A gaggle of us girls headed up to Whistler this weekend to celebrate Kendra’s upcoming nuptials. We left town on Friday night, with a stop in Bellingham to dine at Casa que Pasa. We ate in the bar where they had a cool dragon painted on the ceiling and a gruesome art installation with a lot of blood and smiley faced stick figures that were ‘getting fucked’ by something.

After a long drive, we arrived to our beautiful townhome. We were within walking distance of Whistler Village, and headed out to the Longhorn for a beer before retiring for the night.

Saturday, was quite an experience. After scheduling debacle with Eco Tours Whistler, I hopped in a kayak with the intention of conquering the Golden River. Although I enjoy being out on the water, I did not have experience kayaking on a river in a boat that does not have foot pedals to steer the vessel. I knew that I lacked control but tried to stay calm and just go with the flow. Once we hit the (small) rapids on the river, I drifted to the bank and ended up going face-first into bushes and bramble. I did ok on the first few hits, but the last one took my hat. I reacted and tipped the kayak. The water was cold. The guide kept telling me to get out the water as if I could scale a river bank using tiny little tree branches to support my upward descent through the mud. I did finally make it up on the bank and was scratched up plenty by the brush while the mosquitos feasted on my fresh blood. We had a hell of a time getting all of the water out of the boat and the guide knocked my sunglasses off of my face while wrestling with the kayak. Once I was back in the boat, I was in survival mode. I lacked control and eye protection and envisioned a small tree branch poking in to my eyeballs. JJ managed to tip her boat near a clearing and I opted to get out of the water and go back to the condo. I consoled myself with several barrilitos and a friendly game of poker with Eleni and Sara.

After waiting about 1/2 hour to get in to Buffalo Bills, we danced and danced and danced until 2am. There were plenty of bachelor and bachelorette parties abound. Some of the bachelor men sported extravagant jester costumes (as is a ritual for Canadian stag parties) and one was wearing a very pretty white eyelit dress. I heard Enrique Iglesias’ ‘I like it’ and totally fell in love with that jam. After dancing, we stopped off for hot dogs and putin (fries in gravy with cheese curds – not up my alley).

Sunday was time to say ahhh. We went to the Scandinave Spa. You must go here if you ever trek to Whistler. I think we were there for about five hours. Some of the ladies scheduled massages. I just worked my way through the rotation of hot (steam room, sauna, hot tub), cold (quick blast in cold pool or cold shower) and relaxation (hammock!) for the entire time. It was luxurious, quiet (my friends were shushed) and offered great views. What a way for us to pamper ourselves!

Dinner at 21 Steps was a great way to cap off a fun weekend.

I headed out early this morning and am proud to say that I made it home all by myself (sans navigator). 😉