Although I have been luxuriating in deep, sound sleeps, my internal clock keeps waking me up at 6:30. The first thing on my mind is a steaming hot cup of coffee and cream, and luckily the kitchenette comes with a coffee maker and a daily supply of filter coffee. We brought the cream.

On this fifth day of my stay at the Westin, the sun streamed in through the shutters. The predicted weather was sunshine with a high around 20ºC and this was definitely the right day to visit the outdoor pools of Spa Scandinave.

We decided to go there a bit later in the morning and left at 11:30 to drive there.

Scandinave Spa, is an outdoor hydrotherapy spa near Lost Lake. We were checked in and given two thick white towels, keys and locks for the spa locker room, and instructions that cell phones, and indeed, even talking, were not permitted once in the pool area. This is to engender an atmosphere of complete relaxation  but I bet that not talking is much harder than just  keeping one's voice low so as not to disturb others.

We changed into our swimsuits, showered and then exited the main building. Initially we wandered down the various pathways to see the pool layout and find the various hydrotherapy section.

There is a sauna, a Finnish steam room, two hot pools, one with a thermal waterfall, two cold plunge pools, one with a Nordic waterfall. After you are heated, and cooled off sufficiently,  whether in pools of steam rooms, you will find plenty of places to relax, on chairs, hammocks or in the Solarium.

I enjoyed the scent of eucalyptus in the steam room but the steam was so thick that I found it hard to breathe and I left after a few minutes. I preferred to luxuriate in the sunshine in the warm water pools, and then dunk in the cold pool.

By the time I had gone through a couple of cycles of hot and cold, and relaxed in a chair in between, my skin was feeling surprisingly hydrated and smooth rather than wrinkly like a prune. I figured that this was a good time to leave.

Back in the locker room we showered again and dressed.  I liked the fact that they supply plastic bags for your wet swimsuit.

We had lunch in the small restaurant area  just off the reception area. The food for the spa is supplied by Bearfoot Bistro where we had dined the previous evening.

The day's menu featured a quinoa salad and lemon grass miso soup as the soup of the day.  We both decided to try the soup, and my friend had the quinoa salad while I had a cheese plate.

Since we would be leaving too early to attend the North Arm Farm long table event the next day, we decided to drive to Pemberton anyway and check out the farm store there.

When we arrived they were just wheeling out a cart of fresh baked goods. We admired the large sun-dried tomato topped foccacia. In the fridge section we discovered a selection of charcuterie from Two Rivers, which we had enjoyed during our lunch at the Mallard Lounge, so we both picked up a couple of different products to try at home.

By the time we returned to the hotel to change for dinner I was so relaxed from my spa experience I could barely keep my eyes open, but the thought of our dinner reservation at Araxi perked me up.  The four course dinner with a glass each of white wine (a New Zealand Sauvignon Blanc and an Okanagan Gewürtztraminer) and red wine (an Okanagan Pinot Noir) was as good as we had hoped, and the walk back to our hotel in the cool evening air was pleasant.

Loved the spa experience. The scenery around Pemberton and Whistler is stunning. Our meals were perfect. And I was asleep before my head hit the pillow.