At the wedding, our families like us, had connected and exchanged contact details. Since then, they had chatted periodically, checking in on our happenings, and even met up for lunch once. However, this caused an enormous problem when the crew hit everyone up to film Family Time, where we met up with each family in turn. The families were rather reluctant, and Ellie had actually told the producer “After how you’ve treated them, you can get fucked,” and relayed it to mum and Andy’s parents, in turn, had somewhat more politely declined the filming.
We wanted to keep The Pests happy and put the hard word on them, so they reluctantly agreed to filming at The Garden Café, across the road from The Manor House. They told the crew that it would be 20 minutes each and the exact times, omitting that they would then walk across the road for a group lunch. After the lunch, we would head to Andy’s for an early night before our early morning flight to Vancouver for Washup.
We arrived first and then Andy’s parents arrived, and we hugged them. We were surprised that they had matching T-shirts that said UNITED PEST CONTROLLERS that had a logo of a large rat with a cheesy grin, flashing the bird. The producers asked if they had something to wear on top and they advised in the negative, so they reluctantly rolled cameras as the coffee arrived. His parents chatted about their recent activities and were completely uninterested in us, not that we were too surprised as we had chatted with them during prep for this, which infuriated the crew, and they ignored the proffered questions. I heard Andy’s dad’s watch bleep at 20 minutes, and they knocked back the coffee and bade us goodbye, exiting the café like a rat up a drainpipe.
Seeing Ellie and Mum arrive, I smelled/saw a big rat as they too wore the same T-shirts. As Ellie passed the crew, she recognised that the producer was the same one that had been at her house filming for the first Dinner Party and she slid over and playfully kissed him on the cheek saying, “Like my T-Shirt?”, eliciting a sour response. This confirmed that my similarly stubborn sister was the instigator. Again, the producers raised the clothing question and got knocked back, like the arriving coffees. Likewise, they didn’t ask us anything, really pissing the crew off, then left at the dot of 20.
We walked over to The Manor House restaurant and found our families gathered, congratulating Ellie on her T-shirt design and the receptionist took a group photo. Then, we moved into the restaurant and found our table and Ellie asked why there was a spare seat. In my side vision, I saw a figure walking towards us, and I tapped Andy on the knee. We got up and approached the figure as she arrived at the table, causing the others to be confused. I introduced them, then said, “This is Wing she’s one of the Executive Assistants at Rapid: our guest of honour.”
“She’s been so helpful to us these last weeks, we felt she needed thanking and introducing to you,” my love introduced.
“You have two really naughty kids, spoiling this old lady so badly,” she said and hugged us deeply and briefly, then she ran through her time at the Spa we’d gifted her in Delta.
Andy’s parents loosely knew her, though mine didn’t, and, over starters, we all started chatting. As usual, she was enigmatic about her personal life: Andy had told me that even after 10 years, he didn’t know anything about her family situation. She asked about the T-shirts which Ellie ‘fessed up to and asked if the three of us wanted one too. We all nodded, and Andy asked if Wing could get an extra in one size smaller than me [for Bex]. I kissed him on the cheek, “So caring, so hot,” I affirmed.
“Nasty girl,” Wing said to Ellie smiling and proffering her hand, “You can come and work with me anytime,” and we buried our heads in our hands thinking about that scenario. “That’ll teach the buggers,” she remarked darkly, “but they’ve had a lot to learn, and they’ve been taught a lot recently,” she smirked, and we hugged her again.
Between starter and main, we brought out a large laptop and placed it on the table. We showed the video that we’d shown in Delta as our families laughed at the Funnies and our running commentary.
The mains arrived, then the Champagne and, as the waiter opened it, we announced that it was from our first night. The conversation turned to our time so far, and then she smiled and filled in some of the interesting bits about dresses and airports. We filled them in on the Dinner Party and Expert Day, eliciting more laughs as we recounted how we’d confounded them, and Andy had sunk Sneering Sid.
After dessert, we headed our ways, and Ellie had generously offered to take us to the airport early the next morning, despite not being an early riser, as when we flew back we’d head straight for The Suites, so she tailed us to Andy’s where she hit the spare room. Early the next morning, we roused her, and Andy made a large breakfast. She joked that I was picking up his bad habits, which was true, and as she was here, there were some new habits that we couldn’t partake in. She was yawning her head off, so Andy offered to drive her car, so she could sleep again, which she agreed to.
At the airport, we used the Premium line to check in, then we bade her goodbye as we headed airside and to the lounge to wait for the flight, similar to my last check-in, this time with an escort that I could snuggle and kiss.
