Mt Hood in my Rearview Mirror

Feeling slightly glum, I rolled out of bed near 615am PT, my adopted Oregon rise time. The upside was that the sky was once again clear and that we'd get in another day of excellent skiing provided that Mindy felt well enough. Because it was Sunday, I skipped my sit-ups and push-ups just as I would back at home. I made coffee and surfed the internet all the while listening to some Kenny G from my iPod. Life is good! I got my run out of the way in a hurry feeling a little anxious about the day ahead. I was out the door before 730am. The temperature was warmer than Saturday and the sky still clear. Once again , Hood was out in all of her glory. Back at the condo I decided to wash all of the dirty dishes and start packing up the food for transport back to Glenn's. I woke Mindy when I headed up for a shower. It was 845am. Both Glenn & Mindy were up after my shower. I packed my suitcase before heading back downstairs. Packing-wise, I was ready to go. While Mindy showered, I made sandwiches for the three of us. Afterwards, I loaded all of the cold storage food into the cooler for travel. Because I was ready to go, I was pacing around while waiting for Mindy & Glenn to get to the same point. I decided to use my energy productively and started loading the Escape with what was ready to go. By 1015am we were ready to head out. Mindy felt much better, so we planned to ski Timberline until 3pm or so. The park closes at 4pm on Sunday's anyway. We turned in our condo keys and bought lift tickets. They warned that the parking lot was likely full and that we might want to consider taking the Fusion shuttle up. We didn't heed her warning and headed that direction in the Escape. We stopped at the village fuel station first to fill-up. Gas was $2.99 per gallon. The entrance to the ski park is right around the corner from the gas station. At the bottom of the hill were signs indicating a full lot. We drove back to the condo to inquire about the shuttle. They let us park our vehicle in their lot, and pointed out that the shuttle stop is directly out front of the office. Cool! It's$5 per person round trip - not bad. However, we'd learn later that the whole shuttle process is very disorganized. But even then, it's still a good deal. We were atop the mountain and on the slopes by 1115am. We knew what we wanted to do. Ski down to the Pucci lift then eventually make our way up Palmer. We did it twice top to bottom, skiing balls to the wall most of the way down. I was in the zone. But let me tell you, that really takes it out of you. After those two runs, Mindy wanted a break. We all agreed. Because I'd be driving back to Portland later, I didn't drink any alcohol. I think Glenn had a beer and Mindy a glass of wine. I had water and some chicken wings. During our break we caught the third period of the USA/ Canada hockey game. The USA tied it up in the waning seconds of regulation. The place went nuts. nearing 2:30pm, we headed out for our last go at it. We were gonna ski down Pucci to get to the Mile, but Glenn talked us into pegging up the hill leading away from the day lodge to the Magic Mile lift. We did it but it was grueling, especially given the brilliant sunshine and unusual warmth. We made it up the Mile and onto Palmer for one last hurrah. They were placing the 'lift closed' sign at the entrance just as we pegged up the snow covered wooden ramp. Just in the nick of time! We took our time skiing down Palmer. Mindy was running on empty. Somewhere along the line, we lost Glenn. I half expected him to be waiting strategically to be the lone skier to descend the run. But as it turned out, he was already down and waiting at the top of the Mile. Once he spotted us, he took off down that run. I knew what he was doing. He was hell bent on getting one last ride up the Mile just as we discussed. Mindy cited aching legs, and I wasn't too far behind. Not wanting to risk injury, we both decided to call it a ski trip. We had a ball and skied even more than we originally envisioned. We headed to the day lodge and the shuttle pick-up area still unaware of Glenn's whereabouts. We watched two shuttles come and go and still no Glenn. Mindy went looking but returned empty handed. We tried his cell - not turned on - of course! Glenn skied up just as the last shuttle was pulling up to pick us up. They loaded us is like sardines as we headed down the mountain towards Collins Lake resort. It was good to see our rental still there with all of our gear loaded and still in one piece. I was a tad worried. That's my nature. We took one last look around then headed towards Glenn's place. The drive didn't take nearly as long as I remember it taking, and that included a mile long bumper to bumper ride down route 26 into Sandy. We were back at Glenn's sometime after 6pm. During our drive back we caught several glimpses of Hood off in the distance. Breath taking! The weather in the city was awfully nice - spring-like. It was sunny and 60. All the fruit trees were in flower as were many spring bulbs such as the daffodil. It smelt like spring too! Glenn allowed me to park alongside his Honda keeping the rental off the street thus preventing a side swipe. That's all we needed! We unloaded all of our gear into Glenn's place. As we did, I commented that we'd be loading it back in less than 10 hours. Inside we quickly organized our luggage for home. That took about 30 minutes. Afterwards we settled on Vancouver Pizza for dinner. We tried to get Glenn to invite Judy, who sprung for all of our mountain munchies and drink. She bought all top-notch stuff too. Glenn didn't want to. We didn't push it, much the same way we reacted when he refused to invite Tom Shepherd. Mindy showered before we left for dinner. I simply freshened up. I knew I'd be showering early in the AM after my run. We stopped for gas on the way to Vancouver Pizza. We're supposed to return the car with a full tank (within ten miles). It took just a hair over 2 gallons. Great mileage! Onto Vancouver Pizza. We arrived around 730pm. I was already getting sleepy. Glenn ordered a beer. Mindy went with water. I went with Coke. We ordered some bread sticks and a large gourmet pizza - a Tchaikovsky. The bread sticks were essentially pizza crust with dipping sauce. The pizza was just OK - not that flavorful - bland really. The owner stopped out to mingle with the customers, which is a tactic that works for me. I was impressed. Glenn struck up a conversation and completed a survey form. We weren't there longer than a hour. Mindy picked up the check. Back at Glenn's Mindy readied for bed. Glenn and I stayed up and watched the DVD, The Day After Tomorrow. I worried about the time given that I needed to be up by 230am for a pre-departure run. I managed to see most of the movie although I dosed here and there throughout. I asked Glenn if he wanted us to wake him upon our early AM departure - 4am. Yes. I headed to bed.