{"id":513,"date":"2016-07-17T04:26:00","date_gmt":"2016-07-17T04:26:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/17\/touring-whistler-in-british-columbia-canada-2010-winter-olympics-site\/"},"modified":"2026-10-08T04:59:35","modified_gmt":"2026-10-08T04:59:35","slug":"touring-whistler-in-british-columbia-canada-2010-winter-olympics-site","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rochellesroost.com\/index.php\/2016\/07\/17\/touring-whistler-in-british-columbia-canada-2010-winter-olympics-site\/","title":{"rendered":"Touring Whistler in British Columbia, Canada: 2010 Winter Olympics Site"},"content":{"rendered":"

<\/p>\n

\nThursday, June 30, 2016: Whistler,
\nBritish Columbia<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nTouring the Winter Olympics Site of
\n2010.<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nWe awoke well refreshed
\nand ready to hit the road again on our little adventure in Canada\u2019s beautiful
\nBritish Columbia. We showered, packed, and made our way down to the lobby to
\npick up the free airport shuttle that got us to the airport so that we could
\npick up the Budget car that we had rented for the next 24 hours. It was a
\npainless process to get there and get our car organized and within an hour, we
\nwere browsing around the Designer Outlets that were very handily located right
\nat the airport so that Llew could pick up a few clothes for the day ahead as he
\nwas still in the ones in which he had traveled. Banana Republic<\/i> made it really easy and since there were special
\nCanada Day sales, he really did get some good stuff for very little money. <\/b>Now, in the event (God Forbid) that
\nhis bag has not arrived by the end of today, he will have some clothes to
\nwear\u2014he will be reimbursed by American Airlines upon submission of receipts. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nWe then hit the road
\nfrom Vancouver to Whistler, the little ski resort in the north that catapulted
\nto fame in 2010 when it was chosen as the site for the Winter Olympics. With
\nLlew at the wheel of a Toyota Corolla and with me navigating (yes, using an old
\nfashioned map as we did not have a GPS and did not wish to use pricey data
\nroaming in Canada), we were off. We did not realize that we would have to go
\nthrough two crowded, busy downtown areas (Vancouver Island and West Vancouver)
\nbefore we hit the 99 North highway that took us directly to Whistler. Still, I
\nwas not complaining. We had no agenda, no deadlines, no urgency to get anywhere
\nand, meanwhile, we had the leisurely chance to admire the beautiful city that
\nis Vancouver with its many islands, bridges, quaint old neighborhoods and
\nsnazzy new skyscrapers. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nAnd once we did hit the
\nhighway, the Pacific Coast road was simply spectacular and reminded us a lot of
\nthe travels we had undertaken, a few years ago, in the Canadian Rockies. In
\nfact, the Whistler mountain range is merely an extension of the Rockies\u2014so the
\nscenery was similar. Except that here instead of just mountains, you also have
\nthe splendor of the ocean which the road hugs all the way to the north. The sea
\nis punctuated by glacial islands that broke off many millennia ago from the
\nnorthern ice-caps that comprise Alaska so that fjords and islands dot the sea.
\nWe saw many sea craft in the water including a couple of small cruise ships\u2014so
\nwe know what lies in store for us tomorrow as we pull out of Vancouver Island
\nand make our way on the cruise liner to Alaska. It is little wonder that this
\ndrive is considered one of the most beautiful in the world and we savored every
\nsecond of it. We stopped once for Brunch in a very exclusive community–that
\nreminded us of Malibu in California–where we picked up lobster rolls and
\nchicken salad in a local Safeway<\/i>
\n(supermarket) which we ate while on the road.<\/o:p><\/b><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\nExploring
\nWhistler:<\/o:p><\/span><\/b><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>I
\nhad not found the time to read up on Whistler before leaving home\u2014so everything
\nabout the town was news to us. Apart from knowing that it is pretty and
\nsituated in the mountains, I knew little. What we found out is that it is
\nessentially an Olympics Athletes Village that has been converted into a
\nresidential and touristic community. The Athletes Quarters are now private
\ncondos, the ground floors of which are bars, restaurants and souvenirs shops.
\nWe parked our car in one of the public parking lots and began our exploration
\nof the two villages\u2014there is an Upper Village and Whistler Village–on
\nfoot\u2014which is the only way to go. We saw skiers making their way up the
\nmountains but as there was no snow in sight, I have no idea where they were
\nheaded! A stop at the Visitors Center equipped us with a map and using it we
\nnegotiated our way around the little maze of cute streets\u2014all of which look
\npretty much the same!<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>There
\nis a Sea to Sky Gondola that you could ride to be whisked up to the top of the
\nmountain but having done this in Telluride, Colorado, only last year, we did
\nnot feel tempted to do it again. Instead we continued strolling about at
\nrandom. The place was crowded, it was unusually hot and dry and, before long,
\nwe gravitated to an ice-cream parlor called Cows<\/i>
\nto get sundaes that we ate in the shade of a few trees. A bit more strolling took
\nus to the landmark five Olympic Rings where we posed for the mandatory picture before
\nwe went in search of the Library\u2014hoping to find an internet connection which
\ndid not work\u2014and to the local Museum. There we watched a short film on
\nWhistler\u2019s development in only a century from a nondescript farming community
\nto the pricey mountain resort it has become with million dollar housing. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>We
\nstopped for a really reasonably priced lunch at a place called El Furniture Warehouse<\/i> where we had
\nburgers with salad and fries and then more ice-cream before we got into our car
\nto drive further north to the little settlement of Pemberton where, away from
\nthe tourist rush, the snow-capped mountains of the West spoke directly to us.
\nAs soon as we entered the Pemberton Hotel, we found that Llew\u2019s bag had arrived
\n(much to our relief\u2014well done, American Airlines)\u2014but when we attempted to
\nsettle our bill, Llew discovered that he had left his credit card behind in the
\nrestaurant. Well, back into the car we piled to get to Whistler where his card
\nwas held safely for him and retrieved, with much relief, before we headed back
\nto the Pemberton Hotel in what was once a tiny mining town. As both of us were
\njetlagged and sorely missing sleep, we had a very early night. <\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n

<\/p>\n

\n            <\/span>We
\nrealized that Whistler is like all the other ski resorts we have visited\u2014such
\nas Telluride and Stowe, Vermont: busy in the winter, pretty in the summer, but
\nreally not distinctive in any way.<\/o:p><\/span><\/div>\n
\n             Until tomorrow…<\/div>\n
\n <\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Thursday, June 30, 2016: Whistler, British Columbia Touring the Winter Olympics Site of 2010. We awoke well refreshed and ready to hit the road again on our little adventure in Canada\u2019s beautiful British Columbia. We showered, packed, and made our way down to the lobby to pick up the free airport shuttle that got us… <\/p>\n

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