The flight was long and, like the last time, apart from eating, we slept snuggling into each other. The easterly wind sped us over the Tundra towards Vancouver. As there was a vacant window seat in front, I’d got the OK to move so we could both photograph. As we descended, the Pilot came on the PA and announced that instead of making our run-in over Abbotsford, we’d be heading over Vancouver Island and would U-turn over the ocean. We were on the right side, so got good shots of the sun hitting the snow-covered North Shore Mountains, then the airport, followed by vistas of Tofino Harbour as we banked over, then finally Nanaimo and its barrier islands as we crossed the Georgia Straight to the runway. I muttered over my shoulder, “Nice view,” and got a head tickle from behind as he replied, “In front good too.”
Instead of heading straight for Whistler, we’d decided to overnight in the city, so we caught the Skytrain direct to Waterfront. After a short walk to our Canada Place, we checked in at the hotel and confirmed our early checkout and room service breakfast the next day. We changed into our ski gear, which like all our clothing, seemed to be hard to take on and off without help and some kissing on the way. We grabbed our cameras and backpacks again and headed out. After a short walk to the Convention Centre, we boarded the shuttle bus to Grouse Mountain. The sun was up as the bus sped through Stanley Park, then over the Lion’s Gate Bridge happily snapping pics as we went along.
After arriving at the top of the Grouse Gondola, we soaked in the view and we were lucky as, on a bad day, you see nothing. Today, you could see south as far as the US border, down towards Victoria and west towards Nanaimo’s barrier islands. We took some selfie vids and panorama shots with our phones that we could send to the producers and for our consumption, then I snuggled into his chest as we drank takeaway coffees and fed each other muffins before grabbing our rental skis and boots. Over the next few hours, as we were just skiing for run and the views, we gently skied the blues, rather than going at it and enjoyed the views and the slowly setting sun. We periodically stopped for nibbles of various sorts, especially at the top of chairlifts, and then headed down to the restaurant for our dinner booking.
At the restaurant, we had a window seat which was amazing as my sexy tour guide carried on pointing out scenery to me learned from his prior trips to Vancouver. We enjoyed the two-course menu and a beer each, sharing our food as we normally did, as we watched the sun finally down over Nanaimo and the ski field lights behind start to illuminate. “So romantic, my love,” I remarked and got a lingering kiss, then we returned to the slopes for the night ski.
When we were finally skied out, we headed back to the café for dessert and a beer, soaking in the night views of the city below and each other. In the gondola, we alternated between standing at the front as he held me from behind with my head resting on his shoulder so we could soak in the view and kiss and taking nocturnal pics. Then, we got the BC Transit bus down to the North Vancouver SeaBus terminal and then we snuggled up in the bow seats, taking in and shooting the nighttime city from the water as we headed back to Waterfront, then our hotel where we changed, showered, albeit briefly in our now-usual way, and collapsed into bed, knowing that we had a 6 AM shuttle tomorrow to beat the morning traffic.
The alarm went off at 5 AM as we wanted time for our last full breakfast. We stayed snuggling and gently kissing and moving on each other to wake up, then the door rapped, and we heard ROOM SERVICE. We got up and I opened the curtains, then put a towel on to get the food. Andy put his glasses on and started on the Nespresso machine. I put the food on the table and came from behind, wrapping my arms around his chest as I nuzzled his neck, watching him do his magic. I felt myself getting hot watching him and started playing with his nipples.
He made the coffees, then I detached and reversed so I hugged him from the front, “Hotter than George [Clooney],” I said kissing him, “But you’re wearing the wrong thing,” and I removed his glasses to the table and placed him into me as he Frenched me back. We took turns forking sliced fruit into mouths and eating it and each other, then shared the juices as we were starting to share other juices too as we connected tighter. After the cereals, we reversed so he was leading as we connected tighter and harder eating through the Full English, each other .. and Frenches. It was then that I started moaning gently as my stomach and elsewhere became rather full as we slowly peaked together as the pastries finished. We wound down, then he slid down me, kissing me until he found my juices, then licked them out and came back up to share them. I concluded by finishing off his sausage. “Such an amazing breakfast,” he said kissing me a final time.
After we dressed and packed, we went downstairs for the shuttle. As we went over the Lion’s Gate, we saw the sun start to peer over the horizon, illuminating the harbour and snowcapped mountains and later, the amazing views of Howe Sound in the early light which we shot stills and video of with our phones and cameras. Again, I had my favourite pillow to snuggle into and sometimes kiss.
Coming into Creekside, the driver called out five minutes and we knew we were first off. I ran through our setup tasks that Andy had told me about: double-check the cleaners who should be in now, supervise the Maintainers who were in next, and finally, verify that what’s in the cupboards was on the management app so that the food order could be pushed out: this was something that my love had told me was an in-house development ages ago, though now widely used. I was impressed with the views of the sunlit mountains and the Whistler Valley ahead and looking forward to our week, though it would be hectic as he had shown me some videos of Washup. They made the TLS Dinner Party look placid as there were detailed and noisy, though not heated discussions, though the aim was to gain learnings, not score points, he reiterated!
