Spaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh!

So needless to say, after our two days of physical exercise, we were in need of some pampering!

 The Scandinve Spa was just the place!  Since it was our honeymoon, we got to get a luxurious spa package.  

BIG pine tree welcomed us to the spa

 Our package included a one hour couples massage (by the best masseuse EVER!), the Scandinavian Baths, a fluffy bath robe, healthy spa lunch, and a goodie bag filled with a water bottle, sandals, and snacks.

 This place was incredible.  It was nestled in the woods in the mountains, and was completely serene.  There was even a no talking law in the baths, for complete relaxation.  The bathrooms even had heated floors!

 After our incredible massages, we went to the series of the Baths.  You alternated getting hot in a eucalyptus steam room, Finnish wood burning sauna, or hot tubs for about 10-15 minutes.  Then, you jump in a freezing cold pool, or ice cold shower for 20-30 seconds (I couldn't get myself to pull the handle).  After that you relax in a solarium, by an outdoor fire, or in a hammock chair for about 15-20 minutes and do it all over again.  

 Doing this series several times, relaxes the body, and detoxifies it.  It was so relaxing (except for the cold shock)

Everything about this place was incredible and top notch.  The service was excellent, spa built beautifully, food was delicious and healthy, and was in the most beautiful location.  This was one of my favorite honeymoon treats!

Peak 2 Peak

Whistler's Modern Marvel  

This incredibly huge gondola took you from the peak of Whistler Mountain to the peak of Blackcomb Mountain.  It is a modern marvel because it is the longest distance between poles of almost 2 miles.  You don't realize how far that is until you are actually riding across on it.

Each car could hold about 15 adults.  This is gigantic.  The wheels in this place, pulling the cables were enormous!

Special extra strong cables were designed to hold the weight across that huge span.  They had to get up the hill with an army truck that usually holds 3 tanks, being pushed and pulled by bulldozers!

It's actually pretty fast, only takes 11 minutes to get across

On the gondola

The last pole

And we're off on our way to the top of the other mountain.  

We waited for the glass bottom gondola so we could see everything below

You can see the very far path across.  It's actually a really convenient way to get to the other mountain without having to ski all the way to the bottom, and go all the way back up.

Trees got much smaller below, we were high up!

On the way

We're not totally sure what those red things were, probably stoppers in case a cable broke (just kidding, that wasn't happening)

And we made it to the other side!

We ate lunch at the restaurant on top of Blackcomb Mountain, and then headed back over.

It was pretty cool, a big cloud had come, and we had to go right through it to get to the other side.

Into the cloud

Robb in the gondola

Me in the gondola

There is the cloud we dipped into.  What a cool thing we didn't even know about till we got there!

Skiing and Snowboarding

We had a gorgeous morning for skiing.  The sun was shining, and the sky was clear!

After our breakfast, we went all the way to the bottom, and Robb traded in his snowboard for skis.

Here he is, skiing along

This was just one of many lifts on the 2 mountains

Nice view on top

It started to get a little cloudy, and our legs got tired.  Cross country skiing the day before didn't help much either.

My feet on one of my favorite snowboards, the Salomon Ivy.

On the top of a run, beautiful view!

Fresh Tracks Breakfast

Our next day in Whistler started VERY early.  We were up at 5, to be at the lifts by 6.  (Wasn't so bad, I was on Cleveland time, so it was like 8, getting there by 9)  Why?  To have a sunrise breakfast at a restaurant on the mountain, and be the first to ski down!

This was the gondola's that we took all the way to the top of the mountain.

Our breakfast

This was so beautiful, the sunrise over the mountains

Very top of Whistler Mountain

It is just a breathtaking view of the mountain range up here

It's hard to see from this picture, but you need to ski down and take that little lift to the summit

We proped up our boards, and headed inside the Roundhouse Lodge for a delicious breakfast buffet

Full and bundled up, waiting for them to ring to bell so we could go

Everybody eating breakfast inside.  

The Roundhouse Lodge was right next to the Peak 2 Peak Gondola, more on this modern marvel later...

Here I am, one of the only ones on the mountain, on my way to snowboard!

Map of the many trails on Whistler Mountain

So, our legs weren't what they used to be, so the morning skiing and snowboarding was good enough for us.  We went back to our condo, changed, and went back up the mountain to go on the Peak 2 Peak Gondola.  The weather had changed fast!  It was still not precipitating in the village, but there was a definite cloud on the top third of the mountain.  When we got up there, it was a complete white out!

This was the restaurant we ate at in the morning.

And see, the summit?  Not anymore, same angle, same photo.

It was amazing how much the weather changed above freezing level.  It could be 40* and clear in the village, and 28* and blizzarding on the mountain.  

Bobsledding

This was one of the coolest things EVER!  We went bobsledding!

We went on the same track as the 2010 Olympians!  We did the bottom 2/3rds of the track, still!

After our training class, we were too hot to wait inside being all bundled up, so we went outside and played around.  Here I am in my one woman bobsled.

Robb in the driver's seat!

I won a gold!  See my medal!  

Robb's medal was inside his coat, but he won the gold too!

This is a segment of the track.  It was interesting to learn that the heat that was generated from cooling the tracks actually heated the building that we had our class in.  Whistler was very environmentally friendly.

This is a map of the entire course

All the different countries that were in the Olympics had a flag above the last turn of the track

We were the last run of the day, and of the season!  This is the starting point.

The sleds were driven back up the hill in the back of a pick up truck.  

It was slid off the truck on big pieces of wood so the blades wouldn't dull.

Here we are, waiting for our sled.

Getting seated.  Our driver was first, then me, then Robb, and then some guy.

It was a tight squeeze!

Ready to go!  The guys gave use a very fast running start!  We went super fast, almost 80 miles per hour, and got banged around a lot, but it was so fun!

And we won!  We had the best time of the entire day!

Beat that Olympians!