Sea to Sky Highway: British Columbia, Canada
Where did we leave off? Oh, yes: at the border crossing with the baby, headed to Whistler, British Columbia for a wedding.
But let me fill you in on the back story. Two summers ago (well, two years, three summers, I guess? If you count this current one), Ted and I landed in Beirut, Lebanon, not quite half way through our year long trip and not quite half way around the world from Oregon.
We were in the nitty gritty of learning love on the road.
As in: “Love is patient, love is kind…it doesn’t seek its own advantage, it isn’t irritable, it doesn’t keep a record of complaints…” and “Love puts up with all things, trusts in all things, hopes for all things, endures all things…”
As in: long-term travel and long-term love are hard work.
And humbling work.
And rewarding work.
The beautiful thing? Love never fails.
During our time in Beirut, my long time friend Jodi introduced us to several of her Lebanon-based friends and colleagues, including Jimmy and Madeleine: a positively inspiring Lebanese/American duo. Their wellspring of passion for friendship, food, poetry, adventure, philosophy, and kindness spilled over into our lives while we were there, and in three weeks of exploring Kahlil Gibran’s back yard, sharing dreams over brunch, savoring meals around the city (and the countryside), tasting wine at Chateau Khoury, practicing yoga downtown, hiking through the Cedars of Lebanon, and listening to each other’s stories, a sweet seed of friendship quickly took root.
M+J: At our Sunset Picnic in Lebanon
When Madeleine and Jimmy moved to the Pacific Northwest and announced their engagement in 2013, we were honored to block out a swath of summer days in 2014 for a trip to Canada to celebrate their wedding. Their history spans oceans and transcends borders, and the joining of their lives and families couldn’t help but be a celebration of the best things in the world in one of the most beautiful places in the world.
This time, Ted and I were learning lessons from a new chapter of love on the road: love for a little one on her first international adventure, patience and kindness with each other, navigating new-parent duties, and of course an even richer appreciation for friendships planted in the soil of our travels, still growing now, years later.
Yes, it was fun to get the passports out.
Yes, fun to travel in kilometers per hour instead of miles.
But traversing this west coast of the continent to spend time with each other and with beautiful, inspiring people? This was the real merit in the journey: listening to wedding toasts, laughing over stories, sharing new adventures, and celebrating the woven and criss-crossed strings of friendship stretching around the world, utterly surrounded by love.
Wedding Celebration in Photos
Bridge crossings en route to Vancouver
Poutine with the Peach. Is there anything cuter than a baby getting her first taste of the world?
Made it to Whistler intact, minus one tragic death of a swallowtail butterfly.
Lucie stretching out in our Airbnb spot after a loooong day on the road.
Dinner with friends in Whistler Olympic Village.
Reunited with Lindsay, Jodi, and Andrew.
A blissful morning retreat at Scandinave Spa Whistler.
Lucie and Lindsay hit it off!
Lu’s cute kicks, out on a walk through Whistler Village.
And the whole point of the trip! Wedding celebrations at Edgewater Lodge.
Canoeing fun for the kiddos.
Lindsay, Madeleine, Jodi, and me: reunion on the shores of Green Lake (night and day difference from the rooftops of Beirut!).
Lucie and I during pre-wedding festivities.
Lucie and Carla and the Red Solo Cup.
Just a peek at one of many events in the 2014 Whistler Olympics…followed by BBQ, s’mores, bonfires, singing, and other things that Ted enjoyed while I tucked Lucie into bed at our little place down the road…
The Wedding
Canadian, Lebanese, American, and French flags and guests from around the world.
Memories from our wine tasting adventures together in Lebanon…
A high chair for the Peach!
Canadian maple syrup, Lebanese zaatar, Meek family honey, and French lavender.
Guest books options for those fluent in Arabic.
You can’t tell from the picture, but Ted’s got Lucie out on the dance floor in her P.J.s during the big finale…
…and she wasn’t too worse for wear at the post-wedding brunch. Hah.
Me, Jimmy, Madeleine, Andrew, Jodi, Lindsay, Ted, and Lucie. (Thanks, Lindsay, for the photo!)
SONNET 116
Let me not to the marriage of true minds
Admit impediments. Love is not love
Which alters when it alteration finds,
Or bends with the remover to remove:
O no; it is an ever-fixed mark,
That looks on tempests, and is never shaken;
It is the star to every wandering bark,
Whose worth’s unknown, although his height be taken.
Love’s not Time’s fool, though rosy lips and cheeks
Within his bending sickle’s compass come;
Love alters not with his brief hours and weeks,
But bears it out even to the edge of doom.
If this be error and upon me proved,
I never writ, nor no man ever loved.
Whistler Village: A couple hours above Vancouver via the Sea to Sky Highway.
Edgewater Lodge: On the shore of Green Lake.
Scandinave Spa Whistler: Tucked in the trees and lupines just off Sea to Sky Highway just north of Whistler Village.
Jimmy and Madeleine’s sweet story.
More from Lindsay at The Present Perfect: Whistler Wedding Weekend Bliss
This post is part of our twoOregonians tour British Columbia series in which we use babyOregonian’s passport on her first international trip, attend the Canadian wedding of dear American and Lebanese friends, enjoy beautiful scenery and rejuvenating retreats in Whistler, and reconnect over delicious home cooking with our very first Airbnb host-turned-friend in Vancouver. Much gratitude to our friends for including us in the special celebrations, and thanks to Tourism Whistler and Scandinave Spa Whistler for sponsoring a portion of our adventures. As always, these stories, photos, and opinions are our own, and we love sharing them with you!
2 Comments
Lovely post and kudos to you for starting the little one out early although you’ll create a travel monster – i know who will have a stocking filled with travel gear each year. :-D
Thanks so much, Maria! Ha, I have to chuckle at your description and prediction. I like the idea of a travel themed stocking for baby… Must spend some time thinking about which goodies to fill it with! ;)