As we pulled up, Andy pulled up OMessage, got onto the WashUp group which had been running hot since Hib had been called, and snapped a pic of The Chalet to the group. Immediately Terri responded At The [WS-BC] Border. Dog responded with a uniformed selfie of him in front of a Float Beaver with Victoria in the background and Heading back soon; Family and Float Otter to VA next. Andy then WhatsApp’d the pic to Lindsay and Tony who we’d been chatting with since our breakfast chat. They had let us into the TLS group, which was running hot, but we quickly went cold on it as it was similar to the in-person: full of gossip and backbiting and lacking in knowledge sharing, so we muted it and rarely checked it as we had lots of work, WashUp, crosswords and each other to do instead.
The driver unloaded our luggage, and he used Andy’s camera to video us walking up and entering the Chalet through the double doors. We dropped our bags in the small lift next to the ski racks and sent them up a floor, then headed up the stairs. The cleaners passed us at the top, heading out which meant the maintainers would be here soon.
The middle floor currently had five rooms currently configured as Kings and the dividers meant we had ensuites but could have up to seven by altering the track-mounted partition walls. We removed our bags from the lift and dropped them into Beta, discarding our jackets onto the bed, then put our heads into Alpha and Delta which were also made up though had a pile of Single bedding on the bed too, then headed to Foxtrot and Golf which had the beds erect against the wall so the maintainers could swap out for a pair of singles for the kids. I felt tension building between us as we headed to the top floor.
Upstairs, there were currently three more bedrooms off to the side and a large living area. Soon, the maintainers would remove the walls, sliding the panels into a chute next to the lift to be winched to the ground floor for onward storage, making an enormous space that would hold the 50 attendees. We walked to the main windows and stared out over the creek, and I felt his hand come across my chest, grab my encased front, and pull me into him, nuzzling my neck as his free hand grabbed likewise and they started being playful and he pressed into my back, causing me to purr gently. I pushed my head down so I could kiss his mouth hard and locked onto his lips as his hands increased playfulness.
I slightly pulled away from his kissing and playing so I could face-to-face him. We resumed our hard, passionate French, and now all hands were touching bare skin and giving pleasurable tingles and my purring carried on. We weren’t worried about being seen as he’d told me the triple-glazed panes had one-way film, so we had an incredible view outside and in, and we were getting excited about being caught and not wanting to as we made out with greater excitement.
I greedily kissed his chest, before heading back to French him hard as I continued purring. I pulled away and jumped onto the kitchen bench and he came forward and taking my invitation, as our excitement grew. I wrapped my hands over his neck and lower legs around his waist as we completely united again until our love was complete here.
Our watches buzzed: it was the maintainers saying they were nearly here, so we quickly cleaned each other up and re-dressed, concluding just as we heard the entry door unlock, then they brought up the single beds to the rooms, staging the Kings into the ski room before starting to remove the wall panels.
We opened up the E-Ord OMessage applet and I started calling out the anticipated cupboard contents, which he affirmed, and then we repeated this in the downstairs freezers. Once happy, we clicked the APPROVE button to complete and this sent off the scheduled order to the grocers for delivery later today which we would store when we got back.
Back in the kitchen, my love extracted a Tim Horton’s pod from the benchtop basket and armed the Keurig machine, saying sourly “First we try the local rubbish, but at least it’s not the Southern rubbish” (Starbucks) as the weak liquid poured into a cup, then, once filled, past my lips. I kissed him concurring that this was a weak coffee.
“Now we transmute lead back to uranium,” he grumped as he used a knife to slice open the top of another pod which he then decanted into a grinder and worked his magic on it. He decanted the fine grinds into a plunger and added boiling water. After an appropriate time, this stronger, more flavoursome liquid, passed my lips, making me even hotter.
“Nearly as good as earlier,” I said, holding and kissing him, for while the view was hot, I realised that him making good coffee while naked earlier was much hotter.
The movers were upstairs now, dismantling the bedrooms which they would replace with a narrow stage, and we went back to our room to put our outdoor clothes on. We had arranged to see the Weasel and Dog families after dinner, so they had time to settle in, so we wandered out into Creekside and found a café at the bottom of the slope for a late but needed morning tea cum lunch.
Afterwards, we caught the bus into Whistler proper and wandered around the base as my sexy guide gave me an illustrated tour. We caught the Whistler Village Gondola up, admiring the clear views, using our cameras and phones. At the top, we soaked in the view and each other then headed for the Peak2Peak for more hot views and gentle kissing along the way. Finally, we caught the Blackcomb Gondola down into the village, where we found a restaurant at the base for a somewhat early dinner before catching the bus back to Creekside and getting our ski kit.
