Birthday Surprise

Last Sunday was my birthday.  One of the great things about having a winter birthday is I can go skiing on my special day.  Which is exactly what I did.  My friend Kim and I headed up to the mountain to enjoy the snow. 

My beautiful cake

Meadows was all decked out for Valentine's Day.  They even had one of their chairlifts designated for speed dating (one of their slowest lifts so you got lots of time to get to know each other).  I swear half of the Portland metro area was at Meadows, so the lines at all the other lifts were incredible.  There wasn't a line at the "chairway to heaven" so Kim and I rode that lift (Kim joked that we were going to pretend to be a couple).

Denise frosting my cake

Even with the hordes of people, it was still a fun day.  Kim's kids stayed home, so it was like a vacation for her.  We had lunch in the nice restaurant, instead of the cafeteria.  Kim bought me lunch for my B-day.  Thanks Kim!

Bear cleans up the floor

About mid-afternoon, the snow got sticky and we both were tired.  Kim and I decided to call it a day, and get a jump on the evening ski traffic down the mountain.  So we packed up and headed for home.

Adding decorations

I got a "happy birthday" phone call from my sister, but no text messages or phone calls from my kids all day.  Usually they're really good about remembering my birthday, so I thought it was strange I hadn't heard from them.  I hoped my kids didn't forget!

Cody made homemade bread!

When I arrived home, both Cody and Denise's cars were parked in front of the house. I came inside to find my kids busy in the kitchen. Cody was making dinner, and Denise was baking me a cake. What a wonderful surprise!

Cody getting dinner ready

Cody was working on a chicken Alfredo dish with fresh steamed veggies and homemade bread.  It looked and smelled wonderful.  Roger, who was in on the surprise, had cleaned the entire house in anticipation of the kid's arrival.

My kids got creative with the candles

Denise was busy baking a red velvet layer cake.  She made it from scratch.  Once the cake was done, she whipped up some yummy cream cheese icing.  Denise finished the cake off with a coating of crushed pecans on the sides, and "happy birthday" lettering on the top.

Lighting the candles

We sat down to dinner, and was it ever good!  Cody has always been a good cook, and this meal was no exception.  I tried not to overeat, as I really wanted to save room for a piece of Denise's cake.

Well, it's better than 48 candles!

I keep a box of used birthday candles in my kitchen cupboard.  Over the years, it's accumulated quite a large number of candles.  When it was time to put candles on my cake, the kids dug out the box and began counting.  They wanted to put 48 candles on my cake.  I protested, saying they all wouldn't fit, and it would take forever to get them lit (remember your Dad's birthday?)

So Cody and Denise got really creative.  They found a number four, five and three in the candle box.  Fourty-five plus three makes fourty-eight!  Cody took two candles and melted them together to make a plus sign.  So I got my wish and didn't have to endure a large amount of birthday candles on my cake.

I'm very proud of my kids

After blowing out the candles, we dug into the cake.  It was wonderful! 

My kids were such good sports, they even let me take a bunch of photos of them.  That, and they cleaned up my kitchen and did all of the dishes. 

Mmmmm, cake!

It was great to have my kids home.  I haven't had them both home for my birthday since Cody went off to college, almost six years ago.  Having them cook me dinner was better than going out to any restaurant.  And Denise's cake was the best!  I liked it way more than any store-bought cake.  What a wonderful birthday present!  I'm a lucky mom to have such great kids!

And no, I don't feel a year older....


:)

Valentines Bus

Every year on the Thursday before Valentine's Day, my ski bus has a special "Valentines bus."  Our bus advisers decorate the bus, people bring special treats, and everyone is encouraged to wear red.  There are prizes offered for the man and woman who wear the most red.  And Dixie brings heart stickers for everyone to wear on their faces.  It is always a fun time!

