You’ll never get me on a cruise. Unless it’s to ALASKA! Recap and New PTR Link! 2/1

Now, before I forget, I thought I’d share our border crossing pics. I tried to upload them to facebook and then lost my connection the minute we crossed (or lost it without roaming charges lol) and just realized I hadn’t moved my pictures over when I did the first Whistler update.

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Exciting huh.

Unbeknownst to me, the weekend of my Whistler event, was also the biggest weekend Whistler has for events. All year.

Outside of the Olympics.

Crankworx, a huge mountain bike event, was the same weekend we were there. It had been mentioned to me at the Friday evening function but frankly I didn't think too much of it. It's Whistler, there is always something going on. I needed to be at the event at 7:45 am. Needless to say, no one was up while I was getting ready but I managed to figure out the coffee pot and drive myself to the hotel on time. The morning went well and finished at noon. The gang had gone down to explore the village so met me back at the hotel and we drove back to the condo together so we could grab lunch and I could change.

We had no real plans for the afternoon. I had an evening function but didn't need to get there until 8 or so. Our plan was to putz around the village, come back, hit the pool, make dinner and then they'd watch a movie while I did my gig. We had a nice lunch, changed and headed out. Our condo is in the Blackcomb base area and the walk to Whistler, takes about 10 minutes
They had seen some of the bike stuff and mentioned it but I have to admit, it was far more than I'd expected. I have never, ever, seen Whistler that crowded. Walking alone, we saw some interesting stuff. At the creek, young adults were rock hopping at a competition. I forget what it’s called but they have these special rock hopper bikes that don’t have seats, that they literally hop from rock to rock on an obstacle course over the and across the creek. Crazy stuff! We ended up chatting with a guy who’s 20 year old son was down there hopping away. And apparently doing rather well, it was the “expert” pool. Making our way through the crowds and past the huge expo in the parking lot we came ot the Whistler base, the hub of the bike activity and the base for the bike park. It is a week long event and the place was packed with muddy dirty bikers. And the occasionally snowboarder. There was still snow at the top, not even heli skiing I think!
This is the event (if anyone is curious

http://www.crankworx.com/index.php/schedule/kokanee-crankworx/schedule

And this is what we walked into.

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Looks pretty empty right?

Not so much

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This booth intrigued us (as did a marquee showing the weekends events)
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So we went over to check it out

A booth about Cheeserolling. In fact, it was the Canadian Cheeserolling Festival!

What is Cheeserolling you ask?

Cheese Rolling is deceptively simple: an 11-pound wheel of cheese is rolled down a hill and everyone chases it, slipping, tripping and tumbling on the way down.

At the Canadian Cheeserolling Festival the lucky winner gets to keep the cheese, and gets two ski season passes to Whistler Blackcomb.

Sounds cool, right?

At the booth they had a mini hill. The boys each rolled a cheese down a tiny Astroturf hill. Evan won. And got a hat. Say…CHEESEROLLING!

Eric got a hat too.

Though I didn’t capture the actual rolling, they did do a great imitation of what can happen.

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And you can see the hats in the picture. Saturday would be the actual festival, we discussed that it might be fun to check out. It was not all that warm out but we forged on, grabbing free drinks for the kids and playing with statues

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I hadn’t brought my camera with me so these are all from my phone. Our “first” Olympic shot

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Glad I took this one, I have more with the real camera but couldn’t get it without people.

Rings seen we headed back to the condo for a swim, a little salmon for dinner and then I took off to my event. Saturday brought SUN! Same drill in the morning but a much much nicer afternoon. After doing our drill of lunch and changing clothes we headed back out.

Where to?

Cheeserolling of course! http://www.canadiancheeserolling.ca/
At Whistler, in the summer, there are a ton of things to do on the mountain. You have the bike park, you have hiking, you have actual skiing and snowboarding. Generally speaking you’ll need a ticket of some sort to go up and while the peak to peak sounded fun it was also pricey. Peak to peak means you can ride any lift on either mountain, including the one that goes from the top of one, to the top of the other (Whistler to Blackcomb). The peak to peak is new to us. For the 4 of us, it would have run about $140 and we just weren’t feeling it at that price. However to get to cheeserolling, they were offering free rides on one of the smaller chairs, all you had to do was say “cheeserolling” to get on for free.

