Poor Conditions, Great Trip

Jes and I went to Snow Valley today with Jimmy and had a great time. Jimmy picked us up in his new Subie WRX (a very cool car) at 6-ish. We got there early enough to get a good parking spot and the mountain was slick and scratchy. After lunch, it got softer and more powdery. Although the conditions were not ideal (falling down wasn’t very pleasant), we still had a great time. Jes took his leisurely pace and my new skis were pretty fast. Jimmy hardly fell and got better and better as the day went on. The mountain is pretty small but it’s only 70 miles from home! That meant we were back this afternoon with enough time to take a long 4-hour nap before dinner. Oh yeah, I also had my first taste of McDonald’s in over a year. My half of the Big Mac, fries, and Coke was bliss.

Happy Groundhog Day!

Punxsutawney Phil came out and saw his shadow this morning. That means 6 more weeks of winter and I love it! Hopefully that will mean more snow and a longer ski season. We need more snow in the local mountains here…pray for snow. We’re going to Snow Valley this weekend with Jimmy and I get to try out my new skis. We stopped a really cool outlet place in Bishop where I got a pair of last-season skis with bindings for only $239. What a deal! Now I don’t have to make everyone else wait as I rent my skis like an amateur. It’s straight to the lift on Saturday, baby!

A gas station!!

I went to Mammoth for the first time this weekend. Jes and I brought my brother; and Debbie (my cousin-in-law) met up with us on the mountain too. The snow conditions were great and we got in a full day of skiing/snowboarding. We also got to try out my new toy…a new BMW X3! Yup, we ordered it a week ago and it got delivered just in time on Friday evening for us to take it up to Mammoth. It was sweeeeeet. There was snow and ice on the road and it handled it just fine. The only near disaster we encountered this weekend was on our way back. We miscalculated the gas station locations and almost ran out of gas in the middle of the desert. The trip computer even said that we had zero miles left on our gas tank but we had enough fumes to go around a mountain to a small gas station that was actually for dirt bikes. Phew! I was totally getting ready to call for roadside assistance and sit for 2 hours.

We salute you, Jawbone!

“Sorry, we’re booked.”

With all the rain and snow we figured that a trip to Mammoth was in order. Unfortunately, I had never been there and didn’t realize how hard it is to get a place to stay on weekends. So, we’re staying in Bishop, which is 40 miles away for a cool $59/night! What a deal! It’ll make up for the ridiculously expensive lift tickets at Mammoth Mountain. I hope it starts to snow a bit more down here too. We need to use our discount Snow Valley tickets soon. The plan is to go on Saturday, February 5th…anyone want to go?!

I’m melting.

Is it still winter? It’s mid-January and it’s super hot outside! Pretty strange when you can see the snow-topped mountains outside while you’re in shorts and a t-shirt.
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Speaking of melting – I had to turn off the tv tonight b/c it felt like I was melting into my bed. I got home from work around 4 and went straight upstairs to my room. I got into my pj’s, turned on my laptop and tv, and the next thing you know it’s 9 pm! With Jes out of town today I had free access to the clicker and went nuts on all the stuff I Tivo’d. My brain is fried and my body is mush. Time to go for a long walk with the dog.

The sun is back!!

It has been sunny and warm this weekend and we took full advantage of it. On Saturday, we took Koa to the dog park. I also did some gardening/pruning out in the patio while Jes cleaned out the filter in the fish pond. This morning I went for a 22-mile bike ride with Jes and our two neighbors. Irvine is an awesome place for bicyclists!! The bike trail is well-paved and by-passes all the street lights. It was a good workout and a great way to enjoy the Southern California weather that I forgot about.