Eagle We Have Landed

The Inn’s bed wasn’t my friend. I tossed and turned all night long. I didn’t feel that great either. Despite the hurdles, I got up at 7a and quickly dressed for a run without disturbing Mindy’s sleep. Just like I did in Oregon, I had my running attire laid out where I could access it all in the dark. I dressed in the restroom. At 715a I headed out for my run. It was cloudy and somewhere close to 30 degrees. What caught my attention right away was the exposed green terrain. On all previous trips, the entire area was blanketed in snow. This time the snow was isolated to the ski trails only. I could see the layout of the golf course that rests along HV road near and around the Tamarack and the Inn. Nice. Plus, the southern facing hills were completely void of snow as was the road itself. Save for the two Snow Pine visits, I ran the same trail I’ve run every other time – straight up the HV road hill to the Yodeler lodge. I mentioned earlier not feeling 100%. That never abated. I was in a cold sweat as I ascended the steep hill. The return trip – all downhill – was a welcome change. Back at the Inn I headed right for the lobby where they serve a complimentary continental breakfast each morning. I poured two cups of starbucks, grabbed a muffin, then headed back to our room. The curtains still drawn, the room was completely dark and Mindy still asleep. She woke as I scrambled around with the coffee. I asked permission to open the curtain and turn on a light. She agreed. I dressed both cups of coffee just like I do at home. It was just after 8a. We sipped coffee and prepared for a day on slopes. Out our balcony, we could hear the lift already running .We could also hear skiers cutting on the icy slopes too. Very loud! I checked the forecast. Still calling for sun and clouds with a high of 35. It was 32 degrees at the time. Mindy eventually opted out of shower, but I still needed one having just ran three miles. We were showered and dressed for breakfast by 845a. Our room was only a few steps from the lobby. They were serving waffles, fruit, juice, muffins, bagels and cereal. We loaded up on the carbs, juice and coffee. It was good, but I still wasn’t feeling right. Mindy suggested a Tagament once back at the room. I took her up on it. I also took 3 Advil earlier to help with any stiffness in my right shoulder. We headed out to ski at 930a – the earliest we’ve made it out yet this year. Got to love the ski in/ski out. We rode up the Sunrise lift. The slopes still only sparsely populated, were sporting lots of fresh corduroy. However, the corduroy was frozen solid. Apparently Friday’s warm and moist conditions lead to this. We skied down Sunrise once then rode up again. I can’t recall a time where I've skied on what I would deem groomed ice. It wasn’t difficult, just different. I definitely didn't want to fall, though. Our freshly sharpened edges did their job. Probably most shocking was the loud sound coming from everyone’s skies as they cut into the icy terrain with their edges. SCRAPE, SCRAPE! The second run down we crossed over to Cindy’s and Mardi Gras. Cindy’s was much softer than Sunrise and all corduroy. Nice! Mardi Gras & Northwind were even nicer, probably due to their eastern exposure. Not only were they groomed and fast, but they were largely vacant too, which we found very odd. Within the first couple of hours we skied all of our favorite runs. There were no lines at any of the lifts. Too cool! The only slight downer was the fact that I didn’t feel 100% (tired and queasy). But I battled through it. We eventually made our way to Eagle/Falcon/Raven. We skied Eagle first, just as Bella requested. None of the black diamonds seemed as intimidating as they did prior to our Mt. Bachelor trip. Even Mindy mentioned as much. Save for the intended mogul fields, all the trails were groomed smooth, which only added to their ease. After two hours or so of skiing we skied back to our room for a break/food. I intended on taking a nap too. Back at the room we watched some TV. I tried sleeping but was lucky if I drifted out for a total of ten minutes. I felt a tad better, though just from that. We cracked a couple of beers, and Mindy made sandwiches. Both the beer and sandwiches were very good. I felt better instantly after sucking down my beer. I’m guessing we headed back out after 90 minutes. We took our flasks this time, mine with lemon nip, and