Canada, ey?

For months now, Geoff and I have been planning on adding a stamp to our passport (which come to find out, doesn't happen when you travel through the US-Canada border! boo!)....guess I'll have to settle for a stamp in the ol' memory passport. Anyway, after a quick drive up the WA coast we arrived in the be.a.utiful city of Whistler. This quaint little town looked straight out of a wintery wonderland movie set, with a fun, light-hearted energy I really needed a dose of!

We drove up for a long weekend after a generous invitation from my cousin (AKA Cuz) to meet her and some friends for some slope time and 'après skiing.' We gratefully accepted and made our plans for a St. Patty's Day weekend getaway!

Let me interrupt story time for a little background, it's been a bucket list-wish list of mine to have a mountain skiing getaway, ski in ski out, hot-tubbin' good time accompanied by a 'few' adult beverages...um, for a while now. Not to mention, what a bonus it was to share a wish list vacay with my hubby AND cuz!

Now Geoff, being the sporty adventurist that he is, already had all his own gear. I, on the other hand, did not and needed to rent my skis (thanks military discount outdoors-y store!) During his days at Auburn, Geoff would take an academic break to earn a little extra cash by teaching ski lessons at places like Copper Mountain and Breckenridge. Meanwhile, I was proud of my 'Blue' slope experience from some ski lift in N. Carolina! Oh, and the last time I went (about 12 years ago) I thought I was ready for the next level of snow sports and tried a go at snowboarding...they just look so cool doing it! Well, it didn't turn out so hot for this girl. At the end of my first day (NOT feeling so cool BTW), I broke my arm. Needless to say, I'm sticking with skiing, thank you very much.

 Yeah, he's fast. I barely captured this moment.

We had two amazing days of skiing. It was (sorta) like riding a bike.  I quickly got the hang of it and Geoff patiently stuck to the Green slopes with me on both days. (I think it was mainly for the entertainment factor, but we'll stick with it being because of his romantic side of us just spending time together ; ).  At one point, the visibility was so bad and blustery at the top of the mountain we accidentally found ourselves on a Blue run!  WHAT?! I might as well have been on a black diamond cross-country skiing myself straight to the Winter Olympics, minus an actual qualification. Once we got through that mess, I said to Geoff 'when do we get back on the Green?!' he laughed and said 'we've been on it for the last 5 minutes.' Yeah, so apparently Canada has different skiing conditions then N. Carolina provides. Who knew?

See that 'visibility' and where it looks like it just drops off? Well, it's not an optical illusion, it DOES!

Then came my (second) favorite part of the ski trip, the après ski. Whistler was such a cute town full of international skiing cultures. Australian, British, Italian, French, Irish. Everywhere we walked you'd get a melting pot of languages and people all there for the same reasons: to enjoy a good day of skiing followed by an even better evening of adult bevs. There were 8 of us, most who had never met, but we all got along with great ease and shared the same agenda...to have fun!

Day 1: This here is what they call a 'Shot Ski.' It's literally an old ski with shot glasses permanently fixed on there for a group shot!

...and after :)

 Day 2: Happy St. Patty's Day! My first (ever) green beer!

Geoff and I loved our time up there together, with family, new friends, and the cute city of Whistler. We're so grateful for the invitation and welcoming hospitality everyone showed us from the very moment we got there. Thanks Cuz, for opening your arms and letting us in on such an unforgettable good time! ;)

This was a 'Fire & Ice' show they put on every Sunday night where professional skiers and snowboarders would jump through this ring of fire doings tricks! I registered for the 2014 ski season.

Olympic Rings from the Winter Olympics in 2010.

Lemons to Love,

Lindsay