Snowbound (actually, more like snowpunched)

They say that skiing is the fastest way to get to the bottom of a mountain... this is a fallacy. As I discovered yesterday, the absolutely, positively, bar-none, no doubt speediest method of attaining the base of a large matter of earth is by falling!

Ok, so I didn't do as much falling as all that, but I did fall several times. It wasn't enough to keep me from trying, though! I'll start at the beginning. The day before yesterday, Lanelle, Shauna, one of her friends and I went malling, and then went over to Lanelle's dad's for dinner, cards, and spending the night so that we could get up early and drive two hours to go skiing! Aven's been snowboarding before, so he went off on his own right away, while the rest of us got outfitted with rental equipment. Shauna wanted to try snowboarding for the first time, so she went off to the lessons area while Lanelle and I started my skiing trials on the bunny slope. I didn't fall on that one! After we had gone up and down a half dozen times, we took a break for lunch, and then Lanelle and Aven took me to the top of the mountain, which had several different runs going down, with multiple difficulty levels. I took the one Aven loved so much, called "Molly Mayfield." It's a green, for anyone familiar with the color ratings.

That's when the fun really started. I did perfectly well until halfway down the slope, the green turned into a blue! It looked like the snow dropped off a cliff, but as I got closer, my eyes opening ever wider and my heart climbing ever higher into my throat, I saw that it wasn't a drop off, but just a steeper slope. I stopped, gathered what few wits were left, and pushed off.

I must have been going fifty, sixty, seventy...thousand miles an hour! Then Lanelle passed me. She was swishing gently back and forth, her poles lifted carelessly a few inches above the snow. I could practically hear her humming with boredom.

Well, needless to say, that's where I got my first lessons in the feel of packed snow against my face. But it just couldn't keep me from riding the interminably long ski lift back up to the top! We had much fun. By the end of the day, my quads and knees were killing me, and this morning, my calves are reminding me that they are still alive and well. The wonderful wonderful thing was, though, that we hit the hot springs afterwards! Ohhhhhhhhhhhh, man! There are two pools, one cooler than the other, and a steam room that goes up to 135 degrees, though it stayed mostly around 110. I stepped inside and thought I was back in Memphis in Summer! There was nothing more therapeutic for any of us!

On the way home, we stopped in a place that had no light pollution for many many miles, and looked up at the stars. I had never been able to see the Milky Way so clearly!

Today, I'll be working with Lanelle at the sushi bar, doing simple stuff like running food out to the tables. I'm kind of nervous, but it won't last too long. Who knows what tomorrow will bring! Keep watching!