Holiday in the Valley - day 1 - Cold + Snow = Ski

In an effort to be on the road by 9am, I was up a little after 630am. And while Mindy never actually requested a specific wake time, I planned to wake her after exercise, a stretch, and some coffee. That ended up being just after 7am. And for the first time that I can readily recall, she gave me little more than a disapproving grunt before rolling over and going back to sleep. Truth be told, I was more than a little put out after pouring so much of myself into the planning of our holiday ski trip. However, I also knew that she wasn't feeling so well.

Speaking of not feeling well, the tingle in my sinuses was still there but to a lesser degree. I continued to hold out hope that it would pass without becoming a full-fledged cold.

I headed out for my run around 715am running only three miles, just like I do on weekends & holidays. It was partly clear and about 35 degrees. Expecting a high in the mid 40's here at home. Meanwhile, the streets were extraordinarily quiet with little to no commute traffic as well as any others out for a morning run/walk. I enjoyed the stillness.

Back home, I pulled the Pilot to the bottom of the drive where it's far more level. I then loaded our skis and boards into the Thule. Went in easily. I then headed in and packed our dry goods tub and cooler. We weren't taking much in the way of food, just our coffee fixin's, Honey baked ham and cheese for sandwiches, and a few condiments. Our breakfasts would be included in our lodging package and we planned to have dinner out each evening.

We didn't have enough ice, so while Mindy showered, I headed to the Circle K for a bag of ice. I paid for a small bag but took a large since that's all they had available. Back at home I put the must-keep-colds in the cooler then placed the large unopened bag of ice over top. It just fit. By then, it was closing on 9am, my preferred departure time. But I had already resigned myself to the fact that we wouldn't be on the road by then. Realistically, leaving by 10am would still get us in town before 4pm, which is pretty much the target. Before heading up for my own shower, I loaded everything into the Pilot, including the tub, cooler, suitcases, soda, water, Gatorade and ski boots and bags. All that remained were everyone's personal effects.

While Mindy contended with the children, I took a shower and dressed. I wore the same jeans that I've been wearing for a week running. Very comfortable! We locked up the house around 945am but still needed to drop Eiknarf by Gloria's  and then top off the gas. I asked the kids to remember our starting mileage, 37,074. I could've set the trip odometer but decided to make a game of it. Gloria was up and awaiting our arrival. We visited for about 10 minutes before hitting the road. All of us were more than eager to get there.

We topped off our fuel at the Georgesville Wal-Mart with the Pilot taking only 4 or 5 gallons. And we're off!

It was a pleasant drive up I-71N towards Cleveland. Traffic wasn't an issue nor was the weather. It was a gorgeous morning, in fact. Like we have a two or three other times, we made a pit stop for lunch at the Northfield exit (Rt 8) Wendy's. We had a quick lunch and were soon back on the road. Guessing it was near 1230pm when we got back on the road.

The rest of 271 and then route 90 east to Pennsylvania went fast. Always does. In fact, the entire drive always goes incredibly fast, almost as if we're in a time warp. Nobody asked for a potty break. I was a little surprised. Mindy and the kids did a lot of napping. I got tired a few times but each time I was able to shake it off. I kept a close eye on the temperature which hovered around 41 degrees all the way across route 90 & 86. However, I know that the Pilot's outside temperature gauge reads 3 to 4 degrees warm. We didn't see any snow until we crossed into New York near Jamestown. There were 3 or 4 inches of snow present there, especially on the north facing side of the highway.

We exited route 86 into Salamanca at roughly 3pm, or just 5 hours after leaving cowtown. It's another 12 miles or so to Holiday Valley through the land of icicles, which there were none. There was a fresh coating of snow about the ground, however, which made everybody cheer. The real temperature in Salamanca was at or near freezing and the skies completely clear.

We pulled up to the door of the Inn at HV near 330pm. Just the sight of snow and skiers raised my spirits more than you can imagine. And based on the weather reports, they had far more snow on the slopes than I had seen last I looked on the web cams. I felt at ease. Check-in was a snap.

When I booked the room way back in late October, there were no lift view double queen rooms available. But based on the recent weather woes, I figured there might be more than a few cancels. When I asked, they were more than happy to change our booking to a lift view room. The only snafu was that we weren't permitted to purchase our 5-day lift tickets until 430pm. No problem. We headed to our room to unpack.

Our room was 215, which is just three doors from the southern-most corner of the lift view suites. Ideal, really. We placed our cooler, soda, and water on the deck overlooking the lift and Sunrise trail. Mindy and I unloaded our packs and suitcases into the available drawers and closet while the kids stretched out on one of the beds. Jacob said he was tired and didn't want to ski/board that evening. Said he preferred to nap in the room. Actually, we considered that a blessing since he really needed a lesson before unleashing him on the slopes of HV with his new snowboard. Mindy went after the lift tickets at 430pm while I poured the both of us pints of St Joan's.

Mindy, Bella, and I headed out to ski around 5pm. It was gorgeous, too. A slivery moon hung low in the southwestern sky and temperature hovered near 28 degrees. We cruised up Sunrise and cut across Snow Ledge to Cindy's. No problem. Felt great to get on my edges! We did 5 or 6 runs before breaking at Yodeler lodge. As I eluded to earlier, there was far more snow than I envisioned, but many of our favorite runs weren't yet opened. Still, there were plenty of well maintained runs to ski. And a side benefit was a very limited number guests. We could pretty much get right on the lift without a wait.

We skied for about 3 hours before heading back to the room and then heading into town for dinner. We planned to visit my personal favorite, the Ellicottville Brewing Company. The kids weren't too excited about my choice given the usual crowd and long wait. We stopped at the local grocery before going to dinner. We needed to pick-up a few items we didn't have at home. Bella and I went in to shop. We picked up whipped cream, swiss cheese, chocolate for Mindy, donuts, and white bread.

We got a parking spot right out front and they quoted us a 20 minute wait. In reality, we were paged to our table soon after getting two beers from the bar. Mindy opted for the imperial stout while I went with their Imperial IPA, Pantius Dropius. Bella ordered root beer and Jacob ordered just water.

We were seated in the same booth we sat the night of the Vikings playoff victory over the Cowboys. Can't recall our servers name but she was more than pleasant. Mindy opted for the burger while I went with the chicken quesadilla. Bella ordered fries and macaroni and cheese, and Jacob ordered smothered fries. I ended up drinking a second Pantius Dropius. It's really good! I picked up the check. Mindy drove us back to the Inn.

We all jumped into bed around 1030pm. Good night slivery HV moon!