Mindy’s with Gold Schlager. Round #2: We skied our way over to Tannenbaum where we did Laurel, the name sake, Tannenbaum, and Mistletoe. We made our way over to Yodeler next where we skied Yodeler and Champagne a few times each. By then the snow had softened just enough to eliminate any sensation that one was skiing on ice. It was really nice. And more often than not, we had the entire runs to ourselves. Very eerie feeling. Around 330p-4p we headed into Yodeler for another break. This time I had a bowl of chili along with an EBC Pale Ale. Mindy opted for a rum and Coke. The bar was just over half full. Nice to have a little breathing room. After my beer and chili, I made my way over to the leather sofas in front of the fireplace where I took a brief nap. Felt terrific. This time I went right out. We were inside for a total of 60-90 minutes. Round #3: We skied for another hour or so, this round spending a lot of time on the cruisers, Independence, Northwind, & Mardi Gras. Feeling incredibly tired, I suggested we head back to our room then go hot tubbing. We left open the option of heading out again later for some night skiing. I poured an Unearthy IPA then watched Alaskan Gold Rush, or something like that. It was the show that never seemed to end. Went on and on. Must’ve been about 630p-7p when we headed for the hot tub. We met a couple guys, one from Akron and another from PA. The guy from PA was a Penn St. grad. After observing my OSU ball cap he went on and on about Jim Tressel's recent troubles. Seemed to be relishing in the drama. I didn’t debate him. Just acknowledged his point of view. We stayed in the hot tub for about 45 minutes. I think one of the guys in the hot tub told us that this was the last night skiing of the season. He also shared that last weekend was their biggest weekend of the season – Mardi Gras. Always is, according to him. Says room rates double and triple for that weekend every year. Who knew? Hmm? Mindy and I stopped in the sauna on our way back to our room. Mindy didn’t last but two or three minutes. I liked it. Could’ve stayed in longer. Round #4: Back in the room, and now after 8p, we watched a little more of the Gold Rush program until I suggested we head out for another leg of skiing, the last night skiing of the season. I was surprised that Mindy was so agreeable. We dressed in our ski gear and headed back out for another hoorah. We made our way over to the west end of the park skiing Independence (Mindy’s new favorite run) and Champagne. After an hour or so we skied back to Cindy’s taking Northwind. I was absolutely flying when I happened upon a couple hazard flags marking what looked like two sink holes about 6’ in diameter and fairly deep. They weren’t easily visible until I was right up on them. Yikes! As luck would have it, the only other folks on the run were just in front of the markers and I damn near killed them as I made a few quick cuts to avoid the holes. Scary! We did Cindy’s a couple of times then made our way up and over to Sunrise then back to our room. It was near 930p when we called it a night. Our legs were spent. Mindy took a shower and I took a brief nap. We planned to do dinner at Cadillac Jack’s. It’s so close that we decided to walk (right across the street). There were no other customer’s inside at all. They told us they decided to close early. The manager followed us out apologizing and even asked if he could recommend another venue. We were good, but thanked him for his kind gesture. We walked back to get the Honda. I thought we’d go back to EBC. Mindy wasn’t as eager as I. She suggested the Depot instead. It looked dark and empty over there too at first glance. But as our headlights hit the parking lot we could see a number of cars. We headed there instead. Above us was the full moon “super moon”, although shrouded in cloud cover. It made a brief appearance as we made our way inside the Depot. I hung outside long enough to snap a picture or two. Inside, they were about 2/3s full and eager for our company. We were seated right away. I ordered a Harpoon IPA. Mindy only water. I asked for a water too. I ordered 10 hot wings and fries. Mindy ordered wedding soup, onion rings, and a chicken Caesar salad. Our server was cute and quite friendly. The food was good. I ate almost all of mine. Mindy kindly picked up the check. She was fading fast. I think it was nearing 1130 or midnight when we headed for the Inn.