(photo credit - screen shot from the FitBit app on my phone)
I'm wrapping up my 2015 vacation recap with how well I was able to get around Whistler, what sort of accessibility there was, and my steps counts each day. There were tough areas to get around, that's for sure, but for the most part I had no difficulties. Nairn falls is nearly impossible, but still doable if you have a milder case of cerebral palsy. If I wasn't in as good enough shape as I am, I would have really had a problem. I wasn't in the best shape either. For the last six months my exercise has really slacked off, but at least I was in good enough shape to push myself through it.
Another area that was tough to get to if you are in a wheel chair, is 21 Steps. To be honest, I didn't look for an elevator, but I didn't clearly see one. You have to go up 21 steps to get to the bar that we ate in. The gondolas were kind of tough also. Just awkward really. In other areas of Whistler, there were plenty of ramps, elevators, and railings to help you get around.
As far as the hotel and it's service, the Fairmont Chateau was fabulous. I called down for a shower chair to be brought up. It was funny, the person I spoke to didn't understand when I said "shower chair", she didn't know what I meant, even though it was listed that way in the booklet in our room as to what was available to be brought up (shower chairs, toilet railings, and shower bars). She said she'd ask housekeeping about it. We went down for breakfast, and when we came back afterwards, the chair was there. Very prompt with that request even with the misunderstanding.
As I mentioned before, we did a ton of walking on this vacation. Since I own a FitBit One, I was able to see just how many steps and how many miles I covered every day. Let's go through it day by day.
Friday, June 26 was a travel day. I actually put my FitBit One in the back pack so the step count is not accurate at all. I use a wheel chair at airports because they're so crazy and we were rushed. All the steps that day were from bouncing around while my husband ran through the airport to get to our connecting gate in San Fransisco. Total steps that day was 3,360.
Saturday, June 27 was the day we went to the Peak to Peak Gondola. We walked some trails and covered quite a bit of ground. My total step count that day was 12,694 steps.
Sunday, June 28 we walked around Whistler Village and did the photo walk tour. This was the best step day I had on the trip. I got up to 18,877 steps. I was so tempted to march in place that night to get to 20,000 steps, but I was too beat. Eventually I will make 20k a goal, but I'll need to work up to that.
Monday, June 29 was the day we saw the three falls. A lot of walking. I managed to get 16,991 steps that day.
Tuesday, June 30 was the zip line adventure and the bear tour. I did a total of 15,175 steps that day.
Wednesday, July 1 was another travel day, and again my FitBit was in the backpack. It registered 5,232 steps of which I didn't take, hehe.
As far as how my body held up with all of this walking, it held up pretty well. The only real pain I had was at the end of the trip. Right after the zip line trails, my left knee started twinging a bit. That surprised me as I haven't had knee pain in years. It's usually my hips that go first. When I was a kid (January 1986), I had an overuse injury that caused my knee to give out. We went to the Orange Bowl parade and had to park on the 13th...or there abouts...floor of the parking garage. Once we got on even ground again, I took a few steps, and my knee buckled. Took a few more steps, and the same thing. It wouldn't hold my weight very well. I saw two doctors and they said it was an "overuse" injury. For several years after that, if I fell in just the right way, that injury would come back. I guess all the walking on the Nairn trail started to aggravate that injury. Not too bad though. It only took a few days for it to feel like normal again. Luckily it never gave out totally.
That's a lot of steps for me, I have my daily goal set for 10,000 and I rarely make it. That will change though. I figure if I can do all of these steps while on vacation, there's no reason I can't do it here also. I had to put my workouts on hold when we got back since I came down with a nasty chest cold. I felt fine for the most part with this cold, but I was coughing a ton and I lost my voice for a little over a week.
Looks like that wraps up my 2015 vacation to Whistler British Columbia. I'd love to do it all again that's for sure.
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