Dodging Raindrops

Monday's weather forecast was spot-on:  Rain beginning in the morning and continuing until Tuesday.

We have yet to see the tops of the tall mountains allegedly surrounding Whistler.  Low clouds hung over the valley again this morning when we went down to breakfast.  But the weather didn't deter two die-hard groups of outdoors folk:  Mountainbikers who rode in a steady stream below our hotel window and fishermen who were bobbing up and down in Nita Lake with their feet dangling down from those inner tubes-cum waders..

After breakfast we wandered around the hotel and discovered that the station for the Rocky Mountaineer excursion train that runs daily between Vancouver and Whistler was located at the end of the hotel complex.  We had considered taking one of the company's other train trips between Vancouver and Banff, but decided it was too pricey --- five days travel and lodging for about the same cost as our two-week auto tour of B.C. The train was due in at 11:30 am, but when we left the hotel about noon, it looked like it still had not arrived.

Since the likelihood of seeing the sun was nil and the temperatures were hovering below 60 degrees, we opted to spend a good part of the afternoon at the Squamish Lil'wat Cultural Centre, a museum devoted to the two "First Nation" tribes whose territories overlap at Whistler.  We learned how they used cedar trees to meet many of their needs such as rope, clothing, canoes, and housing.

After leaving the museum we walked up and down the "Village Stroll", an auto-free pedestrian lane lined with shops and restaurants in the heart of Whistler Village.  Cindy looked for a new wool hat, but couldn't find one to meet her tastes.  Summer is over here and the 2010 Winter Olympic Games have long since ended, but there were enough people wandering about to make us glad that we had chosen to stay a few miles to the south along the peaceful shores of little Nita Lake.

Our hotel room is quite spacious with a living room separated by a partial wall from the bedroom, and a large bathroom with radiant heat in the slate floor.  We could have just stayed here in comfort all day, reading and relaxing, but since we're driving to Kamloops tomorrow, we put on our rain jackets and went off to explore Whistler.

The rain was fairly light at mid-day and the wind wasn't too strong during our long walk from the main parking lots at Whistler Village to the museum, and only a few sprinkles fell as we wandered around the village later in the afternoon.  Showers are expected to continue in B.C. until sometime tomorrow afternoon when, with luck, we'll have seen the last of the rain and clouds for at least a few days.