Whistler in September

Fall Favourite

September / October is probably my favourite time to make a trip up to Whistler, the leaves are starting to turn beautiful red and orange colours and the air temperature is cooler. 

This tree is right outside our living room window of the condo we're staying in.

Fairmont Whistler - Mallard Lounge

Perfect timing - Greg was playing at the Fairmont so we arrived on Friday just in time to listen to his first set, it's always a great time.

The next morning the weather was wet but we still went for a 'Village Stroll', then back to our place for lunch, drinks and just taking life easy as it was pretty wet outside.

Sunday morning we were off to the Scandinav Spa; a place of serenity which offers massage, hot spas, cool spas, freezing waterfalls and plunge pools, saunas, steam rooms, hammock haven, and several different areas for sitting and relaxing around fireplaces both indoors and out.

On Monday Ken and Shirley left to go home, and the rest of us went out for a walk around Lost Lake - it was beautiful and warm and clear blue sky.

Fitzsimmons Creek

Lost Lake

On Tuesday more friends arrived to enjoy the time here with and we wandered around the Village...

...took in a guided tour of the Squamish Lil'Wat Cultural Centre...

...checked out the cozy fireside room at the Four Seasons Hotel...

...but in all our travels around here this was the only bear we found - and he was granite.

Friday morning we checked out of our condo and went over to the Brew House Pub so that we could watch the women's basketball game of Canada vs Spain - it was close up until the last quarter, great game!

After that it was time to take the Sea to Sky home, it was another great holiday and time spent with good friends!

Gibsons - Sechelt - Powell River

A Quick Trip

Sunday

Gibsons / Sechelt

It's a long trip from Mission to Powell River, which was our destination last weekend.  Ted's sister Connie was turning seventy so we were going to Powell River to celebrate with her.  

We were able to add in a stopover in Gibsons for lunch at the marina there, and a little look around the quaint shops along there and the infamous Molly's Reach Restaurant where the TV show The Beachcombers was filmed.

Original boat from Beachcombers TV show

George & Deb at Molly's Reach 

Marina at Gibsons

Great lunch on the patio with family!

Later in the afternoon we drove to Sechelt and checked into the Driftwood Inn, a classic motel right on the edge of the ocean and a lovely promenade.  After a great dinner and visit with these guys we went back to the motel, preparing for the next leg of our journey the next morning.  Bright and early Deb and George and Ted and I all headed up the highway to catch the ferry to Powell River.

And we're off!

Connie's 70th Birthday Celebration


Monday

We went out for dinner at a place called Coastal Cookery, it's a fairly new place and while we didn't get the patio seating we had hoped for it was still a nice evening with great company and good food.

Always room for dessert...

Tuesday

Bocce in the backyard was the first order of the day, and Simone was very excited to play.

Connie wanted her day to be low key without a lot of fuss and special preparation - friends and family came together for a casual curry dinner outside on her patio.

Nothing is sweeter than a birthday hug from your grandchild :)

It's not a birthday without a balloon.......

....and four little girls running to get on the trampoline - fun!

Our time with Connie, Tara, Kali and little Simone went by quickly but it was great to reconnect and spend time together with them.  

Early the next morning we caught our first ferry back, then a long windy drive, another ferry to Horseshoe Bay, then onto Hwy 1 and home to Mission - quite the journey but worth it!

Playing in Penticton

Skaha Lake

We've just gotten home after spending three nights in Penticton with our very good friends, what a blast!  The first thing we did was go to Skaha Lake where we all spent time when we were young and so it was fun to reminisce.  Gary and Gina's summer place is a few short blocks to the beach and it took no time at all to pack up the vehicles with floaties and set up our beach camp.

It's nice to have a friend who'll tow you in...

The sky was quite smoky but the water was still beautiful

Seniors football on the beach??

After spending time at the beach we decided to go home and have lunch, rest out of the heat for a while and then go float down the Canal.  About an hour down the canal Gina's floatie started to leak so she was slowly going under water!  Quite the experience - and little did we know that the water level was so low that it took twice as long as it should to go from one end to the other.  After 2 1/2 hours of pretty slow travel along the water we saw some steps up out of the canal so we took the opportunity to bail, and we walked back to the parking lot carrying our floaties!  It was fun though while it lasted, Ken even got off his tube and towed us for a while - although it was pretty hard for him to get back onto it.  :)

Wine Tasting

A trip up to wine country wouldn't be complete without sampling the wares of at least a few of the local wineries.  We split up for the tour, guys in one vehicle and gals in the other.  The guys had the itinerary and we followed them, that made for an interesting drive...  We did manage to hit a couple of the ones we were planning on stopping at though so that was good.

Here at the Serendipity Winery Gina was even able to purchase a wine barrel (an empty one!)  Between our various winery stops we managed to fill a few boxes with our favourites, we are all quite diverse in our tastes.

Kettle Valley Train

Gary mentioned that there's a 90 minute round trip ride on the Kettle Valley Steam Train that's just north of Summerland, so we decided to try it out.  Yesterday morning we packed up and headed there for a ride in one of the three open-air cars, I'm so glad we went.

The open air car is the only way to go in summer

The views of Prairie Valley farms were amazing

Trout Creek Trestle Bridge

The trainmen are all volunteers and you can tell they love what they're doing.

Dirty Laundry Winery & Bistro

On our train trip we went by the Dirty Laundry vineyards and bistro high up on the hill, it's Gina and Gary's favourite spot and once we got there we understood why.  The bistro area is beautiful; the trellis ceiling with grape vines growing overhead and baskets of flowers everywhere were amazing.

Entrance garden to Dirty Laundry Bistro

We're so grateful to be able to spend time with great friends in beautiful places like this!  It's exactly six months until we're all in Hawaii with more fun and adventures to be had....