First and Last ride were up the golden "50" chair - 3 in all.
Here we are again, the start of the end, but there’s
more.
Bluebird morning. Up near 8am and quickly into my running
gear and off to the Inn. And just like last year, the usual 8am breakfast crowd
was nonexistent. I guess lots of late night revelry. I enjoyed coffee and OJ
ahead of a run. Gorgeous morning, lots of sunshine and really cold –somewhere
near 10 degrees.
Ran the usual route into town and back. And like every
other day this week, I took two cups of Starbucks back to the room. I woke
Bella for breakfast, she wanted to go. Can’t recall if Mindy joined us or not.
Even though snow was originally forecasted, it was a
bluebird ski day, and it stayed that way until almost 4pm when another system
began moving in. And because it snowed during the overnight as well as the
resort making snow, the runs were next to ideal. Champagne was opened though a
little chunky, icy. We let the kids sleep in and meet us on their own.
We had a good time skiing. Mindy said she planned to give
the kids some cash once they joined us but then turn them loose so she and I
could ski at our leisure without needing to watch and wait much like we had
done all week. Imagine then how surprised I was once we hooked up with the kids
at Yodeler’s base when suddenly we were lunching together. Heck, they hadn’t
even really skied – just left the room.
Oh well.
We had a nice time on our Yodeler lodge break. Mindy and
kids went for food while I fetched drinks, me a beer and Mindy and run and
Coke. I ate just a bowl of chili. It was really good, too. Our break wasn’t too
long. Soon back out in the Bluebird tearing up Morning Star, Independence &
Champagne, Tannenbaun was still out of commission but they did have Spruce Lake
opened. We skied that once. Per the usual, very cold and windy at the top. The
run was a more than little icy too. I suspect that they purposefully made wet
snow to help form a solid base with hopes of fresh natural snow on top. That
same thing held true park over.
Our plan all along was to stay in the room and order
pizzas for dinner. We skied until 6pm or after having one heck of a time. Mardi
Gras, Cindy’s and Sunrise were all in pristine condition, at least to my
liking. Chomped up but loose enough to live on my edges. Felt like I was
flying! Guessing it was near 530pm or just after when we called it a night.
Mindy and I headed to the hot tub while Jacob and Bella
played in the room and watched the Oregon Fla. St. game. Oregon was leading
when we left and still ahead when we returned. Met some nice folks from Canada.
Busy hot tub, busy sauna.
Back in the room, we searched feverishly for the menu and
phone number for Tim & Bonnie’s pizza, a highly regarded Ellicottville
pizza shop. After a little time we found it, called them and ordered two pies
for delivery. Our hopes were that it would far exceed that of the pizza from
Depot.
It showed up ahead of the Buckeye game and it was
incredible! Absolutely delicious. We ordered two large pies with double
pepperoni. Oregon decimated the Seminoles – 59-20. The Buckeye/Bama game was
next.
Jacob was frightened out of his own skin regarding the
outcome, in fact so much so that he refused to watch at least directly. He put
down about 6 bottled waters too. It’s well known by now that the Buckeyes won
and will play Oregon on the National Championship game. Great game, and all
sorts of key moments/plays.
In celebration, Jacob made a snow angel just outside our
sliding door once the game was over. We stayed up until 1am winding down and
watching the postgame programming.
Up at 8am. Snowing but much warmer. Already in the mid
20s.
In my running clothes and off to the Inn by 730am. Choked
down a cup of coffee and OJ then dashed off on my run. Sidewalks where I run
were scraped clear by the wonderful town of Ellicottville.
Before heading to breakfast but after taking Mindy
coffee, I headed out to move and scrape the Pilot. As it was, it was covered in
about 6 inches of fresh snow. I pulled it to the closest spot available for
easier loading.
Mindy said she didn’t want breakfast but Bella opted to
join me. Frankly, a little surprised that she got up. We weren’t too long.
We did most of our packing the night before during the
Buckeye game so we didn’t have that much to do that AM. However, still and
ordeal getting things consolidated and loaded with ski gear out for the day’s
adventure.
Pilot loaded and on the lift at 11am. Getting out on the
slopes early any day that week simply wasn’t in the cards. But aside from some
missed corduroy, we got in more than enough skiing. Skied till 1245pm, before
the kids desire to bolt for home took over. They simply weren’t in to it like
Mindy and I were. The conditions were excellent but the lines crazy long at
each and every lift. In fact, probably the busiest we’ve ever seen it. It was
115pm by the time we had our skis in the Thule, in our street clothes, and
gased up in town. By the way, gas prices
were ridiculous in Ellicottville. Though $1.80 at home, they were a full dollar
more there. Yikes!
Made excellent time, choosing to eat leftover Tim &
Bonnie’s pizza on the drive home. We made one stop to pee, and that wasn’t
until Lodi, Ohio. Our drive home was under mostly clear skies and dry pavement.
Made it in 5 hours and 10 minutes. Arrive home at 625pm.
Immediately we went into unload mode though Mindy took a
break for feeling nauseous over the last few miles of our drive home. It quickly abated. Dad & Glenn showed up
maybe 20-30 minutes after our arrival home. We hung out for an hour or so
before dad said he’d be heading home promising to be back over near 4am to take
Glenn to the airport for his 6am flight home. However, with dad suffering from
vertigo symptoms, I suggested that I would get up and do the deed. He initially
dismissed the offer but soon conveyed appreciation for me taking the deed. I
didn’t mind at all, and certainly didn’t want dad getting up and out that early
with his vertigo kicking in. Additionally, the weather forecast promised
sleet/icy conditions during the overnight – hardly optimal conditions.
