Clarkwards and Whistler 2023: Third Time's a Charm, Part 1

 We were uncertain if an invitation for Whistler would happen this year, and when it did, we were close to trip time and without child care options.  I reached out to my cousin Sarah at Kathie's encouragement, and she responded back within 24 hours that she was willing to come out.  It was plenty of preparation prior to the trip: giving as many extra rides as possible to get coverage for the kids, typing up 8 pages of itinerary and contact info, and creating sub plans before departure, but by the time Sarah arrived, we were ready to play!

After a full day of dance and soccer, we met up with Sarah on Saturday night for dinner at SEAS.  She shares a love for curry with us.  Before the clouds burst, we snapped a quick photo overlooking Kalipaki.  She was so enthusiastic about every vantage point.

She was such a good sport, spending Sunday afternoon playing round after round of Telestrations.  

On Labor Day, the two of us snuck off to do the Okolehao Trail before the family joined us at Hanalei.  This hike never disappoints and the views showed off for her.

First time trying strawberry guava.  Sarah was unsure about the guava seeds, preferring to spit them out.

This is the hike the ends up with views of 2/3 of the island.  I loved hearing about Sarah's previous employment helping refugees as well as about her trips to Europe and her time teaching in China.  She is an adventurous eater, and even better, she vacations with vigor--up early and taking advantage of the minutes to explore.

Waves were scarce at Hanalei, but we still met up with plenty of friends and made the most of a sunny day.  Sarah took the paddle board out and I paddled along side her on the surf board.  We watched the kids jump off the pier and squealed over Roxy's sudden decisions to swim.  She willingly swam at least 5 different times.

We no longer go north without stopping at Wailua Shave Ice.  Sarah tried Lava Flow and Kate went original with the guava. 

We spent that evening worried about a few snags and didn't even pack until about 9:30pm.  The good news is this trip was familiar so we knew what to expect and how to pack without much thought.  It was a LATE night.

The next morning, I left early to teach classes and then Owen's school calls: he has a headache and fever and needs to go home.  He was fine when I took him to school but apparently by 10am, he was toast.  I called Sarah who had been hiking on the East Side.  While waiting for Sarah to arrive back to the school, Mahjinka generously picked him up and sat with him at home.  If we are keeping track, this is the second time Mahjinka has been with a sick Owen while we travel to Whistler.  

We made it to Seattle and stayed the night before an early flight to Vancouver.  At this point, I tried to put my sick boy out of my mind, knowing Sarah had a handle on it and hoping she wasn't upset at missed opportunities to adventure solo while he was supposed to be at school.  

By early afternoon, we made it to "The Shed"--our pizza find from last year.  The pizza was just as good but the environment was a little wild with the construction right by tables.

Our friends are so nice to let me sit up front.  I hate being so needy.  

Sea to Summit Trail, which begins on the lower sections of the Stawamus Chief Trail where we hiked last year. We enjoyed it so much last year that we planned to go for it again and reach the 3rd peak, but our desire to see unknown paths beat out a repeat. Thanks for doing the research and finding us all the options, Brady!

Nic can barely stand hiking in all the years we've known him, and had to make it a run--a run with 2,995 feet elevation gain in 4 quick miles. Pass. We let him go without any FOMO.

A quick dip in Shannon Falls.  Lucky me!  I was worried about getting cold at the top and packed another pair of pants, so getting these soaked was no biggie.

Our favorite part of the Chief trail last year was all the climbing, and we were happy to see some smaller climb sections on Sea to Summit.

We reached the top, located Nic, and begged him to join us on the suspended bridge.  He's willing to huff it up nearly 3,000 straight up a mountain but fear of heights prevented him from standing on a suspension bridge overlooking said mountain. 

Less scary than a rat or centipede running over your foot:

Running low on time to get to Whistler Village, we took the gondola down after lunch.  

Nic refused to look down.

There are the peaks we climbed last year!

We felt so lucky with our weather.  Thank you, dreadful weather year 1 for establishing low expectations that are easily beat!

We made it to our reservation at Barn Cork Aharon Thai, a restaurant with only 4 tables reserved only 7 days in advance.  Like most good Thai, the hole-in-the-wall feel added to the flavor.

No scary movie this time around, despite our itinerary's insistence that we all wear hotel robes and pretend to like them!  Hooray for being back in a hotel we love in one of our favorite places with some of our favorite people.