It makes you wonder – at least, we did not have to sign a bear acknowledgement waver:
It is hard to believe, but we booked our apartment in Revelstoke during our vacation in Italy in June 2015. Initially we were looking at resorts in Colorado, but had to give up on that rather quickly: the cheapest offer we got for an apartment for three months was $52,000 – not an option. So eventually we found this place on Airbnb – at a small fraction of the cost in Colorado:
Unfortunately we don’t live in the whole house, but in the basement part. The flat is big enough for all of us, and, most notably, our equipment, too:
Here’s a little gem: in Munich we ordered a boring taxi van to get our baggage and ourselves to the airport. Not so in Vancouver, upon our arrival: we travelled in a stretch limo into town – that was the only type of car big enough to carry both us and our luggage:
How do you get around in Canada on a family ski trip: no doubt, it has to be a pickup truck. And there we go:
And a good choice it has been so far: while we felt a bit red-neckish in Vancouver it turned out to be the blend-in automobile in the more rural areas. Revelstoke, our home for the next 3 months – is certainly rural. Since we like our badass truck so much, here’s another one:
The drive to Revelstoke gave us a good impression of British Columbia. From Vancouver we drove North East to Kamloops and then East to Revelstoke. And having experienced no winter at all in Munich this year so far, images like that warmed our heart:
It took us over 8 hours to drive the 565 km, but with relieve stops, lunch break at a classic diner in the village of Hope (which I would lose if I lived there) and some more relieve stops it takes time. The travel day ended nicely with a pint and some burgers in the BigEddy Pub just around the corner from where we live. Found our local on day one – good going!
Man – setting off was quite an act: despite a carefully devised plan with a one day buffer we ended up packing the last items in our house while the taxi to bring us to the airport was already waiting. Pooh. We travelled with 15 bags: four ski bags, four ski boot bags, one enormous ice hockey bag, four backpacks that we plan to use for the trip into warmer areas, the ubiquitous rice bag containing our ABS backpacks and another bag. Now, thanks to Air Canada’s generous baggage policy we ended up paying for only two excess pieces of luggage. Easy to imagine that – upon boarding – we fell asleep and didn’t wake up until we were over New Foundland:
After a monster plane journey with a stopover in Toronto (on this trip we really valued the services of the airport porters who both in Munich and Toronto helped us with our excessive baggage) we eventually arrived in Vancouver – some of us rather exhausted:
December 5th 2015 – we had a farewell party with our friends to get a good send-off for our family adventure. Skiing in Canada, standing on the Panama canal, following Hemingway in Cuba, watching turtles in the Galapagos, seeing a football match in the Maracana, swimming in Lake Michigan, watching surfers in Jaws, doing Tokyo/Fuji/Kyoto in 3 days, crossing the bridge over the Ben Hai at the 17th parallel and returning right in time for the Oktoberfest – that’s the plan. Leaving has been made just a little bit harder after the party – but we’re set and ready to roll now.
Who's been here? 