In the lounge, Weasel and family, plus Angie and her husband were having dinner, though Dog and his family were out. We went upstairs and Terri came at me like a missile, giving me a deep hug, which I returned. After she released me, Weasel hugged me and finally Andy. Angie came up and hugged him, saying formally “Good to see you, Andrew.”
He growled as I knew he hates being called by his full name and he replied, “Missed you Angela” which got a return sour look, and she gently took my hand and introduced me to her husband John, before we headed off for a brief chat, then rejoining Andy and the group who were now on the sofas. We talked about the TLS filming, and I did a few damns with faint praises as I didn’t want to cuss around the kids, but the message got through clearly: The Pests had edited our Gold footage into Lead, compared with the two edits Terri and I had done. We really wondered if it was worth giving them this week’s footage if they were going to do another hatchet.
From the planning, I knew that the teas would be brought over from The Inn where the residents would eat breakfast and most of the dinners would be there. Andy had told me that, on several previous occasions, he’d baked morning tea – albeit with help. Cooking for 50 sounded like hard work, but he assured me that when systemised, it was actually quite simple. I loved seeing him in the kitchen and dropped an OMessage chat about it and was surprised that Dog offered his help and said he’d lead with profiteroles. This initially surprised me, then I realised that this wasn’t Dog the hard-ass pilot offering, but the kind, soft Pete.
The next day was a break-in day as most of the participants would be arriving. We decided to bake early, then we could all hit the slopes. Andy led, setting out the ingredients at one end of the island and getting me to put the tins at the far end of the bench, next to the pair of double ovens that were heating up. Dog placed the mixer out halfway down the bench and bowls mid-way down the island, and I got the first hint about having a production line. Dog got out the whiteboard and gave me a pen saying, “A lady should know her place.”
“Bossing us!” Andy replied, and I glared at them.
We started with a pair of fruitcakes, followed by sponges, scones, melting moments, shortbread finally Dog’s profiteroles. Each time, I wrote the time into the oven, how long in for, and set another phone alarm. When a packet was empty, it was scanned out on the app to de-inventory it before recycling. Several times, I felt my love’s chest on my back, his cheek touch mine, and his hand took mine as we wrote the time on the board, though no kiss as we were in semi-work mode. “Writing together is good,” Dog said, looking on approvingly as we’d told the group about our vows, “Better than writing the last letter”, he concluded sadly and just as Weasel appeared. During their squadron command time, both had written letters to the families of pilots that had never made it back and we group hugged in sympathy with our friends.
When I make cakes, it normally takes me twenty minutes for one and I was surprised that from start to finish, barely an hour had elapsed, and we now had the island covered in cooling cakes.
The smell of baking permeated the apartment and now everyone gathered at the island where all the cakes were cooling. There were offcuts in bowls and a few of the scones and biscuits were eagerly devoured for an earlyish morning tea, then we covered the cooling cakes in towels before we got into our ski clothes, grabbed our skis and boots, and headed for the Creekside Gondola. At the top, we located the booked guide, and they took the kids on their adventure so we could have our own, faster fun, then we reunited for lunch, After, we skied reds and blues until mid-afternoon before headed back to The Chalet.
Back at The Chalet and after showering, we assembled and set up the icing line. The kids iced the shortbreads and had an informal competition going as Weasel and David videoed. We hit the sponge and fruitcake with a 4” nozzle and 500g bag that looked like it should be dispensing concrete, not icing, and it made effective and short work of a job I normally find fussy and painful, then the kids evicted us and carried on their rivalry to complete them.
Tonight’s event was a mingle with buffet so we could re-acquaint, and we stayed in casual clothes. Due to the numbers, this time everyone wore a name badge, in our cases, below our Formals. Leaving The Chalet, I had Andy on my left hand and Terri had taken my right and announced that she’d introduce me to the crowd which I found endearing.
At The Inn Restaurant, we saw Wing chatting with Angie and we hugged our friend, with Terri having to hug lower due to her size. She looked up to Wing, saying “Thanks for pairing me up with Rebecca. We’ve got our first call later,” formally shaking her hand which Andy and I smiled at, and I glared at Wing. She detached and made for her aunt and mum. Wing nodded at me, and I pulled out my phone and messaged Bex Good luck with Terri: She’s solid, as we wondered what Bex would feel when a girl appeared on her screen!
We headed to the bar and decided we’d stick to Mojitos tonight, then headed into the room. I’d decided that it was easier for people to use my Tag instead of name as there were several tagless Sarahs here. The waiters were bringing nibbles round and we partook, knowing that these were the only nibbles we’d have until we got back to our room, periodically returning to the bar for a new glass. The buffet had an interesting turn: while there was the usual mix of hot and cold dishes, these were in small, rapidly replenished quantities to encourage mingling. We moved in and out of groupings where, unlike at TLS, people immediately included me, and the questions asked were either about me personally or Patagonia, making periodic trips to the buffet and bar. Thankfully, after reading the logs I now knew what PLAN[ning], CON[troll], and SEN[sor] (teams) when people would use these and other terms. Andy had said that I needed a “broad as lake though shallow as a dog bowl” breadth of knowledge which initially was true.
