Our Fairytale ...

The past week Colin was getting me all excited for my Christmas present - a night in Banff!! I knew that much but I didn't know where we were staying or going out to dinner. I was so very very excited to spend a night with him somewhere relaxing!

The night before - our Friday night - we set our night with drinks. I was happy just sipping on something light and reading Game of Thrones but Colin had other plans. One game of normal beer pong turned into the Vietnam War beer pong (full cups and everyone just gets wasted). SO Colin got wasted! He was so drunk he told me that our group of friends were making me a birthday cake (my birthday was over a month ago). After a lot of badgering, Colin finally got me to come upstairs. Apparently he was in 303 talking about cooking me dinner, went to the shops and bought a ridiculous amount of snack foods! Here we watched tv and laughed at Colin's drunken speak. It went for hours but the funniest quote was, "Everyone here just wants salmon cookies… but Gill is just flashing her tuna fish at everyone"… I know, absolutely no sense! I managed to talk him into going to bed, it didn't stop me from being social for a bit longer though. When I finally decided to call it a night, Colin was passed out on top of everything! I managed to move most of the stuff off the bed and climb in around him. Just as I was about to close my eyes, Colin moved and rolled straight on the floor! I was laughing my head off but he still didn't wake up! I tried moving him, with no luck he finally came to slightly, this was bad! He decided that our room was the bathroom!!!! I did manage to prevent anything messy and getting him to the bathroom! Lucky from there, he was keen to sleep on the couch after doing a sexy dance in the lounge room! Was such a funny night! Colin woke up at 5:30am worried that I had put him on the couch but was relieved when I just started laughing at him for all the stupid stuff he'd done.

We were up fairly early to catch our bus to Banff, I was so excited! The first place we went was the beautiful Hot Springs! We hired out retro swimsuits styled from 1886, we looked like goofballs but it was hilarious and a lot of fun! Its so interesting of to into a hot pool whilst in the outside cold. You dehydrate very quickly. I loved it, we are going to try and organise a trip up with everyone next time.

We then wandered around the Gardens, not too much garden but so very beautiful, luscious tall trees covered in fluffy snow!! We were hoping to see a deer or elk but I could settle for the gorgeous squirrels! I got such a good photo of one, they are so funny to watch.

Our walk extended out towards "the middle of nowhere" - I had no idea where we were going but Colin seemed sure of himself. We walked for about 15-20minutes in windy -30 degrees. We finally reached a stable house. I thought we were going  horse riding but then I saw the sleighs! We hopped into our one horse open sleigh for our magical experience. We were taken through the gorgeous trees and around the beautiful snow until the carriage came to a halt. Our driver told us we could take some photos around outside the carriage and wander through the trees. Colin was keen so we walked until we came to the Bow Valley River, frozen over. We walked half way across the beautiful river when Colin turned me around and told me he loved me. I, being a massive ditz, just kept taking photos. Colin then told me that he was in love with me, I was confused as to why he was so serious. I told him that I was in love with him and thats when he went down on one knee and said he wanted to spend the rest of his life with me. He pulled a box from his pocket and opened it so I could see the most beautiful ring I will ever lay my eyes on! At this point my heart was fluttering and I was crying with a smile. "Will you do me the honour of marrying me?"

I said YES!!!

I know! We are engaged! I cannot believe this happened!!! Especially after the night before, I just didn't expect it (apparently it was all apart of his plan)! Coming back on the sleigh with massive smiles, we took our horse and chariot back to the stables. They gave us liqueurs and chocolates to begin our celebrations!

From there Colin had more surprises up his sleeve. We caught a bus to the Banff Springs Hotel, the most amazing hotel I have ever stayed in! A giant castle to add to our fairy tale. We had a booking with a photographer at 5:45 and then a beautiful dinner at the Wauldhaus. We celebrated with drinks and champagne!! Our dinner was spectacular! An exquisite three course meal that will have us returning for sure!

Finally, we went to our room for more champagne and to call our families!

The next morning we had a magnificent breakfast! A gorgeous buffet to fill our bellies with delicious goodness! Our amazing server Barry found out we had just gotten engaged and got everyone's attention to announce our news and give us a platter of cake and chocolates with a Congratulations note!

It was the most amazing day of my life! I am incredibly happy to announce that I am engaged to Colin E. Martin! My best friend and my soul mate!! Thank you to everyone for your well wishes and celebratory messages! I am in love and will marry the most amazing man I know!

