If you only take one vacation in your lifetime,
experience paradise aboard the Whistler Mountaineer!
I felt paradise's vitality today, and as a result July 19, 2008 will always be etched in my memory.
Like a vibrant painting that comes to life, my spirit thread through mountains, waterways, and gushing waterfalls, as I glided through British Columbia on the Whistler Mountaineer. 
Breath-taking magic.
A magnificent life force rose within my depths to meet the majesty of nature rushing
about me, pulling me towards her at every turn of the rail tracks. 
Thank you, founder of Whistler and Rocky Mountaineer, Mr. Peter Armstrong.
Thank you for following your dream and creating a luxury passenger train through the most beautiful country in the world!
While I traveled in the Whistler Mountaineer's Glacier Dome Coach with wide windows that reached the ceiling for spectacular viewing, and first class food and service, truth be told, I barely stayed in my seat 30 minutes, as I was busy taking pictures in
the open-air, non-smoking Heritage Observation Car.
Everyone congregated in this open carriage with dropped jaws to ah! AH!
Look!
Over there!
So if budget is a concern, not a problem, you'll experience the best of the best no matter what as long as you're all aboard the Whistler Mountaineer.
As of this writing, rail roundtrip Coast Classic is $199 adult/$108 child and Glacier Dome is $309 adult/$219 child... not including tax.
What an unbelievable trip. And how fortunate was I to experience this trip of a lifetime.
Everyone aboard the Whistler Mountaineer tingled with excitement, too.
Electric!
I spoke to many in the open carriage where we took photos and felt the clean air breeze. 
I met Davina.
Her dad bought tickets for 30 family and friends to take the Whistler Mountaineer for the day, I mean--for the trip of their lifetimes and memories for all time.
You can take the Whistler Moutaineer from Vancouver at 8:30 a.m. and return on the 2:30 p.m. train too if time is short but I recommend staying in Whistler for as long as possible.
(I just arrived this afternoon and it's a magical wonderland that mixes European style, with the best of outdoor adventures in an upscale yet casual village setting.)
I met this Indian couple, Bala and Mani, from London, celebrating their 40th wedding anniversary with the Rocky Mountaineer throughout British Columbia, meaning, yes, we can travel on to Quesnel and Jasper, and from there take a tour bus to Banff.
They were in heaven!
And the husband was most helpful, directing me from this side of the train to the other to capture, cascading water, breathtaking canyons, snow-capped peaks, and stunning coastlines.
Whistler Mountaineer three-hour luxury train ride from
Vancouver to Whistler Village today, site of the 2010 Winter Olympics, exceeded my already high expectations.
There are songs of love. Songs of longing. Songs of belonging. Even songs of rocky mountains.
I suggest a song about the natural high one gets when spirits merge with earth's majesty and man's ingenuity capable of building railroad tracks in rocky terrain. It's an alchemy of intense magic. Exuberance!
And if I were to write that song, I'd call it
The Rocky Mountaineer.
I suggest you find a way to come here before the world discovers the Whistler Mountaineer and Whistler Village
in 2010.
When I arrived to Whistler, I took train manager Chris Woods' photo and then I was off for an eco-tour.
How would you feel being high up in the trees?
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