Enjoyed a couple pints of Bodhi thanks to the growler
still in the fridge from Xmas eve. Until then it had gone untapped. It was
fresh as new when I popped the top. Off to bed just after 10pm. Mindy said her
goodbyes before bed since we’d be leaving for the airport while she and the
kids slept.
Saturday, January 3 - Up Earlier than Dirt & Slip Slid'n Away.
4am came around fast. I set the alarm on my Galaxy III
just in case I overslept, but woke just ahead of it going off. I started a pot
of coffee then fooled around online before I heard Glenn stirring. I didn’t plan to run until much later that
morning. I checked the weather both online and then from the deck. Icing and
slick! I backed the Pilot onto the street to make loading Glenn’s luggage a bit
easier, though we still had to contend with a ridiculously slick driveway.
Left for the airport by 420am. Once out of the
subdivision the roads were simply wet. We chatted about our companies tome off
policies on the short drive across town. Dropped Glenn at the United Airlines
drop-off near 440am. We’ll be hooking up once again in just a handful of weeks
in SLC or Park City.
It rained even harder for the drive back home. The
temperature was hovering around 33 degrees. Rather than risk pulling up our
slick driveway, I parked the Pilot along the curb. Inside, I fooled around
online however briefly then headed back to bed. Slept till 8-830am.
Finally feeling as though those pesky cold/cough symptoms
were behind me. Lazy, rainy morning and day. Definitely no plans to do MRM.
Sadly, their snowpack looked bleak – lots of green and just a narrow path down
the main runs.
Mindy suggested we do dinner with the rest of the
Thompson family at the U.A. Rusty Bucket – a goodbye dinner for Camilla, who’d
be flying home to Copenhagen, Denmark Sunday evening. Ahead of that, I unloaded
our skis from the Thule and then flipped and painted the last two doors for the
basement. Did little else. Mindy went to pick-up Eiknarf near noon.
We headed for the Rusty Bucket on Lane Ave. near 630pm.
We picked up Gloria, too. Immediately in the door I spotted Mr & Mrs Dooley
at a booth just west of our long table. Went over to say hello. Say them last
March when we were out to dinner for one of Mindy’s school teacher friends
birthday’s. Talked with them for a while. They shared that Joey and his
longtime girlfriend broke up and he was now in a Condo back on the westside.
Need to look him up. Larry talked with the two of them for a while, too. He
used to hang with Joey and the rest of the Holy Hill gang back in the middle
school days.
Enjoyed dinner with Camilla and family. It was literally
a laugh a minute. Guessing we were there until 8-830pm. Dropped Gloria at home
before making our way to our own home. Felt good to crawl into my own knowing
that I didn’t have to be up at any specific time.
Sunday, Jan 4 –
last day of Xmas vacation
Cooler weather on the horizon but still not cold enough
for snow. Day started out in the upper 50s but dropped steadily through the day
until bottoming out near 30. Before leaving the Rusty Bucket the night before,
we made plans to meet at Jodie and Larry’s house Sunday afternoon so we could
see Camilla off as well as Jacob and I getting our haircut by niece Lindey.
Before any of that, we enjoyed a leisurely morning, not
getting out of bed for good until almost 10am. Actually, though, I was up
around 830am but got back into bed for a spell after delivering Mindy’s morning
coffee near 9am. Once up for good, I headed out to run my three miles.
The big local news story was the possibility of a
significant snow storm striking Monday evening into Tuesday morning. At the
time they were predicting as much as 6” of snow with brutally cold temps right
behind – subzero temps! The kids and Mindy were holding out hope for a snow
day. Jacob wanted school to be canceled for his first day back after Xmas
break. That, I suggested, wasn’t in the cards.
Headed over to Jodie & Larry’s near 1pm. It was a
smaller gathering than dinner the night before, but all of their children were
there along with their significant others. Joe & Camilla got there shortly
after us. Lindey cut our hair in the basement. Had me bring my cordless
trimmers. Guessing that we were there for almost 2 hours. They’d be leaving for
the airport soon after we left. By the way, while running out to the Pilot to
fetch the hair clippers, I saw Dan & Mary Elswick drive bye. Didn’t get an
opportunity to chat but we did acknowledge one another.
Mindy invited dad over for dinner – homemade chicken and
noodles At home we watched NFL playoffs. At some point I hung the two most
recently painted doors back in their respective jams. Took some doing ( a lot
of swearing) to get the bathroom door back into the hinges. Once done, I
noticed that the door was rubbing ever so slightly in the upper left corner non
hinge side. Dang it! I’ve adjusted it pre-paint and now after paint several
times only to have it rub again. I was discouraged, and knew then that I needed
to do something different or risk dealing with the same problems time and time
again. I monkeyed with the jam until it was time for dinner. At the same time,
I made the smart decision to install all of the doorknobs before trimming out
any of the four doors just in case I need to redo any of the others. However, I
wouldn’t be getting to that for a couple of days. I feel like we’ve been stuck
in the same place with the basement since well before Xmas. Of course a lot of
that has to do with the holidays and vacation, but still.
Dinner was terrific. The chicken & noodles really hit
the spot. Dad thanked me again for getting Glenn to the airport. No worries! By
days end, Mindy had almost all of Xmas down and put away. Was nice to have our
house back to normal. The family room looks so spacious without the tree and
all the other Xmas stuff. I could tell that Mindy was a bit stressed from it
all. It didn’t help that Jacob procrastinated on some homework he was to
complete over break. Waited until Sunday night to get on it and then tried
making it our issue. J
Everybody in bed by 10pm.
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