Our fairytale had everything except for a knight in shining armour - because he left his armour in his castle.

First Tracks

First tracks starts with opening weekend, Friday 8th of November. Jess was rostered on to work however I had the whole weekend off because we only had 1 lift in operation. The same night we had the season opening party at the Lodge of Ten Peaks which was a staff only event.

Unfortunately Jess was exhausted from a full week of work and decided to stay in for the party, not to mention we didn't leave Chucktown until 11pm and she started at 7am the following morning. So for all intensive purposes I volunteered to party on and see what the night would hold, unfortunately we were all vastly disappointed thinking we would have been better off drinking in the common room. Over priced drinks, bad music, and a few raffles which nobody knew anything about. Seemed like we would have been better off drinking in the common room to be honest.

I didn't make it up the mountain until Monday, Jess and I both had Sunday off however opted to venture to Banff and do some groceries and most importantly eat Chili's! It did not disappoint, it was a lovely restaurant compared to what we were expecting from Australian experiences.

With one lift open I rode up the mountain with Scott while Jess worked hard down in the cafeteria. We hadn't had fresh snow and I wasn't expecting it to be that good in all honesty, I was surprised to say the least! When Perisher opened one run, it was a 2minute ride down the lift line, here though was a different story. It was a longer run, although it was marked as a green (Beginner) run it seemed like a blue (Intermediate) run in parts and was an enjoyable ride with an incredibly beautiful view of Lake Louise. That was my first tracks, so now I will let Jess share hers.

Today was AMAZEBALLS!

First day off in a bit, first day to actually do something awesome! I must say, I really amped myself up for today, every customer I saw yesterday during my shift was asking if I had been up the mountain yet and I had to say no, I was keen to change that! Colin told me though that he was working! It was so disappointing! I am terrified of getting off chair lifts and I was in the mind set that I couldn't do it without my amazing safety net Colin to catch me and look after me when I fall. So I figured I would go up and practice on the bunny hill.

I was very lucky to have my day off line up with Bonnie's!! So even though I slept in and caught the last bus up, Bonnie was there! We went to the bunny hill first and it was so icey! The man made snow is just so bad!! After 5 seconds of riding down and hating it, I said "Screw this shit, lets go up the top!" and to be 100% honest with you, I wasn't too nervous! I was filled with confidence! Bonnie knew my previous bad experiences with chair lifts and was the perfect person with me, she kept my mind off it and I came off fine, I did catch an edge and fall at the end but I made it to the top relatively fine! I was so excited!

We took the first run slowly, stopping every now and then when I stacked it and when we wanted to take some photos! A perfect blue bird day at first! I was riding in a dry ride, didn't need a big puffy jacket at all even though it was apparently -5 degrees. I was so excited to do a full run, the first one took us probably an hour. Because only the one run has been open we just repeated it which was perfect because I really needed to practice and build my confidence up again. I did 5 runs total and by the end of the day, on my last run I was linking my turns, riding switch and riding on the flat of my board! It was perfect, I can now ride chair lifts confidently as well, I didn't fall after the first time! I am really incredibly happy with how my first day boarding went! I did stack a few times but I put that down to pushing myself hard to do well!

I couldn't of done it without Bonnie! She was with me all day supporting me and being über patient with me! I honestly have never been able to snowboard with anyone without Colin, so I was really happy to have an awesome girl friend around!

Perfect first day of snowboarding!!

Life in the Pod!

With Vegas in the rear view mirrors and nothing but desert in from of us we made our move to Los Angeles. I will be filling you in on what has happened since Jess signed off with us leaving Vegas.

We left the Luxor nice and early and were on the road by 6:15am, the Mustang had to be returned to Thrifty by 11:30 and we picked up our Jeep Grand Cherokee from Alamo Rentals at 12. We were gassed and ready to cruise. Hollywood here we come!

For the next two nights we were staying at the oh so funky Podshare hostel conveniently located 200yards from the Hollywood Boulevard. Quite simply put, we have a pod to ourselves which contains a queen bed, TV,  room for our luggage and a few nicknacks. Only a total of 12 people can stay at the podshare, so be social and make yourself some new friends while you are here. To sum up our experience here in a few words, "I'll be back!"



