Whistler

Today we got up early, to be in Whistler on time. They expected a lot of visitors for the turkey sale, so I wanted to be there around 10am.

On our way to Whistler we saw a bald eagle. Pretty cool because the eagle was actually flying for a change, instead of sitting on a nest. The wingspan of a bald eagle is between 168–244 centimeters. So I think we can conclude that we saw a really big bird today:)

When we arrived in Whistler it became very clear why we left early today. There were a lot of people carrying a lot of bags. NOOO, less shopping items for us…

I have to admit, we didn’t enter the turkey sale tent, because to many people where queuing. But we visited another tent and I bought myself a hoodie and a goggle. Actually Kris was going to buy a goggle because he didn’t have one. But then he saw the cutest girlie goggle ever and he said to me that I had to try the goggle and that he will take over the one I already had (unisex of course). Thank you Kris!!

Kris also picked out his new clothes for winter.

Ooh, I almost forgot, we also saw the first British Columbian snow today. Yes, indeed, there was some snow left from the snowfall of last night. I really hope this is the start of a winter with a lot of snow:) Below a picture of a mountain with fresh snow on it (taken on our way down to Olympic Park).

After visiting the village we had lunch in the Mongolian Grill. A really nice restaurant which we discovered thanks to Kris’ parents. You can choose from a selection of seafood, meats, vegetables, and asian pacific noodles. Flavor these ingredients with any combination of sauces and their chefs will theatrically grill your creation before your eyes. Very good but waaaay to spicy!

We got some fortune cookies at the end and I hoped it would say something like: You will find a very nice job. Instead mine said that I needed to take a trip with a friend and Kris his fortune cookie on the other hand said: you will soon embark on a new business venture. PHOE, I NEEDED THAT FORTUNE!!!

After lunch we started driving downhill, back to Vancouver. Not far outside Whistler we saw a whole bunch of cars pulling over. Could it be what I was hoping for? YES, mother bear with two cubs. She was feeding, probably the last food there was to find before going in hibernation. A really amazing sight, especially since the two cubs looked rather young to me. I was so happy, because I didn’t think that I would see bears at this time of year. I took some pictures but they were about 50m away from us, and I didn’t find the zoom on my cell phone camera. No material worth of posting… I know, I know, why didn’t I bring my photo camera…

A few km further we took the exit to Olympic Park. It is more or less a construction zone, but you can enter the park as a tourist to see how the constructions for the 2010 Olympics are evolving.
The ski jumps were already finished. Really impressive because they are HUGE!

We also saw the Inukshuk for the first time.

It must have been my lucky day: We saw a bald eagle, we found all the clothes we wanted, we saw some first snow, 3 bears and numerous squirrels… And the moment I thought it couldn’t get any better, Kris spotted another black bear. This one was 5 m away from us and was one of the most beautiful bears I have ever seen. Why? Well because his fur was shining in the sun and because of the fact that he is almost going into hibernation he gained weight, which means he looks exactly like a big teddy bear. I took a few pictures and I filmed him a few seconds. Again the quality is really bad because I used my cell (plus no zoom). But at least it gives you an impression…

On the video you can see the bear feeding. The video only takes a few seconds.

To end our day we visited the Shannon Falls.

And last but not least, we’ve requested our tickets for the 2010 Winter Olympics (opening ceremony and the snowboard halfpipe). Something to look forward to.