John and "Dr. Barbara" model their heart stickers

This last Thursday was no exception.  In the morning, the man who won the "most amount of red" contest peeled off a couple layers of clothing, to reveal more red clothes underneath. (To the cheers of some of the women!)  We were a little worried when he dropped his drawers, but all was OK - there were red boxers underneath.

Doug painted a special Valentine's Day hat for the occasion

Doug, our resident artist, painted a special Valentine's-themed hat.  But Doug -always the jokester- didn't paint his hat for Valentine's Day - it commemorated the Valentine's Day massacre!

Mt. Hood framed by colorful flags

We arrived at Meadows to beautiful bluebird skies.  Mt. Hood gleamed a brilliant white in the sunshine.  The mountain had received eight inches of new snow a couple of days ago, and the temps remained cold enough to keep it soft and fluffy.  Finally some good snow to ski on!

Riding up the Cascade Express Lift

I teamed up with two of the Linda's on my bus.  I'd brought my alpine skis this week, and was ready to rock 'n roll.  We started out hitting the bowls and the steeper runs off of Mt. Hood express.  The snow was great!  We had a half dozen runs in before mid-morning.  I was having way too much fun.

The Linda's enjoying the view

Then the Linda's and I decided to head up to the Cascade lift to check out the snow conditions up there.  It was great!  The wind was calm, and the snow was very skiable.  And of course, the views were wonderful.  We bombed down a couple of runs in no time.

Cheers from the top of Meadows!

I thought everyone who skied regularly at Meadows knew of the Outer Limits run.  This run goes from the top of the Cascade lift, traverses across the top of the ski area, and drops you into the top of the Shooting Star lift.  The trail runs above the treeline, and on a sunny day, the views are breathtaking.  But last week, I introduced one of my Linda friends to this run.  She'd never skied it before.  Both my Linda partners this week weren't familiar with the run and wanted someone to show them where it was.  I was happy to oblige.

My skiing partners havin' a great time

Both Lindas loved the run.  We stopped at the top of the ridge to soak in the views and ran into three other ladies from our bus.  I whipped out my camera, and we held a brief photo session on the side of the mountain.



The women of the Love bus on Outer Limits

Since all three of us in our skiing group were named Linda, I joked that we each needed a number so we could tell each other apart.  Linda K. volunteered to be "Linda 3" and I nabbed "Linda 2."  We voted the other Linda to be "Linda 1."  Later, one of the Linda's ran into a friend on the slopes, and after introductions, he proclaimed our group to be "Linda cubed."

Creative liftie snow art

This little snowman was sitting at the bottom of the Cascade Lift.  He did have a hat and goggles, but someone took them off before I could get my camera out and snap a photo.  I just love it when the lifties get creative!

Killer view of my favorite mountain

The weather was great all day.  The snow held up wonderfully, and although it did warm up, the temps stayed cold enough that the snow never got too mushy.  The Lindas and I skied until 1:00, took a short break for lunch, and headed out again.  My companions skied until 3, and then I took a couple extra runs by myself.  It was such a good day, I wanted to stay outside forever!

But all good things must come to an end.  I didn't want the bus to leave me behind, so at 3:30 I reluctantly took off my skis and boarded the bus for home.

The trip home was lots of fun.  There was enough candy on that bus to feed a small country.  A couple of people got up and told jokes.  The beer and wine flowed freely keeping everyone in high spirits.  I got so busy talking to people, the bus was back in town before I knew it.  It's amazing how the trip home seems so much faster!

If you want a fun way to celebrate Valentine's Day, just book a seat on the "Love" bus.  Happy Valentines Day! 

Juneuary Corn

The weather this past month has been most frustrating for us skiers.  Mt. Hood hasn't had any new snow since the first weekend of January.  The daytime temps have been above freezing every day since then.  We've been having spring weather in January.  Or, as I've been calling it, Juneuary.

I begin my quest for good snow

Last weekend was no exception.  My friend Dean invited me up to Meadows to check out the "spring" corn snow.  Dean is one of my favorite persons to ski with.  He loves skiing the steeps.  We both share the same enthusiasm and obsession for skiing.  And we love to ski the bowls at Meadows (Four Bowl is our favorite!)

