren't traveling, but I didn't fucking bring fancy clothes. I have my hemp pants, because they travel well, but the nicest shirt I have is this navy one with the ties, and that is not going to match my black pants. I think what will happen is this: They can bite me. Too bad I didn't bring extra-scungy clothes with rips and stains. (Not really liking the way I'm turned into Pissy Teen Me by all this. At least now I have a better idea what's doing it.)
19 August 06, 9:23pm
Walked back here after dinner, with a stop at Armchair Books on the way:
Poisons, Peter Macinnis
The Carpet Makers, Andreas Eschbach
It's just not vacation without interesting new books. Both of these were printed in the U.S., but I've never seen them there, so they seemed like good choices.
The walk, all by myself, was wonderful. The sun had gone down but it wasn't yet dark. I dead-reckoned my way through Whistler Village when there wasn't a sidewalk on the road. I waved to babies who looked at me and went around smiling, which often seems to cheer people and did this time too. So relaxing to be alone for a while.
Dinner was fantastic. The restaurant, Araxi, specializes in seafood, and dressing up was somewhat warranted. My natural poise seemed sufficient to counteract the casual knit shirt, sunburn (damn! I totally did sunblock! 45!), and jeans.
Appetizer: English Pea Puree
Warmed, pureed fresh peas in a tiny tureen with tendrils of prosciutto hiding within and three viola blossoms on top. (It had one of those baked cheese-wafers too, which I duly tried and still don't care for.) This was fantastic. It had all the goodness of fresh peas, with a smooth texture, and the soft, salty prosciutto was a startling and wonderful contrast. Loved it.
Main course: <some local place name> Dungeness Crab Roll
Crab, avocado, shiso, and tobiko in what amounted to a California roll, inside-out with sesame seeds on the outside. This was tasty, but after the peas it was as nothing, and I wanted more delicious shiso, maybe instead of the nori it was jammed up against, which overwhelmed its flavor pretty thoroughly.
Dessert: "Peaches and Cream"
Back to the heights of wonderful food: This was blueberries and two kinds of peaches, warmed through and coated lightly with slightly caramelized sugar syrup, on top of scattered pistachio-mince topping creme non-brulee custard. So, so good. Some of the peach slices were obviously from donut peaches, which I've never liked before but were excellent in this, and others were more strongly flavored golden peach slivers.
I did end up eating last night, some BBQ pork buns from the grocery. Lunch today was a cinnamon roll, cheese and salami on crackers.
Lunch yesterday was also remarkably good, at Ariston in West Vancouver. They had wonderful hummus, very garlicky and lemony and smooth, with freshly baked crisp-soft flatbread. Excellent salads, very good spanakopita. We got baklava to go, and it's amazing. Most of the group doesn't like it, which means more of its rolled-filo and headily coriander?-spiced goodness for me.
Drama apparently followed my departure, but people seem to have mostly made up after their misunderstanding. [Later: Mom had to process a little after we were in bed, which was fine.]
20 August 06, 9:13pm
We got up this morning and went on a Zip Trek tour, which was amazing. Five zip lines running from Whistler Mountain to Blackcomb Mountain and back, across Fitzsimmons Creek (the official line of demarcation between the two), plus high platforms for launch and landing, a couple of swaying but sturdy boardwalks, and mini-lectures on sustainability. The longest of the cables was 2300 feet long and ran lengthwise down the river bottom, so we crossed the river several times. Those zipping tended to spin a bit due to cross winds, so we got a very good view in several directions on each line, but I think we all envied the guides' leather gloves and suave self-braking by the end of the morning. I have photos of me and Mom taken by a professional photographer, who was set up on the bank under the end of the longest zip line; as we expected, we had to pay for copies, but the person really did do a good job so we bought them anyway. Here's my favorite. Niece 1 got video of a couple of her trips! I'm hoping to get a CD of that soon.
The scary part of zip-lining was the way you would walk down steps to ease your weight onto the line, and there were no railings -- no anything past about step six. The whole intention was to slide along the line, and that's what would happen if you fell instead of easing on, but being mentally ready was an important part of the process that none of us wanted to skip. High staircases a hundred feet up are scary!
The annoying part was the harness, which went around each thigh and the waist and over the shoulders, very secure but also restrictive. For those of us foolish enough to wear shorts, the harness was in just the wrong place on the thighs and caused unfortunate fabric incidents while walking. The big pulley attached to the harness wasn't so great hanging down and banging on the bare thighs either. I adopted an attitude as of a lady holding up her skirts to keep the harness from being too awful, and that worked all right though I wanted both hands free for the bouncy boardwalks.
The wonderful part was being so high and going so fast. I kept being nervous, because every line was a different challenge, and it was so exciting for so long that we were all pretty floppy when we zipped back to the village.
Lunch was at the Old Spaghetti Factory, so nothing too special, though the chicken in my pesto linguini was notably good. The jalf-sister-in-law and Niece 2 took off after this, since they had to work Monday.
Next was the farmers' market, yay! I got lots of food: a lovely nectarine, some giant cherries [good but no Bings], a lavender caramel from a woman ("Sarahendipity") who made beautiful glossy chocolates decorated with colorful abstract designs [rapturous], some maple sugar cones [not tried yet], and a cherry turnover [very good too]. A glassblower had a $10 seconds bin, so I got a wonderful fist-sized clear glass fishing-net float with strands inside.
