Mad River Mountain / Joe & Jerry

I almost got up at 530am but last second decided instead to try for more sleep. The next time I glanced towards the clock it looked like it hadn’t move at all. But that couldn’t have been so. I mean, there was already an obvious presence of daylight outside. I grabbed my glasses and realized and rechecked the clock. It was 730am. I won’t even try to explain why I have my bedroom clock set 3 hours and fifteen minutes fast, but that's just how I roll. I left Mindy sleep and headed downstairs. I started coffee then completed my exercises. I knew we’d be going to MRM but hadn’t targeted a specific departure time, although I got the impression that Mindy wanted to wake casually and not hurry. We had all day, so I didn’t worry much about it. I spent a good hour on the PC sipping coffee and updating my blog. At Bella’s prompting, I delivered Mindy’s coffee just before 9am. At the same time, Bella started playing Mario Bros on the Wii, and this time uninterrupted. Soon everyone was awake. I quickly dressed for my run but then stopped to stretch before dashing off. Glad I did! I ran just three miles taking into account all the skiing I’d be doing later. The run went fast. Still warm from my run, I immediately grabbed the Honda and Trooper keys then went out to load our skis into the Thule carrier. Inside, I saw that Mindy had everyone’s ski garb laid out in separate piles. The goal being to ensure the kids had the proper weather protection this time. After all, it was cold! She was also in the process of making breakfast and packing us a lunch. She made me two egg, cheese, and bacon-bit sandwiches on English muffins. They were good. I showered while Mindy finished up the lunches. It took me no more than ten minutes start to finish. She hopped in a few minutes after me. We didn’t get out of the house until just after 11am – about when I expected. We stopped for gas at Thornton’s, and paid $2.38 per gallon. We arrived at MRM just afternoon. Mindy volunteered to pick-up the day’s skiing fees. Great! It took us a good 20 minutes or possibly more to get ski-ready. It’s always an ordeal getting into the proper garb from the lot. But no one wants to drive/ride in their ski attire. Mindy and the kids found Bob, Scott, and Zach at the foot of the Four Star Express lift right away. I had to duck in and pee. They waited for me. The kids pointed out how unimposing MRM’s biggest, steepest hill looked after skiing HV. I agreed, but reminded them to always respect the mountain. In kind, we all skied a fun blue run first as our warm-up. We skied for a solid 90 minutes before stopping for a break. Both kids skied great, but Bella was a bit challenging to deal with. She kept falling while standing waiting to descend the mountain – not once actually skiing. She needed a break. Finding a table in the lodge proved to be a challenge, but our perseverance paid off. As soon a group got up we quickly claimed their prized table. While breaking, we happened upon our neighbors, Kapil, Poebina, and Isha. They told us that they might be there when they paid us a visit during last Sunday’s Viking game. One of Kapil’s friends was performing on stage while we chatted. Poebina took her first ever ski lesson and was intent on going back out to practice. Good for her! Bob picked up a pitcher of Amber Bock while I went to the Honda to fetch our lunch. We shared our catch with everyone. Scott fetched a second pitcher, only this time, Sam Adams. We had a fun break. The kids enjoyed themselves, too. Afterwards, we let Jacob head out ahead of us with Zach – a parental first. Zach, at 13, is an incredibly good skier, and also shows very good judgment. We weren’t too worried at all. Jacob needs that type of mentoring. We met up with the boys when we headed out and eventually made our way to the blue runs at the park's eastern-most edge, although I quickly had to break away for a restroom break. The seal was broken. I skied a few runs by myself unable to locate the group. I ended up phoning Mindy and locating them over at the Momentum lift. We skied until the sun went down then took another break. They boys were over watching the big air competition. Bob skied over there to advise them of our break status. Mindy, Bella and I finally secured another table and then a fresh pitcher of beer. Mindy got Bella a pizza sub and popcorn. We waited for the others for nearly 45 minutes. Bob and Jacob came in when Scott & Zach left for home. Bob had one beer but no more. He wanted to head home to greet Mary Ann, who had to work all day. He left around 7pm, or right after Mindy ordered a pizza. Jacob was hungry. He woofed down three big slices of our pizza. After the pizza, the three of us headed out for a few more runs. Bella was psyched and wanted to do eight more runs. We all took notice of the wolf moon (January full moon) – big, bright, and beautiful. I read recently where this would be the largest full moon of the year – 30K miles closer. After a few really good runs, we decided to bag it for home. It was 8pm. The kids skied really well and under control all day. I contemplated simply laying down the seats and throwing our skis in the back, but ended up loading them into the carrier as designed. It was really cold. Mindy phoned nephew Joe, who had called earlier in the afternoon about visiting later. Mindy shared that we’d be home around 9pm – the time he first thought they might be by. The drive home went fast. We arrived a minute or two after 9pm. Joe & Jerry were already there and waiting out front. We hadn’t seen them since Xmas. We hung out with Joe & Jerry until 11pm or after – kids too. They’re always a good time.