Ski for 10 Hours - Dinner at The Depot

Mindy & I opted for the livingroom sofa sleeper with adjacency to the bathroom, kitchen, and exit door. We figured that way I wouldn’t disturb the kids heading out for my early AM run. Good plan save for a sleeper sofa that most likely saw its better days 20 years ago. I must’ve woken 8-10 times with a spring poking me here or there. Felt like my feet were higher than my head, too. Oh boy! Despite the crappy mattress, I woke just after 7a and felt pretty good. I wisely had my running attire laid out and ready to go. I grabbed all my stuff and made my way to the bathroom where I brushed me teeth and readied for a run. I did my level best to keep the noise to a minimum. It didn’t take me long. Guessing I was out the door by 730a. It was daylight, but just barely. It was snowing at a pretty good clip, too. Maybe a fresh inch or two since last night. I ran north under the Wall lift tunnel then back to the south and down the long winding hill to route 219. The return up the hill is always a treat, but I have become fairly adept at the up hills. I take my time and focus on my breathing. Probably one of the shorter runs I’ll do all year, but definitely a good work out. I was sporting a full sweat. Gone about 25 minutes. I wanted to start a pot of coffee, but to do so I had to make a coffee filter out of a paper towel. Oh boy! While coffee brewed, I grabbed the Honda keys and headed out to unload our skis while I was still toasty from the run. Since we got in late, we had to settle for a parking spot not so close to our condo’s entrance. It was some real work getting all four sets of skis around back to our sliding patio door. I chose to walk around the condo in lieu of cutting through the building with all the steps and doors. The snow pack had to be 2 feet deep. Thankfully there was half a path traveled by others before me. Now, after breakfast we could gear up, step out and ski! I poured Mindy some coffee then started some bacon and eggs. Everybody was up by 830a, or there abouts. Mindy phoned the rental office inquiring about a blow dryer. Said they’d find her one and deliver it. There, see? Problem resolved. A guy showed up at our door with one just before we headed out to ski. Everybody was in a far better mood. By the time we ate a hearty breakfast, enjoyed some coffee, showered, and dressed for skiing, it was 1015a. Not too bad. We headed out the back patio door to the bottom half of the Wall run. We sent the kids out the patio door and specifically asked that they avoid the deep snow while waiting on us. Asked Jacob to stay on the concrete patio pad. Wasn’t even a minute before we found him laying in a snow bank, his attire immersed in the stuff. Thought Mindy might shoot him. I took solace knowing that I had a flask full of lemon nip in my ski jacket pocket. :) Mindy struggled getting into her skis after trudging to the slopes edge in her ski boots. I could see that her boots were caked in snow. No wonder they wouldn’t snap into her bindings. She was about to give up before we had even gotten started. I pegged over to assist, but remained at arms length. Thought she might poke me with one of her poles. She wasn't happy. Finally, at 1030a we were heading up the Wall lift. Jacob rode with me. We skied down Cindy’s then made our way up the Mardi Gras lift to Northwind, Morning Star, and eventually Moon Shadow. We skied those runs for a good hour or more. We then made our way over to Tannenbaum, Independence, Champagne and Spruce Lake. We decided to ski back to our room for lunch. Why not? Mindy made grilled turkey and cheese sandwiches. I enjoyed mine while sipping a Southern Tier IPA and later a Hop Slam. We let Bella pick the first TV show, iCarly. I wanted to poke myself in the eye with the bottle opener. After that, we ended up watching some show about realtors selling multi-million dollar homes. We declared break over just after 2p. We geared up and headed back out. And given that our lift closed at 430p, we in all likelihood wouldn’t be back until late evening. We planned to take our second break at the Yodeler lodge. I thought about doing the Wall but quickly opted not. Why risk life and limb just 2.5 weeks before our Bachelor trip?  We skied lots & lots of runs after lunch. Bella was showing marked progress as the afternoon wore on. She skied Champagne and a few other challenging runs with only healthy fear. Jacob, unfortunately, wasn’t showing much progress at all. He's hit a plateau. Not only is he not as daring as Bella, but he also chooses to ignore advice and friendly tips that might otherwise advance him. And once he sees Bella doing well he becomes a different person, lashes out with extreme jealousy. They both could use an advanced lesson or two. Mindy asked that I try not to heap praise on Bella in front of Jacob. I understood her reasoning but didn’t necessarily agree. It’s a big, expandable pie. Plenty for him, too. But I’m not gonna praise him for giving up and acting up, and that’s what he started doing. There’s a fine line. We took our 2nd break around 515p at Yodeler Lodge. I got Mindy a Cap’t and Coke and myself an EBC Pale Ale. The kids got food from the cafeteria below. I opted to snack on their leftovers. Mindy & I both had a second drink. Very yummy! We headed back out around 630p. We skied another handful of runs before Mindy wanted to head back to our condo. Must’ve been 715p. Bella & Jacob were skiing well and wanted to do a few more runs. I was encouraged. We did Cindy’s Run a few more times and then Bear Cub back to the condo. It was 8p when we headed inside. Mindy was fresh out of the shower and preparing to use the new blow dryer.  We all got to witness its power and awesomeness. Wow! The plan was to do dinner. We collectively decided it would be at The Depot - close, fun, and a place the kids hadn’t yet been. It was 830-845p by the time we headed out. The Depot was as crowded as the EBC the night before. No worries, though. The décor’ is enough to keep one amused for a good 15 minutes. Plus, they have an extreme skiing video whirling on the big screens. That’s always a crowd pleaser. Mindy & the kids were mesmerized. Admittedly, some of the skiing was insane crazy. Best guess, we waited about 30 minutes for a table. Mindy said it was the same table we sat at our first HV visit with the Imber’s two years ago. I didn’t have the same recall. I ordered a Harpoon IPA on tap and then Jacob and I shared 20 wings hot. Bella ordered a pepperoni pizza. Mindy ordered a burger and fried pickles. The pickles came first. They were OK, but not Old Bag of Nails good. The wings were tasty. Jacob said he ate ten in a hurry. I stuck with the one beer. After skiing all day, all of us were growing tired fast. We took half the pizza and a couple wings home. Mindy got the check. After a very short drive back to our condo we all got into our PJs. Not quite ready to call it a night, I cracked open a Southern Tier XXIPA. The kids went immediately to bed. Both were sleepy. I kidded Mindy about watching SNL, but it wasn’t even 11p yet. It was lights out well before then.