We hadn't even unpacked and we were off to Anaheim. Jess and I were both filled with excitement, tonight was to be our very first Ice Hockey game. Calgary Flames, our local team to be were versing the Anaheim Ducks. Why didn't I call them the Mighty Ducks you may ask? Well I am glad you did cause I shall teach you something abou
t them.




In 1992 the Disney Corporation released a movie called The Champions, later to be renamed The Mighty Ducks. The movie was such a success that in 1993 they founded an NHL team called the Anaheim Mighty Ducks and it was owned solely by Disney, some solid advertising there. Two sequels later and 13yrs passed and Walt Disney lost interest selling the club and it's right to be the Mighty Ducks, so the Anaheim Ducks were formed.

Now we have hat out of the way, its game time. Seated no more than 3ms from the Calgary bench next to the players entrance we were stoked! End result of the game had the Flames down 3-2 to the Ducks even though they had 12 more shots on goals than the Ducks but thats the way the cookie crumbles, we won't talk about the disallowed goal the Flames were denied. It was an amazing experience and we can't wait for our next game.

Since Sunday Jess and I have been very much sleep deprived, Sunday to Wednesday we totalled no more than 20 hours sleep so were incredibly excited when we managed 8 hours of uninterrupted blissful sleep, we would need it for today we hit Universal Studios Hollywood...

If you don't act like a V.I.P when on holiday your doing something wrong, so Jess and I would settle for no less then the V.I.P treatment from Universal Studios. Our morning started off with a Continental Breakfast in the V.I.P lounge follwed by a 2 hour behind the scenes studio tour which took us on set of Parenthood, through the costume and props building, into audio dubbing rooms and places the public don't see. This tour was followed by the Waterworld show, its entire cast were actors from various TV shows and movies.

All this sounds like hungry work doesn't it? Picture that restaurant in the movies where the guy takes the girl on a date to impress her. That was where we were today, slight difference however, it was an all you can eat gourmet buffet. And we ate all we could eat forgetting that we would be hitting the rides afterwards.

Now how often do you see a V.I.P waiting in line? You don't because they go to the front each and every time. We rode every attraction, saw every show with reserved seating and saw more of the park than everybody else, it was nothing short of perfect.

Back in Hollwood after an indescribable day we decided to take a stroll along the Walk of Fame, see the Chinese Theatre have a delicious BBQ dinner overlooking a lovely courtyard and then have a drink in a classy bar around the corner from Podshare. As much as we would love to stay, L.A and Vegas have been too heavy on our pocket and we need to run. There is so much to see and do here that two days was never going to be enough. So until next time Hollywood, CUT!!

Sydney to LA to Vegas!

Where to begin? It has been 3 really full on days!

On Monday the 14^th of October (Sydney), Colin and I left Australia at 11am. The plan was stay up late Sunday night and sleep on the flight, even with 3 hours sleep and muscle relaxant, we didn’t really sleep too well. We both got maybe 4-5 hours. But it wasn’t all bad; I think it went quite quick!

We landed in LAX around 6:45 am Monday the 14^th of October. Now, we had heard so many horror stories about America and customs. “It takes 2-3 hours to get through” was the main one. So we were prepared, we booked our car later as we weren’t expecting to be out until 10ish. It took an hour to collect our baggage and go through customs! We ended up sitting around for a while but decided to pay the little extra and collect the car early.

Driving on the other side of the road was freaking me out!! It’s so backwards! I am definitely not a fan. Colin drove most of the way to Las Vegas, we had the nicest Ford Mustang Convertible!! There is nothing like driving down Route 66 with the roof down! Because we had problems with our GPS, it took 6 hours to get to Vegas instead of 4-5! But no matter, we got to the Luxor Hotel/Casino safely and we were super stoked to get dressed up and wander!

Our room was amazing! A beautiful and incredibly comfortable king size bed, huge bathroom, internet and view of the pyramid! We decided to cruise down the Vegas Strip with our roof down, I have never seen so many colourful bright lights in one place! We did compare the smell of Vegas to Patong Thailand though – not the nicest. One place we wanted to hit up was Caesar’s Palace. One thing that I loved most about Vegas was the fact that it is truly magical – it’s almost as if you are transported to a fantasy land. My favourite Casino/Hotel was the Bellagio! It was bright and colourful and magical! There were stain glass flowers hanging from the ceiling and an Enchanted Forest in the Lobby. The Bellagio Fountain was also a spectacular sight, dancing to Michael Jackson!

