time to unwind: Medium Speed

I know it's been a few too many days since I've blogged. I think about it often, but I spent a couple of weeks being really, really busy wrapping up the end of the term and then a couple of days being really, really lazy trying to recover. So, a few days into spring break...Here we are. Ricky and I went up to Willamette Pass yesterday. It's a small skiing resort a little over an hour from us. It's nothing fancy by any means, but we had a wonderful day (that didn't start out so wonderful).

We set the alarm and got up early (but about half an hour later than planned) to get out the door and to the resort not too long after it opened. About 30 minutes into our drive, I looked in the back seat only to realize that Ricky's ski jacket was there but mine was not. Ricky noticed the anxious looks into the back seat as I said, "Did you grab my jacket? It was sitting under yours." Nope. While I had my hands full of breakfast snacks and drinks to eat on the drive, Ricky picked up his jacket and our bag of ski gear but didn't notice my jacket. It was at home. There are a few items you could survive a day at the mountain without, but my jacket was not one of them. Not yet in the year, anyway.

We turned around. I was really frustrated. I had looked forward to this skiing day for a long time. I did not like that we'd just lost an hour of our day, and it was because of my jacket (even if I did think Ricky was grabbing it--I should not have assumed such). We'd only been up once this year, and I really enjoy going skiing (there's just something about being at the top of a big mountain that makes it hard to worry about the rest of your life--even if it is only for a while). Ricky, on the other hand, was calm and said, "We'll just go back and get it and then be on our way. No big deal." Who was this calm man in my husband's body? Don't get me wrong, Ricky's pretty laid back. But, patience in times like these is not his strength. Needless to say, we turned around got the jacket and re-began our adventure. This time the tension that was between us on the original first leg of the trip (he was tired and feeling a little guilty for "neglecting" me a bit) was gone. We enjoyed the scenery (even the snow plow we spent a while behind), and our CR-V made the trip beautifully.

When we arrived, we were amazed. There were only a handful of cars in the parking lot (we got the best spot ever--front row) and did not wait in line to get out lift tickets. We got our gear on quickly and were on our way. It was A-M-A-Z-I-N-G and much needed. The snow was, well, perfect. It had snowed about 18 inches two days ago, six inches the day before, and just a couple inches overnight--packed powder with a layer of fresh powder. The sky was mostly cloudy but the sun managed to peek out a few times (and we even got some, as Ricky called it, "snow drizzle" where it was sunny and snowing lightly at the same time). The mountain was not crowded, and it was only a bit windy on the back side of the mountain. I couldn't help but feel like we had our own secret ski mountain. I was thinking of the crowds "spring breaking" in the cold, blizzardish conditions in Colorado paying lots more than we were to wait in line and be very cold on the mountain, and I almost felt guilty--almost.

Ricky spent the whole day skiing with me (sometimes he ventures off on more challenging runs while I entertain myself on the medium ones, which is just fine with me but can get a little quiet at times--Ricky can often be heard "singing" such tunes as Elton Jon's Rocket Man while flying by me on the mountain). This is my third year skiing. I'm definitely getting better every time I go, and on a day like yesterday with such great conditions, Ricky coached me to work on pushing myself to ski a little faster down the steeper areas. We decided I upgraded my skiing speed to "medium," which was just enough for me and enough for Ricky to feel he accomplished something in helping me get better.

We were exhausted by the time the resort closed that day, and we stopped for our regular post-skiing A&W root beer float and cheeseburgers on the way home. It was such a nice day. I am really glad we took the time to go, despite having to make 1/3 of the trip twice because of my jacket mishap, and I savor the moments when I can have my hubby all to myself doing something that's fun for us both.

A quick pic of us both. We both got new goggles this year, and they were great. We also always wear our helmets, mom(s). ;-)

Where's Waldo is one of my favorite runs. Once last year, the back side of the mountain was so snow covered, they weren't able to groom it. We had to take our skis off and walk down part way it was sooooo snowy (we didn't know it was going to be like that...They must've forgotten to put up a sign). This time, though, it was perfect.

This was just after Ricky practiced his stunts. He sometimes likes to ski in and out of the trees and up and down areas where the snow drifts up (keeping himself entertained before I upgraded to "medium" speed). I skied by just in time to see him do a summersault. At first I thought it was a new trick, but quickly learned it wasn't on purpose. He was in a soft area of snow and was fine. It was a pretty neat trick, even if it wasn't planned. Check out the snow clumps in his helmet! ;-)