Dean is just happy to be skiing

It looked to be another warm springlike day, as we arrived at the slopes.  Dean and I were hoping that the snow would hold off turning into mush until at least afternoon.  We figured we'd start with the lower slopes, and then keep moving higher up as the snow began to soften.

Cool cloud layers in the valley

It wasn't a sunny day.  There were lots of clouds in the sky.  The clouds and fog formed cool layers that hung in the lower valleys.  Made for some nice scenery.  Blue sky days can be so boring!

Dean gets caught in my camera lens

The other good thing about the cloud cover - it kept the snow from getting too soft and sticky.  We had a good morning, traveling around Meadows in search of snow that was soft (but not too soft) and trying to avoid the icy places.

Dean in his happy place

After a leisurely lunch break, it was hard to get up the ambition to go back out on the slopes.  The morning had been OK, but not outstanding.  But we decided to give it another go, and rallied. 

Ready to shred more corn!

Boy were Dean and I glad we decided to go back out.  As we were riding MH Express back up, we looked over at Two Bowl.  No one was skiing it.  Dean said "Do you think we ought to give it a try?"  I said "Sure, why not?"

We made a trip down Two Bowl, and the snow was wonderful!  It had softened to a nice, spring cornlike texture - perfect for hero turns.  Dean and I got to the bottom, took one look at each other and said "We gotta do that again!"

Nice soft corn snow

So back up we went!  Dean and I made a couple runs down Two Bowl, and then tried the other bowls off of Express.  All of them had awesome snow.  After three runs, we began to notice other people on Two Bowl.  After another run, there were lots of skiers heading down.  Word had gotten out!

The Meadows cookie man - my favorite guy!

My favorite employee at Mt. Hood Meadows is the cookie man.  He usually hangs out around the lift on busy weekend afternoons, throwing cookies to the people in line.  Cookie man was on duty that afternoon passing out his sweet treats.  Dean and I made two trips through the line before we were lucky enough to each snag a cookie.

Colorful banners brighten the slopes

After at least half a dozen trips down the bowls, Dean was getting tired.  The snow was so good, we both hated to quit, but our legs were giving us stern lectures.  So we made one final run down Four Bowl, our very favorite run. 

The day began slow, but ended up great.  The snow held up wonderfully, and for once didn't turn to mush in the afternoon.  I guess if I can't have powder, a warm spring day is the next best thing.  Gotta love that "Juneuary" corn!


:)

Adventures in Steamboat

Ok, now I'm totally spoiled.

I've just returned from a most excellent long weekend in Steamboat Springs, Colorado.  I had two great days skiing pow at Steamboat.  The snow was everything I'd always heard about, and more!

Look out - the Oregon girls have arrived in Steamboat!

Two years ago, when I first visited Steamboat, the snow was really hard and icy - just like what we have here in the Cascades. I was really disappointed. But on this trip, Steamboat redeemed itself big time! We got snow every day - the light, fluffy powdery type. And, after skiing in it, I now know why everyone makes such a big deal about the snow in the Rockies. It is absolutely wonderful!

Everyone is all smiles before our first day of skiing

My adventure began when I boarded a plane with five friends bound for Steamboat Springs. My friend Kim's sister, April, and her boyfriend, Howard, own a vacation home in Steamboat. Howard and April generously invited all of us to stay at their home for a long weekend. They didn't have to ask me twice - I never turn down a chance for a ski vacation!

Theresa is in powder heaven

The first day was spent getting settled, buying groceries, renting skis (we found it was much cheaper to rent demo skis in Steamboat instead of paying the airline's baggage fees) and, most important of all, buying wine! We stayed in a huge, beautiful vacation home right across the valley from the Steamboat ski area. This house had a awesome front-row view of Steamboat mountain from the living room window.  We enjoyed a gorgeous sunset, and after dark watched the lights of the grooming machines on the mountain, prepping the slopes for the following day.



