SWIX Wax & Creeper

I slept fairly well, but not as good as I had hoped. But what I didn’t reap in quality, I gained in quantity.  I finally got more than 8 hours of sleep. I rolled out of bed near 745am after sleeping for 8.5 hours. It felt amazing not having anywhere I necessarily needed to be. I spent the next couple hours luxuriating in the quiet sipping coffee and playing on the internet. I finally got around to publishing blog entries for the past ten days, including those from our ski vacation in Oregon. I opted to publish unedited knowing full well there were oodles of grammatical errors. I just didn’t have the time, or perhaps better stated, didn’t see the value.

I opted not to deliver coffee to Mindy’s bedside deciding her uninterrupted sleep far more important. I heard her stirring just after I used her laptop to forward my vacation blog entries to my RR email address.

Shortly after Mindy was up, I headed out back with the pug. Because of our warm winter, the geese have already returned and started their annual nesting ritual in our backyard. Unfortunately, that means goose poop. I wasn’t immediately attuned to Eiknarf's excitement. But it didn't take long for me to realize that Eiknarf was excited to be once again chomping on goose poop like it was a delicacy. She loves it. Cries for it, even.  Blah! I had to revert to walking her out front to get her to take care of business. Meanwhile, it was sunny and relatively warm for a late winter day - somewhere near 38 degrees.

I’m thinking it was near 1015am when I finally dressed and headed out for a run. I passed Pat Shultz in the first half mile out doing his daily walk. He shared that he offered to push Mindy around in a wheel chair should she need it. Said Jamie has started dilating. Won’t be long now. I think her actual due date is leap day, Feb 29.

Like most Saturday’s, I ran just three miles. It was a relatively easy run.  I was back home near 1045am. Mindy was already in the shower getting ready to head off to have her hair colored by niece Lindy. Still sweaty and in my running clothes, I gathered my ski gear from the basement and placed it by the front door. Now near 11am, I headed up for a shower. Mindy was still primping after her shower. She suggested I stay in the shower while she applied hair spray. Good call!

Given the brilliant sunshine and an expected high in the low 40s, I dressed lighter than I have all ski season. I wore two wicking shirts but planned to skip the fleece jacket and only wear my light ski jacket. I packed a cooler with Gatorade, water, nuts, and slim jims. I didn’t bother filling a flask. IN fact, I didn’t plan to drink any alcohol, especially since Mindy & I planned to do dinner at CBC around 7 or 8pm. Before leaving for skiing, I made myself a turkey and cheese sandwich, which I offered to share with Mindy. She took just one or two bites.

Just after 12noon, both Mindy and I were ready to leave, her taking the Pilot, and me taking the Accord. I love the pass-through in the rear seat of the Accord. Works perfectly for my skis. I simply laid out a beach towel so they won’t scratch the leather seats.

It was a fast drive up 270/33 towards MRM. Called Darwin along the way and talked for a good ten minutes. He was too busy to ski but said he was up Wednesday with his oldest son, Jordan. Would likely be there again on Monday, too. Told him to look for Mindy and the kids since they planned to head up on President’s Day. Speaking of President’s Day, we’ve spent 4 of the last 5 in Oregon skiing, the exception being 2009, the year we bought our skis and went to HV instead.

As I got off 33 at the MRM exit, I was reminded that I wanted to get some SWIX roll-on wax for my skis. I stopped in Adam’s ski shop right at the corner. I hadn’t been there prior, so wasn’t quite sure how to get into the store. The lower level is a rental/ski repair shop. The ski shop is upstairs. Nicer than I expected. I browsed around quickly before going to the counter to get the wax. They had about ten bottles, none of them marked with a price. The girl working  the counter guessed it to be $15. After some searching and assistance, she learned that it was $16. The kid helping her had on a Windell’s t-shirt. I recognized that as the Mt Hood ski camp just outside Sandy. I asked him if he’s been there. Yep, four years in a row. Said he’s a competitive boarder, but currently down due to a torn ACL. We talked for a while, me sharing Mindy’s mishap at Mt Hood Meadows.

It was just after 1pm when I finally walked out and headed just down the street to the heavily populated parking lot.  Much larger crowd than I expected given the waning season and warmer than desirable temps. Even though it was crowded, I tried for an up close spot. And as usual, I found one only three rows from the front. Awesome! Didn’t take me long to gear up. Used my new SWIX wax before locking up. After temporarily stowing my skis so I could go after my lift ticket, I spotted Bob & Tina Kubra, apparently just coming off a lunch break. We talked for a while, them asking all about Mindy’s well being. After 5 minutes or so, I headed in to get my lift ticket and to pee.

