Time's Drawing to a Close

Time is getting on, and thoughts have well and truly changed to my departure from Whistler, followed soon after by my departure from Canada.

It's a strange mix of emotions at the moment. I'm having as much fun out here at the moment as I ever have been. The job is going well, I'm still making new friends, the sun is shining, and it's all good. However, at the same time it does in a way feel like I'm playing out time now until I leave. I'm really looking forward to hitting the road again, hopefully hooking up with my contacts in Victoria (Vancouver Island) and Toronto, and generally having a bit of a look around, and, shock, horror, being an average tourist again for a while! At the same time, I'm also looking forward a lot to getting home. I've got so much to look forward to when I get back in Blighty. I'm looking forward to seeing my parents, Pete and my other buddies, my bro and my nephew. I've got the wedding to go to, the Scottish family holiday, all my friends up in Aberdeen, so I think I'll still be having fun when I get back!

It will be very strange to leave here though. In a way that perhaps I haven't before, I really feel like part of the community. I know all the long time Whistler residents would argue against this, perhaps saying that the "Itinerant" workers that come through each year are perhaps no more local than the family up from Florida to have a look at the mountains. However, these workers, people like me and my friends, are the people who predominantly make up Whistler in one way or another. We are the people who you have most contact with on a day to day basis, as the long term residents generally have the better paid and more permanent behind-the-scenes jobs, not serving you the food, the drinks or operating the lifts. It is perhaps for this reason that when you're around somewhere for such a long term, in what is really a relatively small community you get to know everyone whether you work with them or not. This is definitely the case moreso here than in a regular town, as everyone is here for the same reason - to have fun in whatever form it may take! Because of this it'll be strange when I'll be back in blighty where there aren't so many like-minded individuals.

So I now have less than a month until I leave Whistler, and in fact less than a month before I'll be in Toronto I think. I'm going to try and make sure I get the most out of the time remaining. I've signed up for some extra work shifts, not just because the money would be nice, but also to get involved in Krankworx, the big mountain bike festival, which should be pretty good fun when it rocks up next week.

The drawing in of time also prompted me and some friends to have a spur of the moment road trip. For the bargain price of $70 (About 35 quid) I'd booked a full size sedan, something similar to a Chevy Impala or a Buick Allure, basically similar size and prob the US equivalent of a Vectra (Apart from the fact that, this being North America, they come as standard with a 3.5l V6!). When I got to the hire place they gave me a choice of cars, including a Chrysler PT Cruiser convertible. Well, the sun had just started shining after a week or two of miserable weather, and so it somehow seemed very appropriate to take this upgrade and hop into the ragtop!

It was quite funny, seeing my friends faces as I picked them up, the radio on and the top down! We hit the road, stopped at the first gas station and bought a Beach Boys cd to play, and it all felt so right! We were ready for a mammoth trip that covered over 700kms, and over 10 provincial parks in one day! It really did turn out to be a great day. Our route was basically a loop of South western BC (It can be seen on this web page:http://www.britishcolumbia.com/Maps/?id=55)

The scenery was stunning and the weather really played along. The drive to Lillooet was fun, and a lot easier than when it was carried out in the winter. From Lillooet to Lytton more or less was fascinating, with the semi-arid desert landscape. The Fraser valley was attractive, if not quite as stunning and fearsome as the guidebooks had lead me to believe! I think, though, that this may well be because I really am being spoilt for beautiful scenery here in BC! The only unattractive portion of the trip was the 50kms through the outlying suburbs of Vancouver on Highway 1. This was mainly due to a lack of changing scenery, and a traffic jam! Once to Vancouver though the scenery picked up once again. The sun was beginning to get low, the view over the city was good, but not as stunning as the journey up Howe Sound towards Squamish. I'm sure I've said it before in this blog, but the drive along Highway 99 (The Sea to Sky Highway) really is one of the most stunning drives ever! Another few provincial parks later, and we were back in Whistler, taking just over 12.5 hours!

Then it was straight to Merlins for a lifty rounds night. It always pays to get to these events a little bit late, especially if you're looking to boost your ego! As everyone was quite well lubricated, when I walked into the bar a huge cheer went up and high fives all round! Always a good feeling! I tried to get away that evening pretty early after only having 1 drink, as I'd decided to drive home. This was somewhat foiled firstly by meeting some friends who wanted a ride home, one of whom had a bike. The only solution to fitting the bike in was having the top down with the bike in the back seat! Then when I got home, Sheany came out to look at the car, and then insisted that we had a quick cruise round Whistler with the roof down!

Anyway, it was a great day, but now the weekend (A four day one this time!) is over, and I'm back at work. Had a good time today though, so I'm hoping this week should be good. Only another 10 days of work or so, so time to make the most of it!