O Canada

How I've lived in the NW for 18ish years and never been to Canada is kind of amazing.  There was a family gathering happening in Canada so on Tuesday, the fam packed into the car and made the 9 hour drive up to Whistler in British Colombia, with a stop in Seattle to kidnap sister Amanda.

We arrived at a fairly swanky resort (had the same feel as Sunriver) which is not normally my thing but it was nice.  After such a long travel day, food and groceries were the only things on the agenda for the rest of the night.  Of the three stores we went to, all of them had Australian employees.  Whistler seems to be where the Aussies gather.

After a morning pool/hot tub session on Wednesday with Amanda, a bunch of people went on a bike ride to Rainbow Lake.  It was a beautiful ride through the trees with mountains in the background, passing by other lakes and resort golf courses on the way.  We had to stop at one point due to a black bear feasting away on berries.  Some people thought it would be a great idea to get as close to the bear as possible which resulted in the bear getting agitated and lunging at them.  Not going to lie, it was kind of funny and they deserved it.

Bear crossing

Green Lake

Rainbow Lake

Thursday was probably the highlight of the little trip.  After a walk around the village area in the morning, we headed back to Rainbow Lake for lunch and swimming.  The water wasn't too cold but it happened to be really windy which made getting out of the water not very fun.  

Later in the day, it was time for some zip lining.  The fam along with my first cousin once removed (is that how we're related?), Amy, opted for the "bear tour" although it would have been pretty hard to spot a bear zooming down the cables.  To get to the platforms, you got to walk on a series of bridges, stairs, and paths through the forest.  The views were spectacular and zipping over a river upside down was quite fun.  The weird part was waiting on the platforms and randomly seeing people shoot across the sky on higher lines.  It was quite amusing.

View from one of the platforms

Some of the lines

Early on Friday, the family, along with Amy and cousin Adriana, got up and went on a hike to Logger's Lake in the Cheakamus Valley.  We accidentally parked in the wrong lot but got to hike along a raging river to get to where we were trying to go.  I was really tempted to go on one of the rope swings hanging from trees to jump into the water but wasn't wearing the proper attire. 

Logger's Lake

From the lake, we hiked uphill for a bit and got to an incredible viewpoint.  It kind of reminded me of the scenery in Austria and almost didn't feel real how amazing the view was.

Dat view doh

After a little pool session, the entire group went out to dinner and good times were had by all.  The cousins who were able to be there also got a chance to spend some time together later that night which is a rare but always welcome occasion.

This morning we packed up and made the long drive back to Portland.  After waiting roughly 1.5 hours to cross the boarder, bad traffic in Seattle, and multiple stops along the way, the 13 hour trip back was finished (hence why this is posted so late).  Thus, this little trip has come to an end.

That's all for now.  Bye.