Ski Bunny Weekend!

This was the view I woke up to Saturday morning after being invited to an annual Ski Bunny Weekend by my friend, neighbour and fellow blogger, Carlie, of Friends In My Closet.

I headed up to Blue Mountain in Collingwood on Friday night and having never met three of the five of us, I was a tad bit nervous. Silly me....within the first 5 minutes of arriving, we all had a beverage of choice in hand and it was like we were long lost gal pals!  Then, it was time to head to the Village.  

It is such a rustic yet pretty atmosphere at night with all the lights and decor. We had such a fun evening!!

The next morning we rolled out of bed, made a very healthy breakfast (...ok, no we didn't...it consisted of bacon, bacon and more bacon...) and then it was off to the slopes!! 

We rode the chairlift to the top and this was the view that greeted us! The sun was shining and the air was crisp. It was such a BEAUTIFUL day! That's Georgian Bay in the far distance (with quite a bit of ice covering it) and a great view of the Village. We couldn't have asked for a better day!

We got to the bottom of one of the runs and I couldn't help but stop and take some photos of this home......

Talk about architectural perfection......wow!! If I were to build my own dream home, it would be extremely close to this type of design. The windows, the beams, the stone work, the deck with the glass railing....even the details on the garage doors... *Mwah*! As you can see in the reflections, this home was LITERALLY at the base of the hill. 

The sun was then beginning to set, so it was time for dinner.....

We walked through the Village to Rusty's and had our fill of really yummy food, recounting the past 24 hours...Oh..I had the Fish Tacos and highly recommend them!

While we were there, we were able to get caught up on the Olympic events for the day.... We all jumped out of our seats in horror, with tears in our eyes, when we saw the 4 man bobsled with Jesse Lumsden and Justin Kripps on board, flip onto it's side. We were just so happy that they were all okay and also so very proud that they were pushing it to the far limits of their sport!

After another night of fun in the village, it was time to get up nice and early to watch the Canadian Men go after the Gold!

It was so hard to pack up the truck after such a great weekend with new friends....but as they say, all good things must come to an end. A HUGE thank you to the gals for inviting me and making me feel so welcome! Haven't had that much fun in quite a while and am looking to our next Ski Bunny Weekend in 2015!

So..... It's back to reality....and back to a week of below normal temperatures..... BUT....Charlie and I are ready for whatever Mother Nature may throw at us!

RR

My Happy Place

This insanely frigid weather actually reminds me of one of my favorite places ever.....

You may think I'm a little bit crazy, but one of the places that I feel most alive is at the top of a mountain when it's -55, skis on, goggles down and ready to take the first run of the day!

Insert..."She's nuts"...here.

I will totally admit, having skied in Ontario for most of my life, the first time up the chair lift at Lake Louise both blew my mind...and scared the begeebers out of me!! Once I got over the initial sense of, "get me off this thing"...I could sit back and enjoy this....

The friend I was with, who lives in Calgary and is part of the ski patrol, doesn't really know the meaning of "easing ourselves in"....and again...he seemed to forget that I had NEVER skied on a true mountain before.... 

We went allllll the way to the top.

It was literally -55, the views were absolutely beyond breathtaking...and I was absolutely terrified!!

But, fear aside,...we pushed off and started to make our way down the mountain. I don't know if it was the cold mountain air, the scenery or just everything about this perfect day....but I settled back into my skis and that feeling of terror quickly subsided...

We stopped part of the way down to catch our breath (and let my legs muscles, that were currently on fire, have a wee break....again, I'm used to runs in Ontario that are top to bottom in less than 10 minutes, whereas these runs were almost triple that and with the slight difference in altitude, oxygen wasn't quite getting to my muscles as I was used to).

But again, that feeling quickly passed as we stood there and I literally began my love affair with the West....more specifically, the mountains! 

In the picture below, you can see the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and the Lake in the far distance.... Spectacular!

Here I come!!!

We spent the morning on the mountain, had lunch at a chalet mountainside and then it was time for a beverage 'apres ski' before we headed to the Chateau...

Check back soon as I continue on my journey in my Happy Place and take you on a tour of the Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise and the Fairmont Baff Springs!

Talk about the epitome of the Bucolic Lifestyle....

RR