It was interesting observing the Not Yet Adults as I referred to Terri and her peers: they effortlessly merged in and out of groups, respected and respectful of and by adults and sometimes heading to a peer group. At one point, we spied Angie (I’d decided to use her name rather than tag) and Emma, her Junior, together and joined them.
Early on, Andy told me that while Wing could be very sneaky if needed: something we and The Pests knew all too well, Angie could be vicious and was very suited to Logistics as with Logistics, “If you aren’t at the table, you are on the table being eaten,” not that I minded being on the table being eaten by him! He told me how he'd been on a project where a vital component had been deliberately misrouted and then stolen in transit. The carrier’s rep had lied to him, so he’d advised Angie. She’d immediately suspended their contract and dragged a senior manager in for a discussion where she’d told them to fire the liar, and a few others involved, or she’d terminate the sizeable contract. The miscreants got fired, and somehow the company didn’t get any tasklings for several months!
After a brief chat, Andy said that he had to check in on Terri and made his leave. I knew this was true, but also a pass-off, and we got chatting. Emma said she had a somewhat slower and easier intro to her subject than I did. I smiled wistfully and said I’d got dropped in cold and deep in Patagonia, and had a pleasurable and relaxed teaching, omitting that most of the teaching was on the teacher’s lap with his head on my shoulder and arm around my waist, or maybe slightly higher, etc, though the ladies got the general idea!
Later, my phone pinged: it was Bex: Terri: WT!! Since our meeting in Delta, we’d messaged periodically: mostly sharing pictures and also gossiping as we planned to invite her over for dinner with us and Ellie when we got back. I gathered Andy and headed into a vacant room, having a nice cuddle and brief make-out before I called her. We noticed that she had The Rat t-shirt on and thanked us for the gift. We explained its malicious compliance background which made her laugh. She said she was shocked when she saw a young girl on screen and wondered if she’d been had by Wing, but Terri had soon impressed her with her knowledge and knowing what she wanted help with. I reminded her who my collaborator on the video we’d shown her was.
We headed to the bar for a final drink, which tipped us into a gentle buzz. By our standards, we had a lot to drink tonight, albeit over a long time and soaked up by a decent quantity of tasty food. We put our coats on and headed out into the falling snow, periodically slowing for brief make-outs, then to bed once we were at The Chalet. Walking back, I realised how much enjoyment I had today: I was walking hand-in-hand with a guy I loved so much and knew that he felt the same beneath snowed mountains, while this evening was a work one, I’d never had such a well organised but relaxed one.
The next morning was the first day of Washup. Post breakfast, we set out yesterday’s creations on the counter and covered them up. We had several WhatsApps from Lindsay and Tony commenting on yesterday’s photos that we’d sent them, and relaying that the rest of the group was wondering how we were. This was due to us rarely posting on the main channel due to lack of time and interest and them not ratting on us, so we posted a shot of the cake-laden island bench and a few of The Chalet, plus several of us at Grouse.
For today’s sessions, the kids would join us, though until the final session, the kids would be at The Inn doing Learn, as they referred to it. Last night, one of the parents who was a teacher told me that her role this week was Shepherd(ess): the Down kids had proposed and agreed that the topic would be Patagonia. This would be the basis for them to do activities and they would present at the final session. Unsurprisingly, someone wanted to make a video an needed help with the graphics!
The first session was the welcome. I was introduced and briefly got up, thanking Wing and Andy for their support and embarrassing both. Also introduced were US and Canadian Civil Defence attendees whose employers paid, so they could be trainers to take the knowledge gained back, and some South Americans who were also likewise. The screen behind had the words ABSOLUTE TRUST / ABSOLUTE HONESTY / ABSOLUTE RESPECT = FULL CRITIQUE. I knew from the videos we’d watched in preparation that the next few days were going to make the TLS Dinner Party look very tame, though as Andy had observed “A Katana needs a thousand forgings to be strong”: the heat here would strengthen our knowledge for next time. I noticed that the EAs and Angie were all wearing suit jackets which I thought weird and whispered this to Andy. He just shrugged as he was as clueless as I was, Don’t ask: they will tell if they want to was the unspoken rule we adhered to.
Now, things went very differently from other conferences as the next session was Considerations. Here, the Leads put forth learnings that they wanted everyone to consider for application in their streams. My one was obvious: after the fuck-over at Bring Up, my offering was an external communications ban at key times. Mostly for the guests, I explained concisely but rather acidly my rationale, then it was morning tea.
