The Gold Chair

I woke a few times around 530am happy to realize that it wasn’t a work day. I slept a couple more hours then woke for good around 745am. I brushed my teeth, gathered up my running clothes, then headed downstairs.

At first glance, it didn’t appear as though there was much of an increase in snow accumulation during the over night. Just an inch or two in total. Started a pot of coffee then headed to my PC. There I checked the current temp and forecast. It was a chilly 16 degrees, and even colder with the wind chill. It was snowing on and off and expected to do so throughout most of the day though clearing much later that night.

I sipped coffee and played around on the internet before eventually getting ready for a run. I took Mindy some coffee around 835am, or about the same time that I heard her up and milling around. I asked that she get in the shower while I was off on my run so not to waste any time. Said she didn’t plan on taking one. OK.

I headed out the door around 850am doing my usual 3 mile run. It was cold but I was bundled for it so consequently stayed fairly cozy.  Was back at home around 930am where both Mindy and I worked on prepping our ski stuff. I could sense a little tension, me obviously wanting to get out no later than 10am, but Mindy more set on 11am. My whole thing is that the best snow is always early before all the teenagers get there. And then there’s the parking thing. I expected it to be a huge weekend for MRM, their first truly wintry weekend of the season. Their website proclaimed having 100% of their trails opened for the first time all season.

Mindy was already doing laundry. I asked that she hold off on washing another load while I showered. AFter my shower, I packed food, a cooler, and our gear while Mindy  readied Bella. We needed to pick-up Jacob at his friend’s place on our way. Yet another delay in my mind. We ended up with two coolers, one with food, pop, and water, the other with a growler of Bohdi.   

Mindy texted Kenny to see when they were leaving. Chrissy, it turned out, wasn’t going. Wasn’t feeling well. Kenny was bringing all the kids by himself.  We left the house just after 11am. Our first stop was somewhere off

Walcutt Rd

between Trabue & Roberts to pick-up Jacob. Bella and I joked that Mindy would be inside forever. I’m thinking it was something like ten minutes. Seemed longer. While Mindy was inside, Bella shared that her Kindle Fire wasn't working. Screen dark and blank even with the battery fully charged. Said she and her mother had it charging all-day at home. I wondered if she might’ve dropped it. Mindy had Jacob’s base layer ski attire in a Kroger bag for him to change into while we drove. He did so reluctantly.

We hit a few snow squalls but otherwise it was smooth sailing. Arrived at MRM just after 12 noon. Quite a crowd but probably not as many as I thought there might be. Still, cars out to the extreme edges of the available parking. But just as we do every other time, we checked for an upfront spot first. It’s not uncommon for us to get a recently vacated spot up close. We ended up finding a spot in the 4^th row right in line with the lodge. Ideal, really.

And by the time we were geared up and in the first lift line it was closing in on 1230pm. Right away, I think first run up, we got the gold 50^th anniversary chair. That was big for the kids. We spotted Bob and Scott on our way up. They were skiing the line between Four Star & Sugarbush. We eventually all connected and skied in various combinations throughout the afternoon. Kids included, there were about 20 of us in total. Jacob was really excited to learn that big Jake and Evan were there. He headed over to meet them on the bunny hill where he planned to help them out. That kept him busy all day. Emily was there too, but opted not to ski with Bella, Makayla, Lillian, and Cassie who were all skiing black runs. They left Emily behind. Mindy & I saw that and skied with her for a while to help boost her confidence and skills and a little. Bob I. helped her some too. By evening time, she was able to ski off with the others which was really nice to see.  That’s when it’s fun.

Almost everybody planned to come up again on Sunday. In fact, some even on Monday, the MLK holiday.  About half the group headed out around 6pm. We stayed until 8-830pm, and so did Darwin and Kenny. Ran into three different work peeps during the day, too.

Did my heart good to see Bella and her friends having fun skiing by themselves. She later shared that the lift operator nick named them the ‘speedy five’. However, that said, earlier in the evening, I happened to see Bella and Makayla riding a lift together and monkeying  around on the ride up. They were sliding back and forth from the middle to the ends, and then sitting sideways with their skis up and touching. I wasn’t pleased and waited for them at the bottom. When they finally skied up I told them both they’d be skiing forever with and adult if I ever saw anything like that again. They acknowledged their mistake and promised to be more smart, safe, and responsible.

Jacob, meanwhile, spent most of the evening over on the Momentum mini-terrain park with Jake and Evan. Said he had both of them boarding much better. Mindy, Darwin, Kenny and I got really comfortable in the lodge around 630-7pm. Didn’t think we’d go back out. But that’s just not me, leaving on a break. Never! I decided to head back out for a few more runs with Darwin. Because it was so cold, the snow was hard and icy, so one had to be very careful, and that doesn’t even take into account all the hidden bumps and jumps not usually there. They made so much snow over the previous 36 hours that they hadn’t groomed the main runs like normal. That made it fun, but also required one to ski with a more careful eye. After my last run, which was about 820pm, I waited around the bottom of the lift until I spotted the girls so I could tell them that they were done. They weren’t thrilled about it but then again, I wasn’t asking. J We headed home around 840pm.

Jacob could barely keep his eyes opened and headed directly for bed after we carried in all of our soft ski gear. We opted to leave skis and boards in the Pilot since we’d be heading right back up the following day. Bella, on the other hand, offered to walk Eiknarf and then offered to go help Kenny unload his vehicle since, as she put it, the kids stranded him as soon as they were home.

It was nearing 10pm when Bella asked if she could have a sleepover hosting Makayla, Lillian, and possibly Emily. Mindy was already heading to bed so she referred her to me. I agreed knowing full well they’d be holed up in her room. And that’s exactly what they did. They weren’t a bother at all. Just before Mindy headed to bed, she brought me Bella’s Kindle Fire to look at. Sure enough, no matter what I did, it wouldn’t power on and stay on. The screen was totally dark. And there’s only one small, tiny on/off button. That’s it.

Once again, I suggested that maybe she dropped it, and told Mindy we needed to alert Jimaken so he could send it back for warranty work. But before giving up completely, I figured I’d Google the issue and see what came up. I typed in Kindle Fire screen reset and was returned several options. The first one I selected was direct from Amazon and suggested holding in the power button for 20 seconds and then trying to power it up again. Said if that doesn’t work call support. Instinctively, I tried that earlier on my own but held it for no more than 5-8 seconds. I tried as the Amazon suggested and …Voila. The screen reset and started working. I showed off my crafty work to Mindy.

After Mindy headed to bed, and while the girls giggled upstairs, I watched the rest of the Broncos/ Patriots game while enjoying a pint of Bohdi. Jacob and I bet $10 on the game, me giving him the Broncos and 6 points – his idea. Thank you, Jacob! Patriots crushed them something like 45-17.  I headed to bed shortly after the game.