The road abroad....smells like garlic.

WHISTLER, BC CANADA
SQUAMISH, BC CANADA
VANCOUVER, BC CANADA
SEATTLE, WA USA

After a 6 hour car ride and a hotel check-in debacle, Brent and I were really excited to arrive in Whistler to celebrate the wedding between our friends Jason Kean and Laura Hoover!  It was the night before the ceremony so he met the boys in Keaner’s room while I headed to my parents’ room to meet the girls (and my dad).  It was great to see my parents after 3 weeks!  They were really funny as they over-served wine to Cyndi Goodjohn and Sarah Booth (Butts).  The scene was set for a great weekend!

Fake hikers- Sarah Booth (Butts), Cyndi, Booty, Kurt and Brent

             We met everyone for breakfast the following day and we all decided to take in the sights.  My parents and Glenn headed up the gondola to check out Whistler while Kurt, Cyndi, Butts, Booty, Brent, and I headed for a hike.  We got horribly lost though so we headed for lunch instead.  I confidently ordered a pizza with garlic cloves thinking I would just brush really hard after. Instead I had the worst smelling breath at the wedding and my parents reminded me throughout the entire night.  Thanks mom and dad.  You tried your best to find me gum but I actually needed a new mouth.   (Funny sidenote- The next day when they were eating garlic crackers they said, "Hmmm, these smell like Kerri's breath.")
             The Hoover/Keaner wedding rocked!  The weather was almost as gorgeous as the venue that overlooked beautiful Whistler.  The dj got off to a rough start by playing the wrong song during the father/mother dance but the bride rightfully set her straight.  She got her head out of her heiny and started mixing some really good dance music.  It was 3 solid hours of dance dance dance- fantastic!  The emcee (and groomsmen) for the night, Doug, did a bang up job on the mic.  He was a natural entertainer and had the crowd in stitches with all of his one-liners.

 

Mr. and Mrs. Kean

Dad, Mom, Glenn and me

Wayne-o showing Booty and Kurt how to boogie

The groom.

Second place- Nate Leslie!

Mom and Dad

               By the end of the night, Mark Wyse had proudly sweated through his dress shirt which was good enough for third place for the night.  Groomsman Nate Leslie was doing rock star kicks with nothing on top but his suspenders and tie.  He certainly earned second place!  And first place went to the beautiful bride who had mildly back-handed the dj for her mistake on the music, successfully pulled off two hot wedding dresses, endured some serious blisters in the name of love, and danced her newly wedded butt off!  Congratulations to Laura and Jason!  Thank you for including me in your special day.  J

              The next night we were blown away by a two man band at the Irish pub that got the entire party started.  They were so talented and it was so inspiring to watch them.  Very rarely do you get to see people REALLY enjoy what they do.  These guys were undoubtedly enjoying themselves and it spilled over into the crowd.  It was amongst this crowd that we were all captivated by the most obnoxious dancer we'd ever seen.  This 45+ guy could have shaken the salt and pepper out his own head if the band had played an encore.  Friends shouldn’t let their friends dance like that.  Ever.
               My parents, Glenn and I toured around the Olympic attractions in Whistler the next morning and then headed to Shannon Falls in Squamish to see the pretty waterfall.  Considering my father’s TERRIBLE, AWFUL, NO GOOD, VERY BAD driving, we were lucky to get to Grouse Mountain outside of Vancouver in the afternoon.  We took the gondola to the top to enjoy the lumberjack show and check out two grizzly bears.  I had never seen grizzlies!  They were AWESOME!  We had a beautiful view of Vancouver as well as an up-close look at the many paragliders and zipliners that were taking off around us.

Paragliders from Grouse Mtn

Lumberjack show

Dad and me hiking

Glenn and me at Shannon Falls

Aww such a cute Grizzly Bear

Grizzly!

Glenn and me practicing our bear back-scratching on my Dad

 

We caught a vivid Vancouver sunset with the newly wedded Keans as well as the Wysers and made a break for the US border around 11pm.  We were beat by the time we checked into a random hotel room in Everett, WA.  Morning came early (due to some heavy snoring by someone whose name rhymes with Pain) and we made our way for the Boeing plant.  Again my father made some awful decisions behind the wheel and almost killed a UPS driver.  The poor guy had to drive his big brown truck over the median strip of the highway into oncoming traffic!  There were definitely some UPS customers that received broken packages that day.  There was a lot of frustration coming from 3 out of 4 people in our car when we headed into the manufacturing plant at Boeing.  The Boeing facilities were remarkable- larger than 800 hockey rinks with over 1 million light bulbs.  If you don't learn in hockey terms, you can also think of it as being bigger than Disneyland (not World).  They even relied on over 1300 bikes to help the workers get around faster.  The jets were enormous in the hangers and watching the assembly line was really cool.  I’ll definitely be taking more notice to what carrier I’m flying on.  “If it’s not a Boeing, I’m not going.”

Sunset in Vancouver

When we returned to the car, no one had forgotten what my father had done so we let Ms. Peggles drive for the rest of the day.  She was our hero!  Everyone seemed to get along a lot better now that mom was driving.  She brought us all the way out to Mt. Rainier where we raced to hike some great trails in the Sunrise section of the park.  Glenn and I hiked 4.4 miles to get a nice view of the volcano’s peak and found ourselves on a steep, snowy path whose sign recommended ice picks.  We were in a hurry though so we ignored the advice and quickly followed the footprints left in the snow from the previous hikers who were undoubtedly wearing boots and not sneakers like us.  The view was worth it!  Mt. Rainier is climbed by only extremely serious hikers.  You’re either WITH a guide or ARE a guide.  Most people who do have the pleasure of climbing it are usually preparing themselves for bigger mountain in the Himalayas.  Since we were in sneakers, we thought we’d stick to the amateur section of the mountain.

Mount Rainier NP

Glenn hiking on the steep, snowy path

The stupid blog doesn't let me rotate pics.  Please rotate your head to the right.

Mom and me!

            We were pretty tight on time though so we jogged our way down the mountain to meet my parents.  They had enjoyed their own hike through the nature trail and now realized they were cutting it close if they wanted to make it back to Seattle for their flight that night.  So, in true Sanders fashion, we rushed our way around the remainder of the park and took in the beautiful sights while making limited stops. 


Mom, Dad and Mt. Rainier

Checking out Mt. Rainier

          
            I tried to sweet talk my way onto my parents’ flight home but Jet Blue wasn’t having it.  There was a miscommunication when we all booked our flights and I was stuck in Seattle alone overnight.  I said my goodbyes and checked into the airport hotel nearby.  The last four weeks in Canada were completely different than I had intended!  What a FANTASTIC trip!  I thought I would be on my own for most of it but it turned out MUCH better than planned.  As far as I’m concerned, I saw the best of Alberta and British Columbia!  And I’m not even talking about the sights.  The Booths, The Goodjohns, The second set of Goodjohns, The Keans, The Williams, The Potatos, The Gonzos, The Pugs’, The Rambos, The Steve-os,The Chads, The Gooses, The Stackers, The Vipers, The Sanders’…all of them made this trip FABULOUS.  Thank you Western Canada, you’re good stuff!

New foods/drinks I tried in Canada: Ketchup chips, Kokanee beer, Brownie Caramel Blizzard from DQ, Halibut, Greek yogurt sauce for salmon, whole garlic cloves (never again)