After morning tea, Wing and the EAs got up, then shed their jackets revealing that they wore a long-sleeve jumper on which had a cartoon cat with pursed lips, peering intently from behind a semi-closed door at a rodent-filled room and a baseball bat resting at its knee. We knew the exact meaning of this, and Andy called out “Nice jumpers.” Wing glared at him, drawing an R with her finger, then inverting her hand and stabbing an inverted V downwards. We got the message: Rebecca had done the drawing and there was one each on our bed.
Wing ran through the EA’s activity, alluding to the extra airport pickup and talking about the way they House Hits as she referred to emergency effects retrieval, pointing out that in the US, they notified the cops first and were extra loud when entering to mitigate waking up an armed family member. She concluded by noting that there she’d used OMessage functions that she’d long forgotten about, and that people should be fully aware of its functionality: this was her tacit admission that she’d hit my phone to block The Pests at the airport, and Andy’s probably once he’d boarded the GX and probably again after that Bring Up. Her main concern was that ‘While the team is strong and very experienced, its weakness is the lack of recent new members: this is being addressed.’ I whispered to Andy that we knew who at least one of the new members was [Bex], though she hadn’t been fully reeled in and I did have wonderings about Ellie. He simply rubbed my hand with his.
The program was that we would do alternating morning and afternoon sessions so we could get first and last runs if we wanted them. Today though, some of us decided to Cross Country. I’d never XC’d before, but Andy was quite competent. He’d told me that while Downhill is 80% technique and 20% fitness, XC is the opposite and I was certainly fit enough, though I know that phrase had two meanings! We retired to our room for a quick, and as usual problematic, change of clothes. Today was different: instead of full, thick winter layers, we helped each other into our base layers, then a light shirt and trousers, and finally our waterproofs and light gloves, plus thick ones for me. He said that I’d need the outer layer and thick gloves for the lesson but would soon shed them to my rucksack when I got going. We rejoined the group at The Inn for a simple and tasty buffet lunch before heading out with the XC’ers to the field.
He expertly helped me into the light, warm boots, and then we went out carrying the pencil-thin skis. He helped me clip into the front bindings, though I was playing up too so I could get a hug off him, and we peck-kissed goodbye as he left with the experienced half of the group. I found the lesson relatively simple as a lot of it was applying downhill techniques in different ways, something my love had explained though I’d found abstract. I was confident to hit the easy trails as the lesson ended and I suddenly got swept along the track as a familiar chest slid onto my back and kissed my cheek, slowing me down with his grip. By now, my outer layer was in my pack, and I leaned my head into his mouth for a kiss, but we ended up in a loving heap in the snow, unfortunately, snapped by one of the group.
The group split up as we skied at our own pace through the trees and lakes, usually skiing adjacent, though sometimes one of us would hop out and put the front person between their legs, poling together and briefly kissing: we tried a bit longer once and ended up in a Frenching heap! At a mid-way rest stop, where we were sipping mulled wine, we realised that this was our ideal combination: romance, scenery, and exercise. When we handed in our gear, we’d done 20k. Then it was back to The Chalet for a shower, warm up with extra re-heat, then dinner. Dinners would alternate between the full group at The Inn and splitting into thirds for restaurant dinners as the whole group would swamp one place. Tonight, for us was a restaurant in Blackcomb, but dinners were planned so that would sit with different people for each course.
The next days flew past as each session ran through a week’s operations in 30 minutes, plus the final summation. In them, I sat next to my love and Emma started sitting behind us. We chatted more and I realised that I had a better general understanding than she did due to the sofa sessions, plus his openness from the off during our messaging. I’d tap him when I needed him to whisper an elaboration, but he’d sometimes gently raise my hand to prompt me to ask a question. She would often lean over and whisper a question to us. I knew I was floating in a torrent of new knowledge. On the slopes, we progressed into the blacks which I wasn’t confident on. He told me that “It’s just like being at the kerb: look right, look left. Rough out a path, quick admire of the view, and if it’s safe, don’t linger and scare yourself: just go!” I followed my love’s advice and started relishing the fast, steeper slopes – especially as there were fewer skiers and better powder. We were on the go from breakfast until bed, unlike Patagonia, so not so much chance for enhanced snuggles, but this was primarily a work, not a relaxation trip.
The Penultimate session was Ground Ops: my turn. I started with the obvious problem of three guys being medically unavailable and having to pull a fourth out of his honeymoon, which I concluded was the right thing to do for all and shrugged [me too]. Then I did Day 0, noting that having the Apella Project infrastructure to use made Andy and Gopher’s lives much easier. I ran through the rest of the initial week, noting that it had gone quite well, apart from the infamous Bring Up which elicited a laugh. I was playing this straight, though not afraid to go for a gentle titter when relevant as I went through the rest of the deploy. There were minor learnings, but like the whole deploy, finding even serious niggles was hard, and they had to be learned. Afterwards, Emma asked about Bring Up and our disrupted honeymoon. We took her aside to explain about TLS, The Pests, and the rest of our story, including my tagging which both teared and cracked her up.
