Took advantage of the mild weather to put in some miles on the road. Another gorgeous drive through forests, mountains and half-frozen lakes – like Scotland only bigger and prettier and without any Scots. Saw our first bald eagle as we passed through a town called Grand Forks and found a snow covered mountain pass where they actually snowplough a cycle lane clear in the winter. By freak of navigation on our part and freak of local microclimate we also discovered Canada's only wine growing desert region, Osoyoos in the Okanagon territory. Goodbye white and green, hello reds, browns and yellows everywhere. S'nuts. Stopped off at Penticton and Kelowna on the way to ski at Big White – by this point Em is feeling like she's ready to ski again once she's had another checkup.
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JB/Feb 18th/And it all comes crashing down
Em has had her second consult on her knee and been told that she's trashed her ACL and will need an MRI to confirm the extent of the damage. Major bummer all round. Because we are able to get an MRI in Kelowna for the Monday morning we've ended up stuck in Big White for days longer than we'd wanted to.
Ugh. If Whistler is Gap on Snow, Big White is a shabby EuroDisney on Skis – full of screaming brats and tuned out parents. It's got all of the same bad points as Whistler (expensive, crowded, 'family-oriented', naff) and none of the the redeeming qualities.
I can tolerate a lot of crap for good skiing, but as there hasn't been any I'm getting my crap for nothing. I don't care what the vertical stats say, Big White is a hill not a mountain. If it were any more soft and rounded you could shoot JFK on it. I got more real skiing – more variety, more fun and more challenge - in one run at little Whitewater than I did in any given day at Big White. And there's naff all here for Em to do if you're not skiing or parenting.
Without wanting to get too technical about it all, it's cock.I gave away my final day's lift pass in disgust after only two runs, and I wouldn't inflict Big White on my worst enemy (enemies) unless they had really, deeply, offensively annoying kids they doted on, in which case they and their shrivelled taste buds would probably love it.
Kelowna's a nice place though.
JB/Feb 19th/Why Canadians will never rule the world
They put gravy with lumps of cheese on chips. If you have a go at them about it, they blame the French. Nuff said.
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JB/Feb 19th/MRIs in Kelowna and Vancouver traffic
So, Em had her MRI at Kelowna which consisted of them giving her a pair of 9yr old's pyjamas and a small tunnel to play in, while we gave them $900. Then we hit the road for Vancouver (about 250 miles away) while we waited for the radiologist to write the MRI report, and to find someone who could read it to us (we can't have a copy because we can't read well enough, according to Canadian medical ethics). That'll be $100 please. This person won't be able to interpret the scan results themselves, though, and will refer us to someone who can (ching, $100). That person will also read us the report at our expense, which is nice.
When we hit Vancouver I remembered just how mental the traffic is and why you shouldn't try to navigate it at rush hour at the best of times, and never in a 30' ft RV without a map. Suffice to say tempers got a bit frayed after we crossed the Lionsgate bridge for the third time. In the end we found a site to stay at for a couple of days on the north shore while we checked out Stanley Park and other tourist-type spots. Vancouver is still one of my favourite cities but whoa, the Gastown and Chinatown districts are really messed up now. I'd sooner be in Peckham.
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The Bubbling Shit Wagon Chronicles (chapter nine)
The weather's warmed up lots, which ought to be a good thing, but no... Our marvellously well-equipped and superbly maintained vehicle now warms the contents of our holding tanks to boiling point with every kilometre that passes. Come back frozen shit, all is forgiven.
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JB/Feb 21st/Whistler
So I'm sitting on the spot where I proposed and got married, the weather's identical and the setting's the same... How's this for a masochistic little pilgrimage? I just couldn't come all the way here and not do it, I suppose. Sad to think back about it all.
Oh well. Fuckit. Emily (she's doing leg lunges at the moment, don't ask) says she wishes I wasn't second hand, but I'll have to do. Second hand? That's the nicest thing anyone's said in years.
Whistler's what it always was, only bigger than ever with the 2010 games on the way. It's definitely the closest you'll get to the full European style apres-skiing experience in Canada, and Em's enjoying it because there's plenty to do in the town if you're not skiing. Bizarrely, apart from the lift passes and the beer Whistler's actually been one of our cheapest legs. For the most expensive resort in Canada, we've had no problems finding (free) overnight parking, showers, internet and so forth. Who'd have guessed?
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JB/ Feb 24/The road back/Whistler to Revelstoke
On the positive front, the insurers have come through with their proposals so at least we know the medical costs should get picked up at some point. Our last ski stop on the road back to Banff and Calgary is Revelstoke, a brand new hill that everyone'd been raving about.
It's ok. Revelstoke's a friendly little town and the hill is big and steep with some spectacular views. It's also only half built. There's a small day lodge and a gondola, a lift to the top, perhaps two coming back up, and about six blue runs, one green cat track. All the rest are black or double black. Yikes. It'd be a lot of fun with some more snow, really exciting in fact, but we didn't have time to wait around.
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jb/March 1st/Canada/Unsure what to think...
Dear Deirdre, Feb 29th came and went, no sign of a proposal. Did I dodge a bullet? Should I be insulted?
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