So we did.

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Checking out one of the bike ramps as we go up

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If you do the ziplining in Whistler, you’ll go over this

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More bike park

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And…where we got off. The upper part of the lift was closed

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We could see the crowds

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They even had a map!

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This cracked me up

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Rollers getting ready

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Crazy master of ceremonies

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Who decided, between races to do games and things. All of a sudden we hear him say “It’s time for cheesy human tricks. Any volunteers?”


Continued in next post
 
Guess who volunteered

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“What’s your cheesy trick”

“I can flip my eyelids inside out”

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Ah, but he can walk on his knees

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And she’s a cheesy dancer

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Apparently a roller too by the number tag on her shirt

Though it was close, Evan lost to the kid who could walk on his knees in a nail biting crowd cheering tie breaker. He got some cheese picks as a consolation prize (which he used to pass notes to us on the drive home, pretty funny).

And now…it’s time to roll!

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See they guys in the striped shirts at the bottom? They have body pads to block runaway people and stop them (and cheese too I guess).

A straggler

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More cheesy slogans

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And beautiful mountains

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With that, we headed back down. Not before tasting quite a bit of cheese. YUM! Some seriously delicious cheese.

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We decided a treat might be in order. We checked out bike rental pricing for Sunday, confirmed that peak to peak was more than we wanted to spend on this trip and went in search of ice cream. We ended up at.

Cows.

Eric had to milk it

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Good ice cream and some of the funniest themed merchandise I’ve seen in a while. Evan really wanted an “Angry Herds” T shirt, but we held off.

http://www.cows.ca/

Strolling on we saw the bobsled accident memorial

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And attempted a few more ring pictures

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You can see it’s crowded and this was much less so than the main village
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We almost bungee jumped (the kids) they were going to let Evan do it in a cast (a Sprite jump thing was set up) but he wasn't 13 so we had to abort that mission.

As with the day before we headed back for pool time. This time I got a little bit wet but not a full swim. It was far nicer than the day before to be sure but enough of a wind that I wasn’t into getting completely wet. I had a dinner to go to and then would be “done” with work for the weekend, having packed up everything around lunch time. Sunday would be our full whistler day (with no work) and the weather looked to be nice. A valley bike ride was on the agenda. Question was, would they rent a bike to a kid in a cast? Could we find a tagalong bike for Eric (who still can’t ride)?

 
Oh how fun, you will love it! Bummer about the who wants to be a Millionaire, I remember seeing that in )4, it was fun. How far did you go?

I don't remember how far I got, but I won a cap, a lanyard and a few pins. I went out because I didn't know the birth country of Catherine zeta jones. The gal who followed me won the whole thing. That was pretty cool to watch!
 


What a great time. I love the cheeserolling pictures.

What happened to Evan's arm (I must have missed that somewhere along the way)?

Your pictures are beautiful.
 
Wow, Whistler sounds so amazing and is so beautiful.

Love the cheeserolling! Too funny.

It is beautiful. I have some prettier pictures of it the next day but really did a lousy job of capturing it. The cheeserolling was hysterical!

I don't remember how far I got, but I won a cap, a lanyard and a few pins. I went out because I didn't know the birth country of Catherine zeta jones. The gal who followed me won the whole thing. That was pretty cool to watch!

Hey, a hat, lanyard and pins are pretty cool! How fun to see someone win the whole thing. I'd be horrible at it I think.

What a great time. I love the cheeserolling pictures.

Thanks, we had a really nice afternoon!

What happened to Evan's arm (I must have missed that somewhere along the way)?

Boy breaks boards, boards break boy. :rotfl:

He fractured his hand during the power break session of his 2nd degree international black belt test. He did get the boards broken but at a price. Part of it was technique (and he should know better) and part was Evan biting of more than he could break...I think he had 7 boards (and he should know better).

He's not the first one to break a hand but maybe the youngest.

Your pictures are beautiful.

Thanks!
 
Those Canadians have it all! Cheeserolling and Curling!

It was fun to look at your pictures because I worked at a ski area for 10+ years
 


Those Canadians have it all! Cheeserolling and Curling!