Can Kim's smile be any bigger?


The next morning, we all suited up and headed for the slopes! It was a really cold day, and we had to dress differently than our normal Oregon skiwear (which is Gore-tex and more Gore-tex).  Instead of dressing for a warm(er), wet day, I had to prepare for cold and dry weather.  I put on all the layers I had and wore my warmest mittens. 

My assessment of the snow

We bought our lift tickets ($98 for a day ticket! Eeeek!!) and boarded Steamboat's gondola for a trip up to the slopes. Kim and I decided to take our group over to the Sunshine Express lift. We had mixed skiing abilities in our party, and remembered from our last trip that this area was a good place for skiers of all levels.

Love the Western themed signs

The slopes were graced with 7 inches of fluffy, new snow.  Us girls spent the morning, swooshing through some of the finest powder I've ever skied. It was pure heaven!  I felt like I was floating. The snow was so light, it flew up into our faces giving us all powder mustaches. Many whoops, woo-hoos, and shouts of glee could be heard in the vicinity of our gang.

Kim goin' for the face shot

Kim and I were planning to get the girls settled, and then go seek some black diamond runs. But were were having so much fun skiing with our friends that we ended up spending all morning making laps off the Sunshine Express lift.

Tamie and Theresa take a break from the action

But it was a really cold day, and soon our feet and faces were freezing. Our tummies were grumbling. It was time for a break to warm up and eat lunch. After consulting our trail map many times, we finally figured out the correct combination of ski trails and chairlifts that would get us back to the top of the gondola to meet up with April. Steamboat is a huge ski area, and unlike many places I've skied, there is no one run that will take you everywhere on the mountain. Finding your way is an exercise in navigation!

The girls head down a beautiful forested trail

After dropping some more cash in the cafeteria, it was time to head out again.  Vicky and April decided they'd had enough skiing and took the gondola back down to the base area.  Theresa and Tamie still wanted to ski, but not anything difficult, so they decided to buddy up.  This left Kim and I free to explore the steeps of Steamboat.  I really wanted to ski in Morningside Park, so I convinced Kim to head over there.

Kim and Vicky on the chairlift

Morningside Park is the "back side" of Steamboat.  There is lots of tree skiing and one lift to haul you out of there.  The visibility was a little tough at the top, but once we got down off the summit, and into the trees, things improved greatly.  The snow was really deep and not too chopped up.  I had fun ducking into the trees, but Kim being the saner of our duo, opted for the security of the trails.

Tamie and Theresa on the lift

After a few runs in Morningside Park, it was time for more exploration.  Kim and I tried a couple of runs off of the Storm Peak Express chair.  Kim wanted to head over to the Pony Express lift, but it was getting late, and Kim's legs were telling her she'd had enough, so we headed back to the top of the gondola to look for Tamie and Theresa. 

Lunchtime in the lodge

About the time we reached the gondola I got a message on my phone. The other two girls had decided to call it a day, and were on their way back to the base area.  Kim and I made one more run, and then Kim decided to join them.  I wasn't ready to quit, so I made a couple of laps on the Thunderhead Express chair.  About this time the sun came out, and I was treated to a wonderful view of the valley below.

Group photo at the top of the gondola

After a couple of runs, it was nearing 3:30 and the snow was getting really bumped up.  My legs didn't have it in them to keep mogul-hopping (and I wanted to save something for tomorrow) so I decided it was time to call it a day.

"Woo-hoo, I'm in Steamboat!"

But I wasn't going to ride the gondola down.  No way!  (Death before download, I say!)  So I consulted my trusty trail map (well worn by that time) and took the Valley View run from the top of the gondola all the way down to the base village.  The views were wonderful.  Of course, I just had to take a couple of "Kodak moment" breaks during my descent.

