A-MAZING!!

First stop - Candytown

Once we got checked in to our hotel room we headed over to Candytown (aka Yaletown) for their annual festive weekend.  We immediately took advantage of the fact that there was very few people lined up for the horse-carriage ride and hopped on that first.  (Probably because it was pouring rain, but we're true Lower Mainland ducks that had waterproof boots and jackets so it was all good!)

It was pretty neat to be clip-clopping around Vancouver streets in a horse drawn carriage with classic Christmas tunes playing...  Great start to our evening adventure!

Enchant 2016

I love that we can adapt to whatever the situation requires, in this case it's the fact that it is pouring rain but we are going to make the best of it and enjoy the heck out of it!

Rudolph!

Probably one of my favourite things was this icicle forest we walked through, very cool.

We came out the end of it and it was like a blizzard, Bennett was catching snowflakes

 

What a surprise, Santa was at the end of the maze - we're still trying to figure out if he was the real Santa or just a Santa helper....

  We went for a hot chocolate in the Christmas market and wandered around the various vendor stalls, there was some pretty nice stuff to check out.  Then we caught a cab back to the hotel where we had a great dinner at Frankie's Italian Restaurant, and then up to our room for the night.

Hotel Hijinks

 

We had a real live 'Elf on the Shelf' in our hotel room.

A

   
It was a memorable night in the City to start out the Christmas Season, I'm really glad we went!

Vancouver

Mini-getaway

This afternoon I'll be heading into Vancouver for 24 hours of fun with family, it'll be the start of getting in the Christmas mood!

 
 We have tickets to get in to see the largest Christmas light maze in North America, along with a Christmas market and food trucks, can't wait.

Snow Line

The temperature here is slowly dropping and so along with that the snow line is creeping down closer as well.  I think in another week or there will probably be snowflakes coming down here in Village.

Pretty soon this whole mountainside will be winter wonderland.  We'll be packing our bags and heading home today so unfortunately we won't get any closer to the white stuff than this.  It was a great week away to relax and take a break from our regular routines, now we're refreshed and ready to go back home.

Scandinave Spa

It's mid-week of our getaway and we went to the Scandinave Spa for some pampering. 

The meandering nature walk from the parking area to the Spa is where the quiet begins...

A glimpse of a couple of the pools where we spent several hours after our massages; hot pools, cold waterfalls and pools, saunas, steam rooms, and relaxation areas.  There is soft restful music quietly playing, and conversation is forbade.  :)  The value of 'Silence' is posted here and there with signs of 'shhh', I wasn't too sure how I'd make out with it but found it very restful.

The entrance lodge has a cafe, a large gas fireplace, and beautiful views to take in - it would be a great place to go just for that.  Pretty easy day again today!

An 'In' Day

There's something about a gray, rainy day that I love - and when I'm settled into a cozy condo in Whistler, it's all the better.  Today we stayed inside, we could look up into the mountains and see freshly fallen snow while we were warm and dry inside.

The cloud has gotten so low that the snow isn't visible now, but winter is definitely in the air.

Years ago when our kids were young we used to go out and find a real Christmas tree, this one right by our deck here made me reminisce about those days.  I think this one would have been perfect!

One of my favourite things to do - Christmas card writing, so I try to choose the time and place carefully.  This year it's a 10 out of 10 - Whistler.......

We are having a very restful time, today we've not ventured out but yet it's perfect.  :)

Our Week in Whistler Begins....

Saturday morning Ted and I got up and started packing and getting organized for our road trip up to Whistler.  We traded our timeshare on Lake Okanagan for a week in Whistler - perfect trade this time of year.  As we drove through the pelting rain on the freeway it seemed like it would be a long trip, but once we hit the Sea to Sky Highway thankfully it let up.  The leaves have fallen here earlier than at home, I guess it's a bit higher elevation but there's still some beautiful colours.   

Stawamus Chief Mountain is almost 2300 feet high, for the brave souls that climb up there they get an amazing view of Howe Sound.  We like the view of the mountain from below well enough...  

Another half hour or so and we're at our place, unpacking and settling in, then it's off to check out the Village and indoor tennis courts and get a bite to eat.  After that it was back to the cozy condo for the night, and after a great sleep we woke up for our first full day here.
Ted headed to the indoor tennis courts for the morning while I lazed around, then we headed out for a walk around 'our neighbourhood' - Creekside Whistler.

                                 There's snow up on the mountain tops here already.

We found a few trees that still have the beautiful red leaves, this one was spectacular!
Then after our chilly walk we headed back to our place to fire up the barbeque for dinner and decide what our evening plans are.  

The Inner Harbour

Monday

After breakfast we went to the Inner Harbour to check out what was happening around there.  First thing us girls saw was the yacht that we should have been arriving on!  After that we wandered around looking for buskers to watch but couldn't find any, that must be more of a weekend thing. Lots of beautiful flowers to see though, and of course the Parliament building and The Empress.

The Empress has been updated inside, but still maintains it's classic old world charm.

I think next time we'll take a trip on the amphibian 'Hippo' for a 90 minute land and water tour.

After our walkabout it was time for lunch, and then off for some of us to catch our ferry home.

It's not the yacht we'd like to be on, but we can dream...

It was a fabulous weekend, many thanks to our great hosts!

A Day at the Gorge - Day Two

Sunday

We woke up to another blue sky day here in Victoria, it really feels like summer. After church we headed straight over to our friends that live on the Gorge, and once there we headed down to their dock directly below their place.  This view from their place is amazing, I'm beginning to think living by the ocean would be pretty nice.

Chillin' with friends is always a good time, add sunshine and water - so fun!

So Derrick was first in the water with the kayak...

After that the paddle board came out and it was the girls' turn to take up a paddle.

Ann is the resident expert...

Then it was my turn to go out...

And then Sue showed her Olympic skills.

After a day of 'Sittin' on the dock in the bay,...' we had dinner out, life is good!

Victoria - Weekend Getaway

Oak Bay

Saturday:

We're here in Victoria for three days with great friends, and we have plans to spend a lot of time in and around the water.  What a beautiful place to be.

Today we started the day with breakfast on Wayne and Lynn's deck looking at the bay - wow!

After breakfast there was time for watching some Olympics, and then we were off to some other friends place on the "Gorge" for an afternoon of sun on their dock.

It was a fabulous first day of our three days here in Victoria.

Menagerie of Moments

This trip has been an amazing experience and we've seen so many things that I never thought we would, we've definitely crossed a lot of things off our 'bucket list', as well as some that weren't even on it.  We've met some interesting people along the way and their willingness to help out and communicate with us when we didn't speak their language was quite refreshing, we had quite a few laughs doing sign language!  These photos are random shots taken on many different days, I'm putting them here to remind us of little moments that I don't want to forget, it was a trip of a lifetime.

No train service to Versailles that day so it meant a long hot bus ride but we still went.

Coffee cart kids were adorable!

Seeing the Eiffel Tower at night never gets old.

A pastry a day keeps the doctor away...

We'd walk by this square each time we came home to our place in Paris, it was our landmark.

Many train rides, double checking the wall maps often!

Restauradores Plaza in Lisbon

After being lost for a few hours  in Spain Ted loved this meal of tripe and beans, he had three bowls. 

Tapas bar in historic part of Santiago de Compostela was crazy busy but a fun place, 

The oasis we found just when we needed it - Costa Vella!