It was fun to look at your pictures because I worked at a ski area for 10+ years

10 years, wow! Do you still ski (or did you then, one would assume so but I guess you never know)?. Will you get your kids on ski's early? I didn't even learn until my 20's and actually learned at Whistler. Which should have been traumatic but maybe it's why it has a soft spot in my heart.

I went up with a bunch of college friends, all skiers. Growing up here, everyone ski's but I never learned for a variety of reasons. I honestly think they didn't believe me that I didn't know how. We went up to the top of Blackcomb and....they left me there.

Stupid pride meant there was NO way I was riding that gondola back down.
I got down. But it wasn't pretty.

:rotfl:
 
Looks like a really fun weekend. They did Cheeserolling once on the Amazing Race! It looks so funny!!

Alex still doesn't ride a bike... :sad2: He's too afraid to even try...
 
Welcome Jennifer! :welcome: Honestly the fact that your DH likes it so much puts my mind at ease as they seem similar in some ways. What are you doing in LAX? DL? Is that now or something else???

I'm not sure the kids quite get the FE, I think they will love it! I am doing pillowcases as well, which they don't know about.

Hey ya! No, we are in Oregon! AND then heading to Santa Fe! :laughing: I posted on my TR b/c we were going to be taking a hiatus from TR posting!!! I am excited to share my Vero and Fort Wilderness fun, but alas, I am still on our cruise day 3!!! :laughing:

The FE will get really excited and the boys will like participating as soon as the gift start showing up on your door.... :thumbsup2 Cute on the pillow cases! :goodvibes Yes, I am sure he will like Palos... really gives you that touch of class on the Disney cruise, THAT and the Outlook bar, 2nd level, you can walk right out on deck, see the sunset from the glass windows, so head there when the kids are on their own in the club, etc... The Wonder is the ship we were on two years ago, and that whole set up, the Outlook cafe/bar is better on that boat than on the Dream... AMAZING cocktail menu... nice place to relax and read, etc... BIG points from my DH...


So on to this Whistler trip, so fun! COOL! You know I love ski places when it isn't ski season!! There are fun aspects to visiting a place like that (as you have shared!) There is a town in WA state, I can't remember the name, it is a little swiss chalet style town... we went a long time ago, stayed near there, BEST red skinned mashed potatoes at some bed and breakfast restaurant... :) That is all I can remember!! Also Snoqualmie falls/lodge?? We discussed this like a year ago I think...you and I... that and the Wild Ginger!!! :) Do you know I am bringing back a suitcase of pancake mix??!! I KID you NOT!!!! Looks like you guys had quite an adventure!!
 
10 years, wow! Do you still ski (or did you then, one would assume so but I guess you never know)?. Will you get your kids on ski's early? I didn't even learn until my 20's and actually learned at Whistler. Which should have been traumatic but maybe it's why it has a soft spot in my heart.

I went up with a bunch of college friends, all skiers. Growing up here, everyone ski's but I never learned for a variety of reasons. I honestly think they didn't believe me that I didn't know how. We went up to the top of Blackcomb and....they left me there.

Stupid pride meant there was NO way I was riding that gondola back down.
I got down. But it wasn't pretty.

:rotfl:

I haven't skied since I was pregnant with Liam :sad1: Unfortunately it doesn't fit with our lifestyle or fitness level right now. I learned in high school but never got very good at it. I didn't have an on snow job (accounting office) so I didn't ski much...although it was nice to have a bar under my office for after work! :rolleyes1

Why do people do that to non-skiers on their first time? I've heard horror stories. Bothers me to no end.....if you enjoy a sport why would you make it un-enjoyable (and possibly dangerous for your friend?

Next time you go to WDW do the Richard Petty Driving Experience so l can tell you about my 10+ years working at a NASCAR track. :lmao:
 
Whistler is beautiful!
Cheese rolling sounds like fun to watch. Tasting the cheese would be my favorite part of the whole thing.
 
OMG! Cheeserolling! All I can say is :confused3:confused3:confused3:confused3

Looks like you had such a fun time! We had ice cream at a similar place In Bakersfield - The Moo Creamery - yummy and fun!:thumbsup2

Your cruise is so close - have you started packing yet?
 
