Whistler

This is a big call, but Whistler would have to be on top of the list of the places we have visited while on the Rocky Mountaineer.

Whistler was the home of the 2010 Winter Olympics. The town has a population of about 10,000, we were informed there are a number of homes owned by Americans who love coming here in the winter. They also donate money to the town to ensure the infrastructure is maintained.

Our hotel is in the Whistler Village and has shops and restaurants at our back door. I should mention we have definitely hit Canada's summer, it is about 32 degrees here, the nights are beautiful, a cool breeze flows through which makes it ideal for dining outside.

Our first tour was to the First Nations Cultural Centre. Upon arrival we were provided a nice lunch of salmon and salad, then a Lil'Wat girl sang a traditional song, it was very entertaining. The tour was informative and we were able to enter a house that is built over a large mound of dirt. This kept the occupants cool in summer and warm in winter.

Greg and I decided to take ourselves on the Peak2Peak gondola. The first ride took 25 minutes to get up the first mountain, the second ride took us across to the second mountain, that was a little scary, it was a long way down, then we caught the ski lift to the bottom. It was a good adventure and it gave USA lot of "birds eye" views.