Rainy Weekend in Whistler

This week's date was a little bit more extravagant and special than most.  We celebrated our fourth year of marriage, and Jason took me on a weekend getaway.  If you've been in the Pacific Northwest this summer, then you'd know our weather has been phenomenal.  Amazing. Gorgeous. Hot. Sunny.  This weekend, it was everything but.  Historically, this particular weekend in July is supposed to have the best weather (sunny, lowest chance of precipitation). Not a chance.

If you've been to Whistler, you know that, a) it's a town you check out by foot, and b) all activities are outdoorsy.  Perfect mixture for a rainy weekend.  I still can't get over this, it was the ONE rainy weekend we had in months....anyways, maybe it was just what we needed. Neither of us had ever been to Whistler during the spring or summer months, so we were excited to fit in some hiking and check out the peak-to-peak.  However, neither of those worked out because it was too cloudy for the Gondola, and we don't have hiking gear meant for the rain (and mud). Not to mention, my energy levels were still pretty low.  Regardless, we had a great time relaxing and enjoying each others company.

Jason had booked us a room right in the middle of the Village, so we spent a lot of time walking around, checking out the shops, eating, and wandering.  In our wanderings, we stumbled by a place called West Coast Float.  Have you ever heard of a sensory deprivation tank? Jason had, and he thought it would be fun to try.  So, we booked a time slot and checked it out.  If you've never heard of floating, it's basically a shallow bathtub with so much epsom salt that you float.  The water and room temperature are both at body temp. The idea is that you can't feel where the water ends and the air begins.  This is supposed to be a restful time.  Jason loved it.  He found it to be relaxing.  While I didn't mind it, I would have preferred this as a time to relax and talk.  I found it difficult to find a comfortable spot for my head and arms and was adjusting every few minutes.  In addition, I did not like the lack of air circulation, and thought the air was too warm, to where I felt I needed to open the door a few times to catch a breath of fresh(er) air.  Regardless, it was a fun experience. 

Jason spent most of the day trying to convince me that we needed a float tank for our home, but he didn't quite sell me on it.  We wandered, watched some dancers while the sun peeked it's face for a moment, and wandered some more.  There was also an Iron Man taking place on Sunday, so of course that inspired Jason to work on his parkour and ninja warrior skills.  It doesn't take much to make Jason want to jump around and do things that make me anxious, but he was very inspired this weekend.  Jason also decided that if these people could do an Iron Man, that he could definitely run a marathon.  So he has decided to sign up for one in the near future.  Oh boy.  I really do love this man, but I don't know where all this energy comes from.  It's good, because he keeps me on my toes!

The weekend getaway was a great trip for us.  The weather was disappointing, but part of the fun was just being together and having to rework our plans.  It made for a trip that was both relaxing and spontaneous.  I wouldn't mind doing a few more weekend getaways together...maybe next time we'll catch some sun too.

 

Cost:
$$$$
(Lodging, food, entertainment)

Sunday Picnic

Jason is the best! For this date, he had to plan a little in advance and prepare our picnic in the morning.  We went to Church, had a member's meeting, and then took off for Boulevard Park.  He brought our outdoor blanket and we found a space to set up with a little sun and shade (don't worry - we brought sunscreen too!).  A couple years ago I won this Bota Box picnic set, which has most everything you need for a simple picnic...including a holding space for your wine bladder - but we didn't utilize that feature.  Jason had packed a lunch in the morning which consisted of cheese, meats, fruit and crackers, along with a tasty sparkling lemonade.  I love picnics, and I love cheese!

To top it off, the weather outside was perfect!  We could have played some games or thrown around a frisbee, but our lives have been quite busy, so it was nice to have some relaxing time to catch up and discuss some of the things we'd been thinking about.  Also, I love people watching, and the park was plenty busy for that!

Shari's

These days, we tend to choose local places for a dinner out, places with bistro style foods, good happy hours, or tasty beers on tap.  This time, we went to Shari's, so this date wasn't for the fine dining...rather, it was a little bit of a 'throwback' for both of us.  Are we the only ones who spent countless evenings in high school hanging out with friends at places like Shari's and Applebee's?  We spent several nights there in our youth - after concerts, youth group, days at the lake, and other activities.  

We intended to go for dessert, but my appetite had been a little 'wonky' that day, and I was pretty hungry.  So, we ordered mozzarella sticks, and then we both got breakfast for dinner.  As expected, the food wasn't amazing, but it was nostalgic.  It was really great because Shari's was pretty quiet that night, which seemed to fit with both of our moods.  We had fun perusing the giant menu, and felt like kids again, ready to order whatever sweet thing sounded good.  Doing something different, yet familiar, was a nice change to our routine.  We've since joked that we might need to do some more cheap late night dinners after busy days.