Skiing, I mean Reading week

So reading week has been pretty productive. I actually managed to get some work done over the weekend. Monday I finished a couple of problem sets and made lasagna for me and Lloyd. Mmm...looooove lasagna. Lloyd is good too.

Tuesday, Dad arrived at about noon. I showed him my new digs, which took about 1 minute. He was impressed that it's a step up from the crackhouse. In a lot of ways, I really miss the crackhouse, and Toronto. But I know this situation is a lot more conducive to studying.

I took Dad out for sushi on Broadway, hoping that me and Vancouver could convert him from his sushi-hating ways. I've decided this is impossible. If dynamite rolls and chopped scalloped rolls can't do it...I don't know what will. Hmph...

Then we drove out to Whistler. They are doing major construction on the Sea to Sky highway in preparation for the Olympics, widening it from 2 lanes to four. As the terrain that they need to expand into tends to be rock/trees/cliff, this should be a long and expensive process. But I guess they have 5 years and millions of dollars.

Once we got to Whistler, our room wasn't quite ready yet, so we went for a walk around the village. Rented some skis (Volkl) and boots (Salomon) for the next day. They had to readjust the latches on the boots to accommodate my big calves. Despite this, they still pinched quite a bit which I discovered the next day while skiing.

Went back to the hotel room and checked in. It had a kitchenette, a dining room table, a fireplace, a regular bed and a secret hidden bed that folded down from what looked like a cabinet in the wall. We rested for a bit and then decided to go for a walk before dinner. I bought a Vapourwick shirt from the North Face store. This definitely made the skiing experience a little more comfortable...but boy did that shirt ever get aromatic! For dinner we went to this place called Carramba. We shared some delicious grilled calamari with aoli (garlic and mayo) sauce for dipping. Mmmm...I had lamb and Dad had a pizza. Good meal. Went back to the hotel room. Dad watched tv while I did some reading (yes...very geeky). He passed out at around 9 pm, so I went to the gym, worked out and sat in the hot tub. Came back upstairs, read some more and then went to bed myself at around 11:30pm, which is quite early for me. My earplugs were a godsend. They blocked out my dad's snoring and I could actually fall asleep in the same room as him!

Wednesday we skied Whistler. Suffered a couple of tumbles in the morning, the more serious of which landed me face-down in a rocky/icy patch at the base of the mountain near the Creekside gondola. I blame dad for leading me down the wrong side of the gondola. The other side was smooth and free of debris. Initially I thought that I had just bruised my ribs because it was a bit uncomfortable to breathe, but as the pain has not subsided at all in the last couple of days, I now believe that I may have actually broken something. I'm calling dad in a few minutes to see if he will take me to get X-rays today. The only comfortable sleeping position is on my back. Other than that...not too bad of a day. I'm not exactly used to skiing. (Judging from the lift ticket I removed from my ski jacket on Tuesday morning, I haven't skiied in over 4 years.) My knees and my legs in general feel pretty battered. Wednesday and Thursday I was walking like a cross between a zombie and an old arthritic woman. We went to the top of the mountain (above the treeline). It's cold and barren but for a some severe cliffs. On the way through the Saddle, which was pretty icy, I watched my dad wipe out. And then about 5 other people wipe out. So I kind of stood there frozen for about 10 minutes working up the courage to tackle this large patch of ice. I mean, my dad is a much better skier than I and he wiped out. Scary...Anyway, I obviously lived to tell the tale, but the run really took a lot out of me. And my skiing was apparently getting "sloppy" so we quit at about 3 o'clock. Rested in the hotel room for a bit and went to the hot tub. I find the hot tub to be quite effective at relaxing your muscles...until they cool down. And then everything stiffens up again. That night we went to the Keg. Kind of like a regular Keg, but more ritzy and more expensive. I had a yummy chicken filet with scallops and shrimps and garlic mashed potatoes. Dad had a rack of ribs. (Maybe in honour of my ribs???) Tried to do some work when we got back to the hotel, but funghi were not nearly as interesting as the dog show and I was much much too tired. Besides the golden retriever was in the running for best in his category (go Angel!). I think we went to bed at around 10 pm (unheard of!).

Thursday was a shorter skiing day because we were due to leave that day. We skied Blackcomb which I actually enjoyed much better because the hills were less crowded and the runs were more interesting. The top of Blackcomb (see above) also had the most amazing panoramic view. The name of the lift that runs up there is called 7th heaven...indeeeeeeeed! The runs down were also much less treacherous than the Saddle. By Thursday afternoon I had a good rhythm going and I was learning to work through the pain in my thighs, knees, calves, ankles and ribs. I was even being lauded by dad as being a "good" skier. Alas, it was time to leave. After a nice long run down the hill straight into the village, we called it a day. No accidents this day. Only a lot of fun skiing and some unbelievable scenery. I love mountains.

We drove back to Vancouver. Dad checked into his B and B where he will stay until Sunday. And then we went on the hunt for a good seafood restaurant. Ended up going to a place in Kerrisdale were I went for dim sum with Britta and Diane before Christmas. And we ate a BC crab. There was a requisite veggie as well. But the crab was the star of the show. Lightly battered and deep fried, then covered with a ginger and green onion sauce. This is how we love our crab. It's a lot of work...but boy is it ever worth it. And it was so fresh...straight out of the tank. This meal took us over 2 hours to eat as we didn't want to miss a single morsel. I was glad that I hadn't had time to cut my fingernails so that I had a useful tool for accessing the crevices. Yummmmy...BEST MEAL OF THE WEEK!!

Ok...9:30. Will call dad's B and B...hopefully he has some time to drive me to the hospital today. Otherwise, I guess Melissa and I will take the bus...