Arrgh! I wrote a response yesterday and it never posted and now is lost. I hate that!

Looks like a really fun weekend. They did Cheeserolling once on the Amazing Race! It looks so funny!!


It was hysterical. You could definitely get hurt though, I can only imagine how many turned ankles they see!

Alex still doesn't ride a bike... :sad2: He's too afraid to even try...

He says he wants too...but then freaks out.

Hey ya! No, we are in Oregon! AND then heading to Santa Fe! :laughing: I posted on my TR b/c we were going to be taking a hiatus from TR posting!!! I am excited to share my Vero and Fort Wilderness fun, but alas, I am still on our cruise day 3!!! :laughing:

Fun, I hope you are having some of the lovely weather we are FINALLY seeing here. Looking forward to the Vero part. If I can con Jeff into the Key West itinerary (which he nibbled on over dinner the other night, no interest in the Dream one) I hope to do a Magic/Vero combo for spring break next year.

The FE will get really excited and the boys will like participating as soon as the gift start showing up on your door.... :thumbsup2 Cute on the pillow cases! :goodvibes Yes, I am sure he will like Palos... really gives you that touch of class on the Disney cruise, THAT and the Outlook bar, 2nd level, you can walk right out on deck, see the sunset from the glass windows, so head there when the kids are on their own in the club, etc... The Wonder is the ship we were on two years ago, and that whole set up, the Outlook cafe/bar is better on that boat than on the Dream... AMAZING cocktail menu... nice place to relax and read, etc... BIG points from my DH...

I think it will be fun and will hit them once we start making up the bags. Excited about the pillowcases although Evan is redoing his room and the colors may not match but...oh well!

So on to this Whistler trip, so fun! COOL! You know I love ski places when it isn't ski season!! There are fun aspects to visiting a place like that (as you have shared!) There is a town in WA state, I can't remember the name, it is a little swiss chalet style town... we went a long time ago, stayed near there, BEST red skinned mashed potatoes at some bed and breakfast restaurant... :) That is all I can remember!! Also Snoqualmie falls/lodge?? We discussed this like a year ago I think...you and I... that and the Wild Ginger!!! :) Do you know I am bringing back a suitcase of pancake mix??!! I KID you NOT!!!! Looks like you guys had quite an adventure!!

We did chat about all of that! We were married at Salish (which used to be called Snoqualmie Falls lodge). Leavenworth is the town you are thinking of, it's adorable both summer and winter.

Dude, I can send you pancake mix anytime you want, it's in the stores here, just let me know (it is the bomb!) and the Fisher Scone mix from the fair, if you are into that...YUM!

I haven't skied since I was pregnant with Liam :sad1: Unfortunately it doesn't fit with our lifestyle or fitness level right now. I learned in high school but never got very good at it. I didn't have an on snow job (accounting office) so I didn't ski much...although it was nice to have a bar under my office for after work! :rolleyes1

Why do people do that to non-skiers on their first time? I've heard horror stories. Bothers me to no end.....if you enjoy a sport why would you make it un-enjoyable (and possibly dangerous for your friend?

It worked out ok and one friend did stay with me for a bit, I think she was horrified that I was actually not kidding or being modest about not knowing how to ski. I'm not very good at it though, it's so sporadic that I feel like I relearn every time and the only way I improve is if I can do it several days in a row. It's probably been 4 years now. Last few times it was too much work with kids in and out of camps/lessons and it just wasn't worth trying ot go myself.

Next time you go to WDW do the Richard Petty Driving Experience so l can tell you about my 10+ years working at a NASCAR track. :lmao:

:scared1: I love speed and could be in the car with someone else driving but no way would I drive it.


Great Pix !!I love those whacky type Festivals !!They are so much fun !!

It was a riot Rosie!
 
CHEESE ROLLING!!???

That sounds like something they'd do in Wisconsin.

Except their hills aren't exactly steep enough :rotfl: Maybe up in the UP.

It was a riot

Whistler is beautiful!
Cheese rolling sounds like fun to watch. Tasting the cheese would be my favorite part of the whole thing.

The cheese was SO yummy. If we'd have had cash on us, we'd have picked some up.

