Whistler May Long Weekend
First May Long Weekend With a Child
I'm the first to admit - this trip was an
experiment. We have been on a large number of May Long
Weekend trips before, but never with one of us bringing along a
child. Worse, it was my wife and I with the child - how
would a May Long weekend trip work out? Let the experiment
being!
Back in the day we used to do high
resolution planning and central purchasing of the meals to reduce
waste and ensure everything was brought. We picked Whistler
partly because it was so close to home (if we had to bail we
could) and partly because it has so many services - if you need to
buy stuff to double your batch of waffles, it isn't a
problem. We did fairly well on the food side - most people
brought good amounts and we didn't need to bring that much extra
for the kid.
The house itself is one of the nicest we have rented. The
one number: the neighboring houses available on the MLS sell for
more than 2 million dollars. This is a six bedroom house and
would have no problem hosting a busy party of 12. Compared a
different way - it's on a golf course (none of us golf) and the
property isn't particularly spectacular. We have stayed at
ocean front places before (
Galiano,
Bowser or
Mudge Island) and on a farm
(
Salt Spring) and in those
cases the property was much more spectacular. That said,
this house had large volumes of Granite and definitely the nicest
en-suite bathroom.
So what about the entertainment?
Obviously we do a little bit of drinking and relaxing in the Hot
Tub. Not exactly kid friendly. We needed to bring some
books and toys (and Nara really did play with those toys) but
there were lots of other opportunities. We found all of the
playgrounds in town and some of the decorations in the house
turned out to be kid friendly. (The pool table was fun for
instance).
We have evolved as well. I noticed it first when we went
camping in the Okanagan
- we have cell phones that can entertain us. This vacation
was the worst for that - Friday night and we are all rolled up on
the couch playing on our respective
iThingies. We have a problem. By the
end of the trip there was a big game of "Order of the Stick" going
which seemed more like old times.
So how much can there really be to do when
you are staying on a golf course? More than you might
think. It's cliche, but the first night I went around
picking up stay golf balls - enough to fill two egg cartons.
There is something oddly satisfying about finding and keeping
things. This golf course also has a water base for Whistler
Air so we went for a walk on the dock to see the planes. For
comparison, in Vancouver, you can't even get close to planes
without going through a gate.
Of course, being Whistler, you can also just wait for a bear to
come along. Two mornings we watched a large black bear
wander through the back yard looking for things to eat (mostly
eating dandelions).
Nairn Falls
One of the great things about a vacation
rental is all of the small attractions that might not be worth a
day trip from Vancouver by itself, but are worth the short drive
from where you are staying. I had never been to Nairn falls
even though I have driven by it half a dozen time.
Going with a two year old was a bit of an
experience. The first 50 meters of the trail is paved so we
got out the stroller. The next 200 meters are crushed gravel
and easy to navigate. After 200 meters it's rocks and roots
and not at all appropriate for a stroller. Worse, the trail
is cut into a fairly steep sloop that runs pretty much
uninterrupted in a large, cold, fast flowing river. One trip
by the kid and she was going in. Not so great for two
year olds.
Brandywine Falls
I've been to
Brandywine falls a
number of times - often just as a rest stop to break up the
drive to Whistler for out of town guests. It's great kids
safe walk - not very long, lots of fencing where there is any
risk, trails wide enough that a stroller doesn't clog
things. The view of course is fantastic. It's funny
that Nara doesn't really get much out of waterfalls - perhaps a
bit to abstract and far away.
On the drive back to Whistler we saw some
baby bears (and a Mom) feeding at the side of the road. We
pulled over and took some photos. That was a bad idea -
quickly there were 7 cars hanging out at the side of the road
blocking traffic. So bad.
So, what is the verdict? Take kids on May Long weekend
trips? It's a lot of work and your expectations may need a
reset, but I'm glad we went. I won't get as many good photos
out of a trip, or see as much as I could before (can't have a kid
running into danger) but it's still great to get outside and enjoy
what makes BC great.
Tags: waterfall(2), drink(2), dandelion(2), twin(1), breakfast(1), game(1)
People: Nara(6), Helen(3), John(2), Stephen(2), Jeremy(1), Mark(1)
From: John Harvey Photo > John's Overnight Page > Whistler May Long Weekend
From: John Harvey Photo > Blogs for 2023 to 2005 > Whistler May Long Weekend
From: John Harvey Photo > Whistler May Long Weekend
Last Modified Saturday, January 21st, 2023 at 23:50:16 Edit
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