That night was Kids Night. They wanted and got, skiing and a BBQ at Horstman Hut with the final ski back down to Blackcomb, then they would camp out in The Inn where we normally ate. We nicked their night ski idea, though with a Fondue night at The Roundhouse, followed by apres-ski in Creekside and ending up back at The Chalet, by our low standards, rather tipsy and very relaxed.
The next morning was our final day here. Andy and I awoke entwined as usual, but slightly groggy, though a full, albeit without the extras, breakfast with plenty of coffee and orange juice normalised our heads. Throughout the week, like everyone here, I’d been making copious notes - including aide memoirs on my phone during the dinners. I had learned lots and when I got back to work, I had lots of learnings to discuss with my boss and team: a lot not HR-related, but all that other colleagues could use. The first session was Conclusions where the Leads had 15 minutes to summarise. I was last and made mine, but just as I was winding up, I stared directly at my love and flicked my head upwards. He got the message and rose, heading to the stage.
When he was there, I concluded, holding his hand, “I knew from your first words what sort of guy you are. They say that a real measure of a man is his friends,” opening my arms wide with his now on my back, “Wing: From the off, you’ve helped me and us so much. You are like a mother to us all: caring, protecting against those who need protecting from.” She smirked at the comment, knowing I was referring to The Pests. “Weasel, your words on our first call affirmed what I already knew but cemented it hard,” and they got up heading to the stage. “We are all in this together’: here, it’s not a slogan, it is: us, all, and everything we do,” I concluded as he held and kissed me, and the two ladies embraced us.
After morning tea, it was the Kids’ turn. I was surprised, though probably shouldn’t have been, at how slick and informative their presentation was. They took turns presenting a mixture of slides and videos, I noticed each had the creator’s initials at the bottom left and I smiled when several had RB [Bex], and I messaged her. She said that she’d been run quite hard, but enjoyably by Terri! We concluded the day with a final ski, then group dinner at The Inn.
The next day was an early start as we were heading back to Vancouver, though our time away was still not over. The Whistler Shuttle bus picked us and the Dog family up, then shifted to The Inn for more of us, then it headed south back down to Vancouver, and we soaked in the stunning winter views. Coming over the Lion’s Gate, the harbour was brilliantly sunlit, and the NS Mountains were stunning, but this time we headed to the Seaplane terminal where we and the Dog family alit. Dog handled the check-in for all, but this time he wouldn’t be flying, then introduced us to the pilot before boarding. The Float Otter with us aboard left its dock and we slowly cruised out past the Convention Centre into the middle of the harbour, with the pilot giving a running commentary on the speakers. As we straightened up parallel to the shore, he gunned the engines and we headed straight for the bridge, before passing overhead with Grouse on our starboard as I shot some good pics of the mountains, then the coastline before we headed out into the Burrard, then the Georgia Strait. This was my first time in a seaplane, and I was enjoying the ride on a gorgeous day with my partner and friends around me.
Arriving on Lake Union, we then headed to Dog’s houseboat where they made us comfortable for the night, then we had a leisurely, late lunch on the deck. We headed out to his garage and helped him remove his Icon seaplane and take it to the ramp where we swung and locked its wings. as Joelle, his wife, videoed and took pictures with Andy’s phone. She shot final pictures of the three of us next to the assembled plane on the ramp, and a final one minus Dog.
Andy called out to her, “Post that one on the TLS WhatsApp group: tag Sally that we miss her.”
Like a dose of the trots, I thought and smiled at my love’s acid tongue reappearing. I leaned in to verify, “Weird: is actually quite sweet,” I said, giggling as I did a final inspection. Joelle smiled and made rude comments as she was obviously scanning through the group posts, and Dog briefed the plan to conclude.
Andy kissed me goodbye as I slid into the second seat, then the canopy was closed, and Dog powered up the modern instruments that would have looked at home in a Tesla. I felt and heard the rear overhead engine power up, then the prop whirr as we slid into the channel. I felt the slight waves as we moved to the departure buoy, much more in the 500kg aircraft than the multi-ton Otter that we came down on and I could hear him in my headset getting clearance to follow the Beaver ahead.
The engine powered up for a somewhat low power take-off, so we didn’t pass the Beaver ahead, and we skipped over the waves, then ascended following the exit track before we headed port into Puget Sound and saw Bremerton in the distance. This was new and enjoyable for me as I took photos with my Z, then we reversed course southward with Downtown to port and I saw Mt Ranier’s snowcapped cone ahead as we reached cruise, then another reverse course northward. We descended, landing on the Sound to slow before doing a 90% power take-off so I could feel the aircraft’s true power: this was much more aggressive and fun than either our first take-off or the earlier, noisy Otter take-off. We headed up the coast towards Everett where I saw all the planes still on the runway, then it was time to head homebound where my love awaited me on dry land and I got our normal embrace and kiss to welcome me back, minus the extra as we hadn’t been apart that long. For us this was a huge PDA, I knew!