OMG! Cheeserolling! All I can say is :confused3:confused3:confused3:confused3

Looks like you had such a fun time! We had ice cream at a similar place In Bakersfield - The Moo Creamery - yummy and fun!:thumbsup2

Your cruise is so close - have you started packing yet?

No packing yet but working on the LIST and figuring out what we still need. The last 2 days have all been about figuring out formal night for the E's. What they have, don't have, what fits, what is lost. Seriously 2 days ago it was looking like all they had that fit and could be found were their dress pants. 2 days of closet digging and we've found 2 ties, one pair of shoes that fits (previously said to not fit) and one shirt. Progress!

I am debating though. Evan does not have shoes and the one shirt that works is a 12, which either of them could wear. I'm leaning towards black tennis shoes for Evan. It's a pair he wanted for school anyway and will likely be fine for band concerts if he doesn't trash them. Nice leather ones, with a very tiny amount of light trim. I hate the idea of buying another pair that he might only wear once before he outgrows it. I may also get him the new shirt in a 14 so it will last although really they are so close in size it doesn't much matter. But from thinking we needed 2 shoes, 2 ties and 2 shirts, to get down to one shirt and maybe a shoe (or not, I won't count it if it's the school shoes) then I'm pretty darn happy!
 
im here, looks like alot of fun so far, i would have been down for that cheeserolling, especially if you got tokeep the roll.

i would have also tried to trade in my ski tickets for more cheese.
:lmao:
 
im here, looks like alot of fun so far, i would have been down for that cheeserolling, especially if you got tokeep the roll.

i would have also tried to trade in my ski tickets for more cheese.
:lmao:

YAY! Dan's here :welcome:

I can TOTALLY see you attempting cheeserolling Dan, you could tell everyone was just having a blast. I will say that while the cheese tasting was great, they probably could have made a fortune if they also had wine tasting...they go together you know!

just think, this could be you!

img_winner_2011.png


I love what last years winner said

From: Seattle, USA
Technique: I start fast, ease through the middle, and pick 'er up at the bottom.
What will you do with the cheese?: I'm going to use it to train for next year. Either that, or eat a ton of cheeseburgers.
 
Except their hills aren't exactly steep enough :rotfl: Maybe up in the UP.

It was a riot



The cheese was SO yummy. If we'd have had cash on us, we'd have picked some up.



No packing yet but working on the LIST and figuring out what we still need. The last 2 days have all been about figuring out formal night for the E's. What they have, don't have, what fits, what is lost. Seriously 2 days ago it was looking like all they had that fit and could be found were their dress pants. 2 days of closet digging and we've found 2 ties, one pair of shoes that fits (previously said to not fit) and one shirt. Progress!

I am debating though. Evan does not have shoes and the one shirt that works is a 12, which either of them could wear. I'm leaning towards black tennis shoes for Evan. It's a pair he wanted for school anyway and will likely be fine for band concerts if he doesn't trash them. Nice leather ones, with a very tiny amount of light trim. I hate the idea of buying another pair that he might only wear once before he outgrows it. I may also get him the new shirt in a 14 so it will last although really they are so close in size it doesn't much matter. But from thinking we needed 2 shoes, 2 ties and 2 shirts, to get down to one shirt and maybe a shoe (or not, I won't count it if it's the school shoes) then I'm pretty darn happy!

I wouldn't worry too much about the shoes - especially for kids. The black tennis shoes will work great. DCL is pretty casual compared to some, and the West Coast even more so, I found. We even had some women at our table in jeans on semi-formal night and no one batted an eye. I didn't even get Jim a tux or suit this time - he fit in just fine with shirt and tie on those nights and slacks and collared shirts for the others.

YAY! Dan's here :welcome:

I can TOTALLY see you attempting cheeserolling Dan, you could tell everyone was just having a blast. I will say that while the cheese tasting was great, they probably could have made a fortune if they also had wine tasting...they go together you know!

just think, this could be you!

img_winner_2011.png


I love what last years winner said

From: Seattle, USA
Technique: I start fast, ease through the middle, and pick 'er up at the bottom.
What will you do with the cheese?: I'm going to use it to train for next year. Either that, or eat a ton of cheeseburgers.

That's funny! :lmao:
 

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