Dick Mitten Day in Holiday Valley

Out of bed by 640am. I checked the temperature via my smartphone. It was -2 below. No worries. I was actually looking forward to running in the subzero temps. I added long johns to my running attire along with a heavier pullover fleece. Other than that it was business as usual. I met David & Anita in the Inn’s lobby for a quick cup of coffee. They were already enjoying breakfast. Headed out for a run. Not only was it cold, but there was a stiff wind blowing too. Supposedly -20 with windchill. The sidewalks, as they were most mornings, had already been plowed by the great town of Ellicottville, which made my run that much easier. At least 12” of fluffy snow pack on the surrounding ground.

By run’s end my face was completely thawed – warm even. I was comfy and cozy. The moisture wicking off my body froze on the outside of my fleece. Looked like a snowman. Just as I’d done every other morning, I poured two cups of Starbucks complements of the Inn before heading back to our room. Mindy was already up and not only preparing for breakfast, but she also had a lot of stuff packed for the trip home, too. Great! I’m pretty sure that Bella joined us for breakfast. I had waffles and sausage patties.

Back in the room by 9am to pack and ready to ski. David sent a text that their car was already loaded and that he was heading out to ski. Asked that I text when we were heading out. As it does every over time, it took us another hour or so to pack and load the Pilot. Lots of stuff. But this time I had to spend extra time up front scraping and thawing the frozen Pilot. The Thule was buried under a foot of snow and it was -3 degrees. Brrrr!

I was admittedly a little stressed with the pack and load process. Always get that way. I must admit, though, the kids were better about helping this year, though Jacob should be doing even more. It’s always a challenge to make sure we pack everything but leave out what we need to ski that day and then have something to change into for the drive home. But we managed. The last thing I did was checkout of the room. Sad to leave, but after 5 nights and 5 days of skiing, I was ready to go home. I think we all were. As always, the Inn staff was awesome at explaining the charges and had it all right, and that was even after having to give them a new card since my old one expired since we made the reservation way back in September.

We were on the slopes just after 10am. By then David had sent a number of texts sharing how awesome his ski day  was. Said all the runs were groomed. Even though it was bitter cold, it was the first bluebird day we’d seen all week. However, because we didn’t expect it to last, we kept with our clear goggles. Turned out being a bluebird all day.

David was right. The slopes were incredible if you like soft, groomed corduroy. And the cold temps kept the large crowds away, too. It took a while for all of us to adjust to the subzero conditions. Mindy pretty much had to redress Jacob on the slopes for having too much skin exposed for lack of putting his gear on properly. On the other hand, I was very impressed with Bella. Not only did she dress herself properly for the cold, but she was fired up and skiing fast and hard.

Jacob couldn’t easily recover from the cold, so he headed in Yodeler lodge to warm-up. Feeling somewhat bad, Mindy eventually went in with him. She also bought him some food since he hadn’t eaten. Opted to sleep instead of taking advantage of the free breakfast at the Inn. David and I agreed that our parents would not have allowed that.

After skiing Independence and Champagne a number times, David and I eventually made our way over to Morning Star, which is the only run that gets a great deal of sunshine given the north facing park. Despite the bitter cold, the brilliant sunshine warmed things considerably and left the powdery snow, fun and choppy, just how I like it. We skied the crap out of Morning Star. Told David that is the run to work on form, and work on form we did.

Mindy eventually met us there, but left the kids in the lodge. She agreed and fell in love with the Morning Star conditions too. Eventually the kids texted and met us there too. They loved it as well. For the first time ever, Jacob was riding the rollers somewhat aggressively and getting air atop each mound. I was impressed. We skied Morning Star until we were done. Took Upper Woodstock back towards Mardi Gras. Up Cindy’s then down Sunrise for one last run. Awesome! Back to the Inn and to the waiting Pilot.