We came back to the hotel, then I took the shuttle back to the village for our Zip Trek photo cd, visited the chocolate place (a chain store, lame) and the internet cafe (no ssh, lame), and returned to the hotel on the shuttle, which had the same driver as my previous shuttle rides. Others napped before dinner; I finished The Privilege of the Sword, which was excellent and makes me want to reread Swordspoint.
Dinner was at the Teppan Village. Is there a collective term for the Japanese steakhouse in which the chef comes and slices and cooks at your table? This guy was also funny, which I didn't expect but liked. Mom and I got the tasting menu, hers with half a lobster and mine with a salmon filet, plus the standard chicken, filet mignon, prawns, shiitakes, and vegetables. So, so good. The real standouts were the shiitakes and beef, but it was all lovely, and the flavors were complemented very well by the three dipping sauces (soy-lemon with horseradish, sweet soybean sauce, and ginger sauce). The teriyaki sauce on the chicken was a bit much -- "Japanese ketchup!" proclaimed the chef as he doused the meat -- but the chicken was cooked perfectly.
Wandered around trying to find appropriate souvenirs for the employers who gave Mom the trip, but didn't find much except some packets of odd chocolate. Now I am here writing and everyone else has gone off to the hot tub and pool before they close at 10. I'm tired, why should I subject myself to nasty chlorine? I did expect them to protest my lack of attendance more, but maybe they're learning.
I've been frustrated on this trip by how well Whistler is set up for pedestrians, because we have to drive most places. The shuttle wasn't running early enough to get us to our Zip Trek this morning, and that was the only time we were going into town without my dad's ex-wife, who really can't handle walking more than a tiny bit. So we're in this great, easily navigated place with great provisions for pedestrians, and we keep having to drive everywhere, drop off S., go find a place to park, blah blah blah. It's made it really difficult to learn where shops and restaurants are, because the roads are curved and go where the pedestrian malls aren't. Also, I would be more okay with the driving if the driver weren't always bitching about the pedestrians, but she does. Pointing out that driving makes no sense for most people here doesn't have much effect. Oh, and the parking spots are too small for her GIANT FUCKING SUV, big surprise.
I'm also tired of being around (these) people, but that's hardly unexpected. I get to go home soon, yay. We might hit Lush on the way out of town tomorrow, especially since good souvenirs for Mom's employers have not yet presented themselves, but we are going home home home.
21 August 06, 8:35pm
No one in this family can be on time, can they? I was showered, dressed, fed, and finished cleaning the kitchen before anyone else had shut the hell up and gotten ready to go. This isn't even the midwestern branch of the family.
I nabbed the back seat again, foiling Niece 1, who hadn't ridden up with us but had shown a tendency to grab the entire back seat for herself in our rides around town, even when that put three of us in the middle-back seat. She obviously had not thought out the strategic implications of her last-minute bathroom run.
Mom and I went to Lush before leaving Whistler. The others were acting cranky, but they said they didn't mind, so if they were lying that's their problem. We got goodies and were happy, and by the time we got back to the car our compatriots had eaten food bars for breakfast and seemed less bitchy. (Mom decided that the employers were not deserving of souvenirs after all, which simplified things.)
We drove back down, stopping at a Shari's for boring but acceptable lunch. Mom and my half-sister had a frustrating conversation about what "rebellion" meant to each of them. No trouble at the border even though most of us just had driver's licenses.
We got to my place about 4:30. I wound up with all the groceries except the vodka, which is fine by me, plus the all-important baklava.
And now I am home, yay. D-cat got her teeth cleaned (and four pulled, poor baby) while I was away, but she was fine with me once I took off my shoes. Wim seems undamaged as well, and he was excellent in giving Diz her painkillers and canned food. Work tomorrow, but class is over, hurrah! That should be a lot easier, just because I won't be losing time to the class-lab two days a week. I promise to work reasonable hours now that I'm not trying to make up for that!
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Date: 2006-08-22 06:13 am (UTC)I have pics somewhere from the bear-and-cub banners (I know I brought one home to show Eli) and yes the salmon and roe cracked me up badly.
So sorry about difficult female relatives/lack of dress clothes/various enforced girlness!
Yay Whistler Village!
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Date: 2006-08-22 06:17 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 06:18 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2006-08-22 07:22 am (UTC)I so relate to this. I've had this sort of experience many times.
They were already far below, no problem for them to get closer slowly.
This is how I feel when I'm in a plane, nervous the whole time until descent. Greg boggles at this; why is the most dangerous part of the flight the most comforting for me? I never said I was rational - and the ground getting closer (in a controlled way) is exactly what my heart desires.
I really enjoyed reading your report. Now I want to go to Whistler mostly to scoff at everything and then bask in the scenery. Also, for some reason whenever you complain at length about something it doesn't make me annoyed (like it does with other people) but just makes me love my friend Kylee all the more. There is a matter-of-fact sense of humor to your disgruntledness that completely delights me.
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Date: 2006-08-25 05:27 am (UTC)Thank you! I'm glad the humor shows up, because I mostly feel it at the time too.
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Date: 2006-08-22 11:30 am (UTC)The rest of it... you write about it so wonderfully!
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Date: 2006-08-25 05:13 am (UTC)Thank you. That means a great deal coming from you. Also, I am now somewhat embarrassed to have said "fucking" so many times. :)
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Date: 2006-08-28 05:15 am (UTC)whistler is too touristy for me. if i were in better shape i'd invite you up here and we'd go to strathcona park instead. i think you'd really enjoy that -- all the amazing scenery you could want and without any touristas in their big SUVs.