whistler ~ here we come...

 Once again our favorite feed company hosted a ladies get-away.

We know from past experience...

that one must sign up quickly...

or the bus will be full.

We did just that!

This year we found ourselves on a bus headed for Whistler.

Fifty-three women...

and Patrick (the driver).

Now this bus takes a long time to get to Whistler...

since there are many stops en route.

The first stop was at Lonsdale Quay in North Vancouver...

for coffee and such.

The view was great!

A little further down the road...

we stopped at 'The Village at Park Royal'.

Some shopped...

some browsed...

...and some just enjoyed sitting in the sunshine and having lunch with good friends.

We got to Whistler just in time to check into our rooms at the lovely Fairmont hotel before dinner...

which was a multi-course dining tour in the village. 

We walked about from one restaurant to the next...

...enjoying beverages and appetizers

 ...and a delicious entre of our choice.

For dessert...

we sampled some of Canada's finest chocolates...

 ...and joined the 'aging' bear on the bench outside the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory.

I have been to Whistler a number of times in the past few years...

and never has the village been so quiet.
 Usually there are tourists lined up to take a photo right here...

where the awards ceremony for the winter games 2010 took place.  

This time...

we had the rings to ourselves!

 It was nine o'clock by the time we trekked back to our hotel...

and one could hardly call it dark outside.

The moon lit our way!

We had planned to take the gondola up the mountain in the morning...

 ...but found ourselves 'between seasons' and most of the lifts were not running.

So what could we possibly find to do all day?

We slept in far too long...

played tennis...

 ...and ate breakfast at lunch time.
It certainly is nice to have good friends who also have connections to our feed company!

You might even want to check out Lovella's blog...
or Marg's blog...
where they will likely be posting an entirely different version of the same event. :)

We had a great time in the village...

enjoyed the sunshine...

and were all carrying a bag or two by the time we caught the bus home.

It's a bus trip with a view...

one I never tire of.

We stopped for dinner in Squamish on the way home.

All fifty-three of us were in one room...

and it seemed all fifty-three were talking at once.

Worksafe BC would not have approved of the decibel level in that restaurant!

We took a photo of the 2013 Whistler tour group after dinner.

But just with one camera...

not fifty-three.

It wasn't mine...

so I don't have a group photo to share.

But it was a great group to travel with!

With dinner over...

we boarded the bus for home.

Mt. Baker was a welcoming sight as we entered the valley from the west...
as was the smell of the freshly mown hay!

While many of us were off on an excursion...

the farmers back home were bringing in the first crop of grass.

When the sun shines in April...

they must make hay!

 Thank-you to Vivienne and Diane of Ritchie Smith Feeds 

for hosting and organizing this event for us.

We had a great time!