David had Anita meet him at the HV lodge, where the rental return is. Took a while to get changed and the skis loaded into the Thule. We hit the road near 1pm. But before heading west, we headed into town to fill-up. That went without a hitch. On the road for home by 115pm. Next stop, Wendy’s for lunch. Thought there was one sooner, but we didn’t see a sign until the small town of Falconer, which is just east of Jamestown, NY or about 40 miles west of HV.

By then I was really hungry. Was more than a little surprised with how far off the freeway exit Wendy’s was. Had to be about 4 or 5 miles. The drive was worth it, though. I had the double baconator and it was by far the best, freshest Wendy’s burger I’ve ever had. In fact, it’s making my mouth water as I am typing this.  Everybody but Bella ate. She & Jacob ate earlier in the Yodeler lodge and then she snacked on car snacks.

We didn’t stop again until we were well into Ohio and 5-10 miles from 271 in Cleveland. Couldn’t have asked for better driving weather. Sure, it was cold, but it was clear and sunny too. We made it onto 71S just as the sun was setting. Gorgeous!!! From 271 to home is about 120 miles, but the speed limit increase to 70 mph helped reduce the drive time. Went fast. Mindy called Gloria to tell her we’d be by to get Eiknarf between 730-8pm. We hit 270 around 640pm.

There was a significant traffic snarl on 270 heading east. Lucky for us, we were heading west. Dad actually called Mindy just as we were entering 270 to share the traffic news. It was at a complete standstill from the 71 interchange all the way back to Sawmill. Bummer! Not sure what happened.

David & Anita were coming to stay at our place through Sunday morning. They peeled off to make a quick stop at his son’s condo and planned to meet us at the house later. We headed around to the Georgesville exit in order to get to Gloria’s. Had to be about 7pm when we got to Gloria’s. All of us were eager to get home. We didn’t stay too long, maybe 10 minutes. Gloria shared that we were expecting 4-8” of new snow on Sunday. Man, we’re really getting winter this year! Yippie!!

I know it sounds crazy, but we all planned to ski at MRM on Saturday with all of our ski peeps. David & Anita were joining us too. I was looking forward to it. IN addition to skiing with all of our peeps, it was demo day and I was eager to demo the new Volkl V-Werks Katana’s. Arrived home around 730pm. Even before arriving home, Mindy made it clear that everybody was helping carry in the gear.

We planned to fully unload save for the skis in the Thule. Somebody shoveled/plowed our driveway. Dad told Mindy he thought it was neighbor Carl. Thanks Carl!!! Still an inch or so covering the driveway but very appreciative of the good deed. Like years past, we set up a line and quickly carried everything inside. My goal was to have as much put away as possible before David & Anita pulled up. One good thing, the house was otherwise clean and organized, thanks mostly to delaying our trip until three days after Xmas. For lots of reasons, that worked very, very well.

Mindy and I worked on different aspects of the unpack and ready for guests. She got the guest room ready for David & Anita while I unpacked coolers and carried gear to the basement. There wasn’t any way we’d get it all put away, but wanted it to resemble some sense of order. And to large degree, we were successful. David & Anita showed up about 30 minutes after us. I was still in my base ski layer, and after almost 12 hours, I was more than ready to get out of them. Felt terrific to slip into loose PJs. Ahhhh!

Agreed to order in diner. Mindy thought Minelli’s sounded good. She and Anita would share spaghetti and meatballs. David, the kids and I shared an extra-large double pep, double cheese pizza. Sipped a couple beers too. I tried and liked the Sam Adams Juniper IPAs that David gifted me. We did all of this while also watching the Orange Bowl – OSU vs. Clemson. The last time the two of us played was Jan ’78 when Woody Hayes sucker punched a Clemson player and was ultimately fired. Yikes!

Sadly, the Buckeyes looked slow and out of sync from jump. And that was just our offense. Our defense? Well, let’s just say that once again, they didn’t show up. Bad, bad, bad. Bottomline, we lost despite having a few chances to pull out an unlikely victory. Mindy & I watched most of the 2nd half from bed.