Whistler, British Columbia, Canada - Day 2
Monday, September 23, 2024
In a different twist, our morning began at the Fairmont Chateau in Whistler, British Columbia. Andi booked us one night’s stay at the hotel as a treat. We were all excited to sleep in cozy hotel beds and soak up all the luxurious amenities, but in actuality we all slept like garbage last night. I don’t know why the four of us sleeping in a hotel room felt different than us all sleeping in the RV together, but it did.
Andi was up from 3:00am on, and finally went to the lobby to work around 6:0am. He said one of the hotel workers approached his table and asked if they could bring him a coffee. “Sure, that’d be awesome!” Andi replied. Seriously, the level of service at the Fairmont is top-notch. We’ve experienced this at every Fairmont we’ve visited.
At 7:30am, Tory, Aden, and I joined Andi downstairs for breakfast. Breakfast was not included in our stay, but it was quite the spread of food so we didn’t want to miss out. There was everything from yogurt to cold cuts & cheeses, an omelet station, fresh breads, smoothies, oatmeal, and traditional eggs, bacon, and potatoes.
The kids only ate fruit and donuts, of course. I had a half bagel with cream cheese spread, arugula, and tomato + eggs and yogurt with granola. Aden enjoyed the sausage, potatoes, and a smoothie. In hindsight, we probably didn’t eat $25/pp worth of food, but it was a nice dining experience nonetheless.
After breakfast, Andi and Aden were off for a special day together. Andi booked them a half-day downhill mountain biking lesson on Whistler Mountain. Aden loves biking, and has always wanted to try mountain biking. Andi said this was best place to try it. Since Aden had never been mountain biking before, Andi hired an instructor to take them down the mountain.
Andi said he was really impressed by Aden — it was not an easy experience! They started off on the Green Circle trails, and advanced to Blue Squares by the end of the day.
Aden told me that the trail was bumpy, but it was one of the best things he’s done on this trip. The guys were so tired when they finished around 1:00pm. I asked Aden if he enjoyed it, and he said he’d 100% do it again.
”I’d go right now,” he said with a smile.
While the boys were mountain biking, Tory and I went to the Fairmont Spa. She picked to have a manicure, and I booked a 60-minute massage. The esthetician who did Tory’s manicure was so sweet and friendly. My massage was the perfect mix of relaxation and deep tissue.
When I went back to the hotel room to meet Tory after my massage, she told me she wasn’t feeling very well. She asked if we could walk back to the RV so she could lay down.
Poor Tory was not doing well at all. We had about a 15 minute walk back to our RV and she was barely able to carry her small canvas bag. I lugged all four of our family’s bags of clothes, plus Andi’s computer bag back to the RV. Oof. That was no easy! So much for just having a restful massage.
Tory laid in bed the rest of the afternoon. She was shaking and pale as a ghost. While I waited for the guys to get back, I cleaned the RV and put away all our clothes & toiletries.
Andi called me at 2:00pm and asked me to meet them at the pump track close to where our RV was parked. I walked over there to find Aden riding the rollers and turns. He wanted to show me his mountain bike.
Aden was so tired he could barely form sentences, but they had to go return their bikes to the rental shop. Both Andi and Aden rallied their energy to ride back to the bike shop 15 minutes away in the alpine village, and then walk back to the RV.
Afterwards, Andi picked up two hand pies for he and I, and a burger & fries for Aden.
One of the many things I love about Aden is that he’s up for anything. Whistler Mountain Bike Park is arguably one of the best places in the world for downhill mountain biking, and Aden took on the challenge with courage and excitement.
Andi knew he’d be tired and not in the mood to drive far this evening, so he booked us a campsite at Whistler RV Park about 20 minutes south of town. This campground had full hook-ups so we could shower, dump our RV septic tank, and do laundry.
The four of us spent the rest of the night lounging around our RV. Andi and I walked back and forth through the campground to do the laundry, and Tory and Aden lounged in their beds. Andi and Aden were exhausted, and Tory still felt terrible.
Not sure where we’ll end up tomorrow; it depends how Tory is feeling. Andi has to work for part of the day tomorrow, and we also need to do school. More to come of our RV roadtrip though British Columbia.
