Neil and I have been itching to get out on our mountain bikes all summer.  Last weekend really reminded us just how much fun we’ve been missing.  I’ve been watching the last minute deals on the whistler-blackcomb website all week and I’ve finally scored us a sweet deal.  This one last-minute-deal grabber lets users enter their dates of arrival and departure with search results returning varying ranges and room size in mystery hotels.  It sounds like a game!  And who doesn’t love a good game?  They post rooms with star ratings from anywhere as low as 3 stars up to 5 stars.  The catch is that you have to book before knowing the hotel.  It might be in Creekside, Whistler Village, Blackcomb Base, or perhaps even across the highway.  It’s a risk, but sometimes the risk pays off.  This time, it paid off for us!  For $119/night, we’re staying at The Westin Resort and Spa (typically $169-$289/night for the same studio room).  It’s a small room and we can’t afford to shop or eat in the hotel, but we can certainly love its luxury the same, if not more!  I particularly love pulling up to the round-about driveway where the 6-foot, gorgeous valets in their long coats and Ushankas open the doors to our ghettomobile to let us out, take our luggage and then park our car.  This time, we’ll look particularly ghetto with our missing driver-side mirror (with its electrical wire hanging out of the door).  I’m so excited to get up on the mountain.  I just hope these old bones aren’t too rusty.  It’s been a while, but at least we don’t have to ride up  the mountain for every run.  They bring the bikes up the gondola just ahead of our chair.