Back to the Mountain

Slept like a rock. I thought I heard David up really early. It had to be close to 6am. Yikes! I rolled back over and slept for another 90+ minutes. I woke again when I heard a knock and then a ring of our doorbell. It was David. He headed out his truck for something and got caught by the door knob’s auto lock feature. 

It was Sunday, which is a no callisthenic day. I poured and enjoyed coffee right away. David was already showered and dressed for skiing, at least in his base layers. I still needed to run and shower, not to mention relaxing for a bit. I took Mindy some coffee around 9am. Said she felt better but struggled to fall asleep despite being incredibly tired when she initially headed to bed.

I completed a really stretch before heading out on a run. Beforehand, my thighs and hammies were a little tight. I ran three miles. Felt good. It was warmer than the morning before and under mostly cloudy skies. It was already 33 degrees.

The night before, we talked about heading up a bit earlier but only staying until 4pm or so. We also talked about stopping for breakfast at Bob Evans on the way. Mindy planned to let Jacob stay home. He apparently didn’t want to go citing the need to complete a public speaking homework assignment as the main reason. I wasn’t too thrilled with the idea but went along with her decision. Bella, on the other hand, was stoked about heading back. The night before, she told me that she laid her ski clothes out just as they came off so she could quickly get back into them come morning. 

By the time I was showered, dressed and ready, it was after 10am. We loaded our gear into the Pilot then headed towards Mill Run. We decided to do breakfast at First Watch in lieu of Bob Evans. Wise choice. I’ve eaten at First Watch only one or two other times. I had this egg and hash platter thing, and man , was it delicious! I liked everything about the place. David graciously picked up the breakfast tab. It was 1120am by the time we were on our way to Mad River. I commented that that was pretty much the same as the day before.

David shared that the MRM snow report claimed cloudy skies and a high in upper 30s. However, is was already in the low 40s as we headed through Marysville. Moreover, by the time we got to MRM, the skies had completely cleared. Look like another blue bird ski day in the offing.

Same drill as the day before. I dropped David at the window. This time he was aware of the military discount offered to veterans, 50% discount. Said he was going to ask about a refund for Saturday, too. It was 12:20pm by the time all of us were geared up and ready to head up Four Star. David told the rental shop he was advanced and asked them to choose his ski length. They gave him 160s again. But given that he’s 5’10-11”, I suggested that he would probably do better with 170-177s.
The warmer temps served to soften the top crust of the snow pack, once again making for some incredibly fun carving snow. However, as the afternoon wore on, it softened perhaps a tad much, though still very skiable.

At some point during the afternoon, David headed back to the rental shop returning with some longer skis – 170s. I think it was around 145pm when we spotted Bob Imber flying down the face. He has an unmistakable style that’s easy to spot. We waited at the top of Four Star. I didn’t mention it on Saturday’s blog, but one of the many ski patrols told Mindy & I that they plan to do away with the rollers after the ‘13/’14 ski season. Said they want to give the hill back to the skiers. Thing is, we love skiing the rollers, though it does attract lots of borders, too.

We could’ve skied straight through without a break, but Mindy and I were thirsty. David opted to keep at it. Don’t blame him at all. Getting his money’s worth and getting lots of reps. In the cafeteria, I would’ve picked Gatorade but they were all out. Instead, I grabbed an orange soda. Also picked up some BBQ Fritos. Mindy chose a soft pretzel. Bella went with a hamburger, fries and drink. Getting a table and seat was easier than Saturday, but there still weren’t a lot of available options. Had another decent crowd on hand.

Bob stopped in for a quick chat. None of us stayed in too long – 30 minutes tops. Did a number of runs after break calling it a day at 4pm just as we had agreed to earlier. I knew Mindy wasn’t feeling 100% and none of us needed to push it, this being the first ski weekend of the year. This time David planned his last run to ski him all the way down to rental returns. We met at the Pilot and by the time we were all packed up and leaving for home it was 420pm.

Arrived home near 5pm. Mindy declared that we were having pasta and meatballs for dinner. As soon as we unloaded and carried everything inside, David walked the pug. Over the next 30 minutes everybody peeled out of their base layers. Mindy had dinner ready near 6pm. The pasta & meatballs were really good. Oh, she whipped up a tasty spinach salad too.

By the time dinner was done and the kitchen cleaned up it was around 7pm. At some point that evening, David made a drive-thru run to pick-up a 6-pack of seasonal Sam Adams. I was going to have a Jack & Coke but thought better of it. Instead, I sipped ice water for the rest of the night. We watched 60 minutes after dinner. The main two stories: and interview with Jeff Bezos, Amazon.com’s CEO, and then the construction of the Capital building in D.C. Both good stories.

Mindy headed to bed soon after 60 minutes. It ended sometime after 8pm. David and I stayed up watching Family Guy and then American Dad, though we didn’t watch all of the latter. We called it an early night and headed to bed somewhere close to 9pm.