After we’d cleaned and stored the Icon, they took us around Pike’s Market, showing us the sheep queuing for a Starbucks at its first site. By now it was nearly dark, and we were getting hungry. They suggested Korean and we headed to a very unprepossessing restaurant on Fourth St across from Pier 62. It looked very low-key, and I wasn’t sure about it, but they had been there before and it unashamedly said so on the menu that it was homestyle, so I followed them into the rather dimly lit and tiny hostelry. The food was true to form: not particularly elegant, but very tasty and like what a Korean family would serve, albeit in US portions. The company and food sated my soul and stomach, then we headed to the houseboat to wind down after a long and very fun day.
After breakfast the next day, we met up with the people who’d asked to house-sit their houses for the first and second halves of our planned stay, then they drove us to their places, and we formally agreed to the house-sits. After, Weasel picked us up and took us to her place. Terri had blocked out my diary so we could pool ours, and Andy’s camera and phone videos. As Andy and David made pizzas in the kitchen, we picked the best bits and started making our video, plus Pestdrived off the suitable bits: i.e. without most people’s faces and I wondered whether the result would be like day-old toast, rather than the succulent pizza smell that was permeating the house which we soon enjoyed. These two dinners were nice and relaxing for us after the full-on Whistler dinners.
The next day, Weasel drove us to Nest HQ, where we’d be spending half of our time in the New Year. She drove onto the adjacent airfield and headed for the NEST hangar that was half-empty. Seeing it, my curious brain separated from my emotional heart, and I reached behind to grab Andy’s hand for comfort as it brought back memories of seeing him board the GX and the Bring Up fuck-over. Exiting her car, I grabbed his hand tighter to steady my heart as the memories continued, and my head was telling my heart that I had the guy who I loved and loved me with me this time. We saw Ataxa (F2 in Patagonia) in front, but Atara (F1) was away, though they were identical now.
They showed me around the outside, pointing out the now-sealed portals that had contained the grumpy camera, LIDAR, and the silly server that had caused his problems compounded by the crappy TLS link and then the morons firing questions over it. Going inside, she showed me her Office where she’d overheard his run-in with The Pests and Sally. The cabin now had comfortable, but not luxe seats, whereas on the link it was spartan and seat-free apart from the one facing the screen, as on the way to Patagonia it would have been filled with crates netted to the floor. I sat facing the screen where, on Bring Up, the table beneath Surface had sat, through which I’d seen my love’s hooded and spectacled face that I was glad was behind me now. He wrapped his arms around my collar, and I felt his spectacled head on mine. I pushed myself up and backwards to give his arms, and my soul, better padding which stopped me from crying when I thought about that time as she stood further back in the cabin looking on protectively. She led us out of the plane and, sensing my mixed emotions and the change in his mood as he hugged me tight and she hugged us tight too, “Some not so good memories, but so many good ones too. You were united then. Unity is Together,” she whispered as the magic word wrapped it’s warmth around my heart, concluding our bonding with the common and uniting word.
He led us to the hangar’s rear warehouse where we explored the racking and they pointed out the crated sensors, pulling out from other shelves, a tent, a sleeping bag that he’d mentioned on TLS, then finally we went into the office where they showed me the boxes of new dried food and cans that replaced those that, on arrival at Patagonia, had been donated to the relief effort as they weren’t needed thanks to Apella’s generosity.
My head now had full control of my heart, but my hand still held his tightly and we walked across the apron to the [maintenance] Shop where a large G650 resided, her nose pointing out and engine cowls open, exposing her German turbofans. The maintainer let us look around the spacious and much better-appointed interior and I knew what real luxury was. Andy had pointed out to me that the Falcons were simply tools: sometimes time-efficient transport, sometimes research. When transport, they were configured accordingly, albeit still much better than scheduled!
Finally, we drove to the offices, where we firstly spent time with my sort-of team that I’d only met via video call apart from Angie and Emma, for a long late morning tea-cum-lunch. They knew him, and he demurred to me as he was simply playing the accompaniment, “Star by tag, time to shine”, he’d whispered to me as we walked into the team zone. The afternoon we spent in another building with his Project Management team and, again it was about me. While Nest was a sizeable company, word had travelled south from Whistler fast!
Afterwards, Weasel picked us up and went back to hers, via Costco with the smell of rotisserie chickens making us very hungry, and they didn’t last long when they were on the table. It was nice to have two evenings, just sitting on the sofa chatting with friends, though we really just wanted to be on the sofa snuggled up mostly doing the crossword. Sadly, that was still a few days away.
