Hi Everyone, Aidan and I are well and in one piece if not a bit sore. We have just returned from our trip to Big White, a ski resort 440km from Vancouver, near a little town called Kelowna.
But let me back up a bit and start with some news, no not really big news but we have found a new apartment. It’s closer to the heart of the city and unfurnished but a lot cheaper than where we are now, so hopefully even after buying furniture we will still have saved some money. I also still lack a printed resume but the shoe shop sales position is available so my hopes remain high for that job. We finally made it up to Whistler again, well we have been a few times now but there was a radiology conference up at whistler two weeks ago which was pretty cool except for that I was a little out of action due to a tooth ache and subsequent root canal, I know serious stuff. Haha well I was a little scared only cos they usually liken root canals to all things horrible and unpleasant but it actually wasn’t that bad. It took a long time but wasn’t painful at all. I went up to whistler anyway after the first trip to the dentist not realizing that the high altitudes would wreak havoc on my newly created cavity my tooth. It was aweful and I didn’t even make it out of bed the next let alone go snowboarding.
In other news Alaina and Heather arrived in Vancouver last week. Well it was bound to happen, two parallel nomad worlds colliding, and most of the collisions occurred on the snow. After hearing about their fantastic trip to San Francisco and lack of luxury in the hostel, actually I think it was a total lack of cleanliness that disturbed them the most, they seemed happy to be in a comparatively clean and cosy apartment. We were treated to dinner by the girls, went to this amazing Belgian place, a little too close to Gastown for Aidan’s total comfort but gorgeous inside and great food.
The three of us went up to whistler the next day, Aidan sadly had to work. It was a beautiful day. Heather had never been to the snow before let alone strapped to her feet a well waxed board and hurtled herself down an icy mountain without any professional instruction but she did well to only come away with some sore muscles and a bruised coccyx. Alaina played it safe sticking with her trusty skis and together we carved up the slope, taking turns to pick runs, whilst Heather got some proper guidance from someone more suitably trained. It was pretty fun. I think we got a few snaps, they should pop up on Laina’s blog site sometime soon I think.
So these girls were wearing us out and had just one more request, which really tested our friendship but a good hostess does not deny such things from her guests… they wanted to go Shoe Shopping?! I don’t know who they think I am but 5 hours of hunting for the perfect boot is not my idea of fun… hang on!!! Yes, Yes it is… we visited nearly every shoe shop within a 5 km radius of our apartment. I did pick up a little something for myself with a semi- sensible heel. It also happened to be Valentine’s Day so Aidan and I embarrassingly exchanged very similar red heart shaped boxes of chocolates. I’ve always wanted one.
The next day Heather and Alaina were to leave Vancouver to head off on their adventures to the snow and beyond. Listening to them plan and organize their trip made me a little sad that we couldn’t go with them but then we asked why not? Aidan had a four day weekend coming up and Big White was only 440km away. We left early Friday morning and could meet them in the resort (we were invited by the way). So that’s how we went on our first mini road trip. We drove through some beautiful countryside, you could have almost filmed Lord of the Rings there, an arrived at Big White 5 hrs later. It was an amazing little ski resort. Snowshoe Sam’s has been voted the #1 Après Ski Bar by a UK magazine also #1 in Canada and North America I think. It‘s also Aussie owned. We bumped into the girls halfway through the first day and were awed, like a duck to water Laina took to her snowboard. We have some photos to post and some video footage that will go up on you tube later. But sadly for me today I have to go back to the dentist. It was only a temporary filling.
