On Top Of The World! (well almost...)

Last week this is where Miss M. and myself spent a few days: Whistler, Canada. (north of Vancouver B.C., about a four and a half hour drive from our end)

We were invited by good friends who had other good friends with their three sons flying out from Great Britain and all together we had a fabulous time. The first day it got close to 40 degrees Celsius (about 100 Fahrenheit?) and it was waaaay too hot (for me anyway) so a jump in Lost Lake was just what we needed. (see above)

Another lake nearby. Almost all the lakes had this beautiful
green color...

Our friends had brought their black Labrador Bo with them and he was also very happy with a quick dip in the lake...

The second day we (I!) faced the chairlifts all the way to the top of Whistler Mountain. (Elevation 7156 feet / 2181 meters, fear of heights etc) The views were utterly amazing!

(Click on all of these panoramic pictures to enlarge...)

Our hosts on the left...
'Black Tusk' all the way to the left, 
the town of Whistler all the way below on the right...

Looking towards the 'Black Tusk'....

From this point we were going to take a 'short' hike which became an almost 3 hour hike! Hiking is not really my thing, but the weather was just perfect with lots of sunshine and a nice breeze, so I buckled up and did it. (although I think my lung capacity tripled in size at that elevation)

Some impressions taken with my Canon camera:

Miss M.

And some impressions with my IPhone:

The horizontal part of the trail...

Spot the kids!
A path to be found anywhere???

Taken from the 'Peak to Peak' Gondola...
(towards 'Blackcomb')

And yes, there was some wild life to be found as well. Look at these Hoary Marmots (that's their name!) that we came across. A little fight ensued...

Click! to enlarge...

Look at those teeth!

And in the last chair lift down we came across this rather large (for me!) specimen just below us: a Bear!!!! Thank goodness we didn't encounter him on our hike...

And yes,  the "The Hills Are Alive!" song was sung too many a time...  <wink>

College Visit & A Road Trip Of Sorts...

The original Whitman College building...

It is hard to believe, but we are back in College visiting mode with our No. 2 already: Miss M. is now a Highschool Senior!

She already visited a lot of schools in California over Spring Break (Pomona, Occidental and USC were her favorites), but this time we wanted to visit Whitman College in Walla Walla, Washington. This small private college is about 250 miles (= 400 km) away and so it was quite the drive. We left Monday and spent the night in town. Tuesday morning we had scheduled a tour of the facilities and came away mightily impressed. Beautiful brick buildings everywhere and situated in a lovely old neighborhood. They have a fabulous Biology program that Miss M. is very interested in and she was all excited! Fun to see!

Miss M. on the left.
The girls are standing in front of an amazing horse sculpture made out of copper!
I had to touch it to make sure it was indeed copper, since it looks just like driftwood!

A good friend of her tagged along and we all had a great time! Eastern Washington is just so completely different from Western Washington, the differences never seize to amaze me! It is just so hot and dry and well... just different. Like another planet almost... <wink>

Just look at all this...

Driving along the Columbia River

Zillah, WA
True Americana...

Old Gas Station...

On the way home we stopped by the old Whitman Mission settlement just outside of Walla Walla. They settled there in the mid 1800's and ended up in a terrible war with the Native Americans. There wasn't much left to see, but it was a nice spot to get some of the feel of the days when when the early settlers traveled cross country in their covered wagons in absolutely deplorable conditions...

Trails of the covered wagon trains...

Old & new...

It was extremely hot on the East side (100F / 38C) but so beautiful at the same time. All in all we were only away for one night, but it felt like several days: a wonderful little trip!

The girls exploring the Whitman Mission...

Inspiration in the early morning hours...

(I just wanted to try out a new post format, not sure yet if I like it or not, but here you go...)

Click to enlarge if necessary...

PS Now that I've published that little typed letter, I'm not so happy about it but I had fun creating it!  {smile} 

Have a great day everybody!!!