It was cold, but I was dressed for it. Even though it was a bright and sunny morning, it wasn’t expected to stay like that. More clouds and snow flurries were in the forecast. Like most Saturday’s these days, I ran three miles. Mindy slept in until after 10am.
Slowly but surely, we began to prepare for a day of skiing at MRM. I took a shower and also cooked us breakfast making egg, cheese and pepperoni sandwiches. Mindy opted to skip a shower, presumably planning to take one later when we got back home. We didn’t leave the house until 1150am. Already, the completely blue skies from earlier were giving way to a few clouds. On our drive up, Mindy made arrangements for Lindsey to come by and take care of her laundry while we were away. She also got a hold of Ashley to see about celebrating her birthday on Sunday. Seems she already made plans with Steven’s mom. We’d have to celebrate after our Utah trip.
During our 45 minute drive up the MRM we ran into snow squalls so thick that it was near total white out. Arrived close to 1230pm and got a decent parking spot a couple rows out and right inline with the gift shop, where we always pick-up our lift tickets.
Didn’t get in our first run until close to 1pm. The lines were much shorter than I/we expected. The skies were a mix of sun and clouds early on, but later several bouts of heavy snow squalls coupled with extremely strong and cold wind. Beautiful, really. The snow was decent. I skied on my AC30s which are far better on hard packed surfaces. There were still a few hidden icy patches one had to be weary of. In fact, I hit one on my initial run that threw me completely sideways unexpectedly. I darn near slid right into a big tree. Had I been thinking I would’ve fallen on purpose. Yikes! Not a good way to start the day.
We hooked up with the usual peeps, the Cubra’s and Imber’s. The Taber’s weren’t there. Word had it that Scott had too much fun the night before with his neighbor and was in no shape to come ski. Not many spots like that but there were some fun and initially unexpected bumps near the bottom where one could easily catch air. After a couple hours and several fun runs, Mindy, Mary Ann and I headed in for a break. I headed out to the car to get our cooler. Mindy & Mary Ann enjoyed Bloody Mary’s while I enjoyed a beer. Thanks Mary Ann!
Mindy & I enjoyed some MRM chicken & dumplings too. Not as good as last time but still OK. Once again, our break was mistimed with the larger group. I’m guessing our break lasted something just under an hour. We head out again somewhere near 4pm.
I skied much harder/faster in round two. It sounded like the others planned on leaving rather early but also planned to come up again on Sunday. Mindy and I left our options opened thinking we might stick around well into the evening. However, the Cubra’s having arrived near 10am, peeled off near 5pm. Mary Ann needed to be at a baby shower at 630pm. They originally planned to depart at 530pm, but I think it was closer to 6pm. Mindy decided to leave then too. Figured we could squeeze in another date night and return again on Sunday with the others. We had a super time.
On the drive home, Mindy contacted Jimaken to see about bringing the kids home early Sunday morning so they could ski with us. Who knows, this could very well be our last opportunity to ski MRM as a family. Got home between 630p-7pm. Lindsey was already gone and it appeared Mindy’s talk about keeping our house in ship shape did some good. No visible messes like last week. She also walked the pug for us.
While Mindy showered, I took a brief nap on the livingroom floor. Awesome! Once I heard the blow dryer come on I headed up for another shower of my own. Having showered earlier, before our ski outing, I needed it more to simply wake me up. Mindy wanted to visit CBC again, feeling somewhat cheated out of dinner there the night before. Given my druthers, we would’ve taken in The Pearl. I deferred to Mindy.
Arrived at CBC around 745pm. Once again, the place was packed, which is really good news for them. Vince and Emily were tending bar again. Mindy said she didn’t intend on staying too late. She just wanted to make sure and get a good meal.
Still had Bodhi on tap. Yippie. Not five minutes after we ordered dinner (Mindy steak, me pizza) we saw John and Carolyn walk in. I recognized them right away but it took a minute for it to register where we knew them from. Mindy, of course, realized who they were as soon as I pointed them out. They’re Kelly’s parents. The Kelly that coaches Bella’s gymnastics. They headed immediately to the restrooms but planned to join us. Said they’d just left BJ’s at Tuttle mall in route to home in Grove City.
There weren’t any stools nearby immediately available but two eventually cleared right next to us when that couple’s dinner pager went off. John and Carolyn took those two seats. They’re both life-long westsiders that fell into good careers (and wise investing) that afforded them both the opportunity to retire relatively early. She retired from NW insurance, and he from Anheuser-Busch. They do a whole lot of traveling and volunteering. They, perhaps more so than anyone else I know, seem to be living the ideal retirement lifestyle and very similar to the one I am aiming for.
They enjoyed a couple Bodhi’s with us all the while chatting about growing up on the west side. Like many, their lives presented lots of opportunity for failures and hardship, but they’ve persevered. Fun hanging with the two of them. Their happiness bubbles over. We really weren’t out that late. I’m thinking that we were there for about 2.5 hours. I had three Bodhi’s in that time, but was more than fine to drive.
Got home near 10pm. Mindy went right to bed while I stayed up enjoying yet another beer, more of my CBC pizza, and some TV. Started to dose around 1125pm and upped for bed. Asked Mindy, who surprisingly still awake, if we could watch SNL. Perhaps even more surprising, she said yes. We watched the opening skit, which was a parody of the recent Celebrity cruise ship incident. It was funny. We didn’t make past that, however, Boom, boom. Out went the lights!
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