Pow Pow!

Blah Blah Blah we drove from Idaho, through Oregon, into Washington.. got to Seattle late on the 25^th.. but the real fun started today! Quick recap of anything I found interesting:

-There are rednecks in the west; in case you thought they only resided in the South… you’re wrong. 

-The 45^th Parallel is ½ way between the equator and the North Pole. We passed it. I didn’t get a picture.

-I went through two reservations in Washington and didn’t see any warewolves. One day I’ll have to head to forks (which is on the coast, don’t worry, I looked…) to see if I can spot any so I can follow them home. 

-I decided while driving in the next year I’m going to get a huge world map, stick it on a cork board, hang it up and be that person that has different colored pins for different reasons. I think I may even roll up a tiny note under some of them if the location is memorable enough. 

-as I was introducing my Dad to some more Country Music, “My Wish” by Rascal Flats came on and we decided it would be good for a father daughter dance.

…. and then we picked up Shane! And headed into CANADA!!! And it has been AWESOME! (and we’re still alive, no broken bones..yet..and SOREEEE!) 

So driving into Canada was a fun experience. We got to stop, give the lady our passports, and get asked 10 random questions. The woman did not seem very happy to be doing what she was doing. She also criticized the fact that my dad called a “bottle of booze” a “jug of booze” … cause that’s against the law.

Once we got in, driving through the southern part of British Columbia, up to Squamish (our first stop) we saw some beautiful scenery. Vancouver is as big and beautiful as they make it out to be. Right on the water, a mix between an old industrial feel and new high tech thing going on. Downside, it’s like Seattle, it rains a lot. I would be depressed if I lived here. Cross that off the list of possible future homes. 

Unfortunately we got to the most beautiful part of our drive that day as it was just getting to dusk. Our pictures didn’t turn out too well but we got a few (I’ll be posting tons of pic’s on Facebook once we get back). The Mountains soaring up as high as you could see on the right and the water to the left… it was a scene straight out of a movie. 

Once we got settled we went and got dinner at a little restraurant/semi-casino down the road (semi because it was only slots and bingo)… but after dinner when I walked over to lose $5 on the penny slots I see an electronic ROULETTE machine! And we all know how I feel about that game (if you don’t, I love it…. I don’t know why. I can’t get enough…until I’m out about $100). So, anyways, since I’ve been feeling lucky (and won $18 on a scratch off in Idaho) I decided to put twenty bucks in and go with it. Ended up cashing out $16 up. Woo! 

Then today arrived…. And as much as I hated getting up at 6:30 in the morning, I was beyond excited to get up to Whistler. I mean, this place is exactly like you would imagine. Huge village with all kinds of places to stay, eat, drink, party, shop, etc. Once we finally found where we needed to be to do that whole snowboarding thing we were off. And I’ll go ahead and tell you now, I was a little afraid of how good Shane’s snowboarding abilities truly were. We’d talked about it a little bit but you never really know. If he was a lot better than I was he would have secretly gotten annoyed at having to wait for me the whole time. If he was worse… well I would have (probably not secretly) gotten annoyed at having to wait on him…. Turns out we’re right about on the same level (obviously I’m slightly better, but we all know that) 

It’s hard to describe the experience of boarding at a place like this (especially if you aren’t a skier/boarder) but I’ll do my best. The bottom was a little icy (it’s been raining a little near the base because it’s not quite cold enough to turn to snow down there). But once you get up one or two lifts (the mountain has lifts after lifts after lifts….so to get to the actual top you’re looking at at least 3 or 4 lifts). The very top was actually still closed, but you wouldn’t have known it considering the size of this place. It’s actually two “mountains” in one, Whister and Blackcomb, and we only really got to Blackcomb today. We’re starting on Whister tomorrow morning. Once we finally got back in the swing of things, we started hitting the higher lifts (and the more cold, windy environment). I have NEVER boarded powder like that. I kept saying to myself as I was carving through this stuff “pow pow! Pow pow! Holyyy pow pow!” (really, I did….)

There’s really no way to describe the day. It was SPECTACULAR. And, on top of it, I hit my first box! There’s a good story here too, don’t worry. So we decide to go left at the top to avoid moguls and the terrain park (moguls are little hills skiers make and they are death to boarders… we can’t carve them so you just have to go heel side the whole way down and end up with a killer cramp in your calf by the bottom… and the terrain park is where all of the jumps/poles/boxes are for fun)… Anyways, it just so happened that as we curved back around we ended up in the middle of the terrain park. I look up and stop (to wait for the slow guy behind me….cough…. but really, he was in front most of the day) and I see this little box that curves up and over and these boarders hitting it really slow and just gliding right over. I think to myself “Erin, this is the perfect first box to land, look how easy that looks, just do what they do” …. So I crawl up the hill a little, get Shane to record (because I KNOW this is gonna be it, the moment, the FIRST EVER landed box attempt) … so I get going, loop around to get straight, slow down a bit, and hit the box dead on. Slide off to the left slightly before the end but land it perfectly…. As I throw my hands up in excitement I couldn’t be more stoked that this is actually on video. As I’m crawling back up to tape Shane trying it out I notice a disturbed look, and learn that he was so mesmerized by my awesomeness that he took his eyes off the camera and missed the whole thing  (minus the hands up at the end….). I told him he will never live this down, and I’ll hold true to that. Which is why I’m going to put the video on here. Oh, and he fell. I have that on video too. Mwahahaha. Revenge is sweet.

Anyways, after an exhausting day, we got lucky and found the community center with a pool/hot tub. Hopefully our muscles will thank us at least a little tomorrow. I have a feeling Wednesday is going to be a painful day! Tomorrow we’re trying out a little more of the terrain park and going from open-close. If I end up with a broken bone again, at least I’ll have something good to blog about.

Okay, well scratch the picture/video thing… the internet here is too slow. We’ll hit up Starbucks tomorrow night.

The only other thing that happened today was a curious question that came to my head. I’ve asked my Dad, and I’ve inquired Shane’s opinion, but we still don’t have an answer. So if you know, please tell me. I’m legitimately curious. In Canada instead of having 1 dollar bills they have 1 and 2 dollar coins. And then 5/10/20 dollar bills, etc. So my question is…. How the hell do you pay strippers?