Canada is cold.

No, actually - Canada is colder than cold.

We had the opportunity, again, to go on a little vacation last week without Kent while my parents stayed home with him. It's hands down the best gift ever: sleeping in, restaurants, spontaneity, uninterrupted conversation, silence, and a carefree routine!

The last couple of spring breaks have been somewhere very warm - mosquitoes, sunscreen, dangerous tap water, bug spray, sunburns - so this year I got to choose. I chose North. I might have been a little too optimistic about temperatures in Canada in March, because we've never been so cold in our lives. It didn't help that there was a big Nor'Easter the week of our vacation either. This is how we looked all week:

The drive felt long but because there was no toddler to entertain or extra stops to make, it was pleasant. The views of the changing scenery were beautiful: mountains, snow, fields, lakes. 

We stayed at a charming Bed and Breakfast within walking distance to the ski resort Mont Tremblant, just north of Montreal. In the opposite direction was "the village" which is where the locals shopped and dined. To the south a few miles was "downtown" where you could find grocery stores and many more businesses.

Here's the village, at the foot of the ski slopes. Do you see the colored rooftops? My mom thought this was a black and white photo - nope! It's just Canada in the winter. 

Here's another full color photo of the lake by our B&B. The day of the storm, people were out there on skis holding onto parachutes - like they were wind skiing!!

On our first full day there, we hit the tubing hills. I've gone sledding before, but tubing is a whole different game! It's steep and fast, especially since they hadn't gotten any new snow in 3 weeks. We basically slid down on ice. There were about 8 runs, some steeper and bumpier than others. There was even a pulley system to the top: just sit in your tube and get pulled up the hill. Thank you very much!

After a few runs, I knew I had to get some videos and pictures. I'm screaming because of the free fall drop my stomach experienced. You can hear the panic in my voice as Matt starts to push me down the hill before I had a good grip. I had been white knuckling both sides of the tube, so to have one hand on the camera and one hand gripping my life line was a lot to ask. You can see how the snow just covers my eyelids and eyebrows - it's so icy that the tube just shaves it off. We were wet and cold to the bone after that, but it was fun!!

And here's Matt, but he's so slow in this run. Not sure what happened....

That very afternoon we went to a Scandinavian Spa. This was a big highlight of the trip. They encouraged you to follow the three step process: Hot, Cold, Relaxation. 1) There were outdoor hot baths, hotter dry rooms, and so so so hot saunas. 2) Ice cold baths (16 degrees!) or a dip in the river (2 degrees!). 3) Relaxation spots inside (nicely heated with comfortable lounge chairs) and some outside spots, like in front of wood fires with big fluffy blankets!! There were no cameras allowed. No talking allowed either. Some guests were loud at times (ex: screeching when entering the frigid pools), but the employees who kept the furnaces going put up a finger to their lips or pointed to the signs that said to be quiet. Even the back of their jackets said "SILENCE". We stayed at the spa for 3 hours enjoying the hot baths and relaxations spots the most. Yes, we dipped into the cold baths (Matt could tolerate them longer than me)! I especially loved sitting in front of the wood fireplace (outside) in an Adirondack chair, all wrapped up in a bear-like blanket. That's when the storm started, so it was nice to be warm even as it snowed. Eventually, by 6 pm, the snow was coming down harder so off we went to dinner.

The next biggest highlight was cross country skiing! The first and last time I did this was in middle school I think. Matt had never tried, so it was a great learning experience. We took a 7 km trail that had some hills to it. It was a good challenge and I think it took us close to 90 minutes to finish it.

It was the second day of the storm and the snow was supposed to taper off (40% my eye!!!) but it ended up getting stronger. Here we are on the 5th kilometer I think - the snow stinging our eyes and burning our cheeks. So romantic!!

We decided to break up the drive home by stopping in Burlington, Vermont, a city we visited once and always wanted to see again. We walked the town in much warmer weather and went out to eat at American Flatbread, just like last time.

Here is Matt in his executive chair.

This was another winner of a vacation! A special thanks goes to Nana and Papy. We love you!