They waited for me at the Four Star. The line was fairly long, at least compared to out west where I don’t think we waited even once in line for an entire week. The line moved quickly, though, and that might’ve been the longest line we encountered the rest of the day. Just like the snow out west for the 2^nd half of our week, the snow at MRM was cut up and mushy from the warmth (currently 40 degrees).

We waited at the top for the others (Scott, Zach, Bob & Mary Ann). We chatted atop the hill before I took my maiden run. Just before heading down, I spotted the guy that we met on the plane in Portland who is also a fellow MRM skier. He spent last weekend at Bachelor. We chatted briefly (he was racing). Introduced him to my peeps.

One would be wise to use caution with mushy rutted snow, but all in all, some really fun skiing. We skied until just after 3pm when everyone was ready for a break. I checked my skis then went to the car for my cooler. Bob I. went for a pitcher. I declined a beer as well as nips of Goldschlager or lemon nip earlier. I gave Mindy a quick call to see what was up. Mindy was visiting an old friend, Lori S, who lives in Grove City. Handed my phone to Mary Ann briefly, too.

Ran into a work compadre, one of the guys that spent last week in Steamboat, Colorado. Said he loves skiing in conditions like today’s. I am beginning to understand why. It’s definitely more challenging. Pamode took the stage around 330pm. Listened to a few of his tunes before heading back out for round two. I told Mindy I’d be home around 6 or 7pm.

As the sun began to set the snow began to crisp up. In addition, the groomer was out grooming the run they’d been racing on all day. The timing couldn’t have been more perfect for Scott and I. We hopped off the lift just seconds after they opened it to the public. We might’ve been the 5^th and 6^th skiers to ride the fresh corduroy. We flew down and quickly hit the MRM double lift to do it again. Because it was so warm, the snow was torn up in a hurry, but still nice and fast.

At 520pm I declared the next run my last to ensure I was home somewhere close to 630pm. Said my goodbyes atop the hill. Worthy of mention, the run prior to my last, was down the rollers, where Tina K went over two big jumps catching some wicked air. That girl is fearless ... or crazy!

Didn’t take long to get out of my gear and on the road. It was 540-545pm as I pulled out the lot headed towards home. Once I was safely on 33 east I gave Mindy a call just as she requested. She was still with her friend Lori but just getting ready to leave. Said she’d call me back once she was in the car. Called back a couple minutes later. Talked all the way to and past the Rt 42 Plain City exit off Rt 33. Said she was going to walk the pug and ready for our evening out.

I made great time heading home arriving near 620pm. I immediately carried in all my gear and put it in its proper place. Didn’t want to have to deal with it on Sunday. Even emptied the cooler so there were effectively no remnants of my trip to contend with. All that took about 10 minutes. Mindy was upstairs putting the finishing touches on her ready. I didn’t bother with a shower, but did rewet my hair and blow dry. Changed into comfy jeans and a sweater, tossing my ski attire into a laundry basket that I planned to wash on Sunday along with my running clothes.

We left for CBC just ahead of 7pm. I felt good and was much looking forward to a pint or tow of Creeper. Shared some skiing stories with Mindy during our short drive downtown. It was dark by the time we pulled in the lot. Was going to drop Mindy at the door and then go park, but the very first slot was available. Too cool!

Standing room only in the bar. About as full as we’ve seen it in a long, long time. We stood waiting for stools to free for about ten minutes. By then we had beers, both of us Creepers. Man is it good! Mindy must’ve eaten a big lunch not pushing me to order food, which is so unlike her. We eventually ordered some spinach artichoke dip and I had two more Creepers. Since Mindy was driving, she kept her consumption to only one, though she did take a few drinks from mine. Meanwhile, the Creeper keg must've went dry. Jamie left a fourth Creeper in front of me, but only about 3/4 full - the end of the keg. A kind gesture to be sure.

Mindy and  I both threw in $20 bills to serve as Stella's birthday gift. Mindy got up to go look for her and hand it to her. While drinking/dining, we befriended two couples standing directly behind us waiting on a table. One of the couples was from Toledo. Said their home city is a drag. Can't wait to relocate to Columbus, apparently planning to do so soon. We ended up buying them a drink once they were seated at a table.

Before the night was over I had one heck of a buzz. All that from only 3.5 Creepers. I picked up the check leaving part of the tip on the card and a little more in cash. Mindy drove us home where we headed pretty quickly to bed.