 

 

We hit the pillows at midnight because we had an early morning and jet lag has been really tough for us so far! We were picked up by our shuttle at 5:45am to take us out to Papillon Helicopter tour’s airport. Everyone at Papillion was incredibly friendly! We were checked in nice and easy and were out flying very quickly. Our pilot Nate was awesome! He played us music, was very accommodating to our needs and gave us all the info on the areas as we were passing over. I was worried about flying in a helicopter, but it was amazing fun and am so keen to do it again! The Grand Canyon was just the most spectacular sight. We flew down inside and landed for photos, champagne and a picnic. It was all delicious and beautiful! Colin and I would like to thank my parents Pam and James for this amazing experience as our Christmas presents this year! I couldn’t of asked for something more perfect to start my day! We would also like to thank and recommend Papillon and Nate! They truly made the experience a memorable one! One word to describe it – breathtaking!

Colin and I were back at the Luxor before 10:30am and had the brilliant idea to nap for an hour (sarcasm). Colin and I are notorious for turning off alarms in our sleep - an hour nap turned into 3 hours! I have to admit, we really did need the sleep but I was a little sad that we missed so much time in Vegas! We had a fast lunch, organised our Criss Angel tickets and drove out to Discount Firearms USA (The Machinegun Experience Vegas). We researched a lot of places in Vegas that offer shooting experiences and this particular place was highly recommended – I have to say they lived up highly to their praises! We didn’t have to wait long to go into the range, I got the “shoot for a cure” experience which gave me a pink 0.22 rifle and a pink pistol, a shirt and donated $10 of the sale to breast cancer. Colin ordered “off menu” and got the 0.44 Magnum, an M4 Assault Rifle and M249 Machinegun! We had an amazing Range Supervisor, Cameron! He was funny, friendly and safe! He made sure we were in a safe environment and we were shooting the guns properly. He also let Colin and I share the machine gun so I got to experience a massive ass heavy weapon of destruction! IT WAS AWESOME! I also may have had a Dirty Harry moment and shot the Magnum (was worried about the kick back – but I kicked ass!) Turns out I am a damn good shot (might have to take it up as a hobby) and would be pretty awesome in the inevitable zombie apocalypse! I now have a souvenir target shirt that I shot the shiz out of with my rifle! We highly recommend going here, its affordable and amazing! We also recommend Cameron - he’s funny and hansom ladies – who doesn’t like a man in uniform with a gun? To all my girls, don't wear anything that shows cleavage! I had a bullet shell flick up at me and land square in the boobs! I now have a nice burn haha!

Now Colin is the shopaholic in this relationship! He really wanted to go to one of the factory outlets. I have to say that America is so much incredibly cheaper than Australia! We went into many shops and spent a fair bit on new winter clothes! I am pretty excited to layer up in my new bright colours. We were hoping to be there for an hour but ended up there for 2-3! We wanted to go to more places so we had to rush a little. Walked through more of the strip, we hit up mnm world for delicious chocolate and walked through the Monte Carlo and got a better view of New York New York. We had a quick dinner and it was time to see Criss Angel! I am a huge fan of his TV show! The performance wasn’t quite what we expected but was still incredible. We were hoping for something much like what he does on TV, of course he couldn’t do that 8 times a week! It was just very staged, I am still so happy we had the chance to see him live – I love love love magic! If you’re in Vegas, I recommend seeing the Blue Man Group! I saw them back in Aus but it was such an incredible experience and it totally blew me away! So if you have the opportunity, I would see them again in a heart beat. One we really wanted to see but missed out on was Zumanity by Cirque Du Solei – my choice for the next time I’m in Vegas!

I think the Luxor was pretty amazing! However, if you’re staying there, watch out for some of their employees. They start off by saying a friendly hello in passing, then they ask you where you’re from, soon they are pulling you to a counter to buy a package deal for next year where you need to put down a cash deposit immediately and it’s hard to get away. We got caught in it once and nearly again another 2 times! We aren’t fans of sales people! Next time, I want to stay at New York New York or the Bellagio! So beautiful!

Finally, Vegas was an incredible experience! I wish we could have stayed longer because 2 nights was definitely not enough time! There was so much more we wanted to do! In total, we gambled around $100 but unfortunately Vegas wasn’t a lucky area for us. We had 4 hours sleep last night and am now heading to LA for part two of our adventure!

Jess and Colin

:)