Lovely aspen trees

I met up with the girls at the base village, and we headed back to the house.  April and Howard's home has a nice hot tub on the deck.  April is such a good host, she shoveled all the snow off of the hot tub so it was ready for us when we arrived.  I had a good soak, a glass of wine, and watched the sunset cast a beautiful aplenglow on the mountain.  A perfect end to a great day!

My view as I head down towards Steamboat base area

And there was more to come.  A big storm was forecast to roll in overnight and this storm was supposed to drop a substantial amount of snow.  Winter storm warnings were being issued, and the Denver crowd was warned to drive up Friday night ahead of the storm.  Sitting in the hot tub that night, gazing at a clear, star-filled sky, it was hard to believe there would be a foot of snow by morning.

Steamboat's famous gondolas

But when we awoke the next morning, there was a thick white blanket on the ground.  The sky was overcast and the snow was coming down.  It looked like another good powder day.  But it was stormy and we knew it would be windy with poor visibility on the mountain.  But we had traveled here to ski, and ski we would!

Our view of the ski area from April and Howard's house

On this day, it was only Tamie, Kim and I that wanted to ski.  The other three girls opted to go snow shoeing (which sounded fun, but I love skiing too much and besides, it was a powder day).  When I went up to the ticket window to get my lift ticket, I was informed that three of the lifts weren't operating due to high winds.  I thought about it for a moment, and then gulped and gave the lady my credit card.  I hoped I was making the right decision and not wasting my money!

Day two found me in deep pow!

Tamie (wisely) decided to ski on her own, and not join Kim and I.  Kim wanted to try the runs off of the Pony Express lift, since we hadn't been there yet.  Luckily, that lift was not closed, so Kim and I consulted our trail map, planned our route, and pointed our skis towards the Pony Express.

Kim's hair turned white with frost

At the top of the lift, there was hardly any visibility.  The wind was blowing and snowing hard, and it was really foggy.  We chose a run, and let gravity take us downhill ("skiing by Braille" as I call it).  Once we got into the trees, the snow got really, really deep.  It was lots of fun to rip through!  Everyone around us was whooping and hollering.  We were all having a good time.  Kim and I had no idea where we were going, but we followed some of the other skiers, and ended up back at the lift.  Time for another trip up and more pow!

Beautiful frosted aspen branches

Kim and I had a most excellent morning, exploring the trails off the Pony Express.  The snow was fabulous and I skied my heart out.  The lift lines weren't too bad and we got used to the low visibility at the top.  But about 11:00, Tamie called to say she had stopped for lunch and if we wanted to meet her, she was at the top of the gondola.  Kim was getting tired, so we decided to head back that way.

April and Howard's wonderful house

Once again, Kim and I consulted the well-worn trail map to plan our route back.  But we got on the wrong lift, and it deposited us all the way on top of Storm Peak.  There was absolutely no visibility on the top of Storm Peak.  Again, we got out the map, and decided on a run that we thought would get us back to the lodge at the top of the gondola.  It was hard to see where we were going, but we headed off in the general direction of the run, and let gravity take us downhill.

Just chillin' after a hard day's skiing

The run we took was great!  It started out as a wide open bowl (as far as I could tell anyway) with wonderful pow.  It then led us into a nice glade.  Once we reached the trees, the visibility got better.  But we were in the middle of a forest, and didn't know which way to go.  I began to follow tracks from other skiers, thinking they had to lead somewhere.  We skied for quite awhile, and the forest didn't end.  By now Kim was getting tired and had to stop often. 

Spectacular sunset over Steamboat Springs

So there we were, lost in the trees of Steamboat!  Kim was really getting worried, and I must admit, I was a little concerned too.  I had no idea where we were, or where this treed glade led to.  But I decided to just keep skiing downhill.  We were in the middle of a ski resort, civilization couldn't be too far away!  Then we heard voices, and saw people skiing through the trees.  We followed the people, and lo and behold, they led us out of the forest and to the edge of a main run.  Yahoo!  Saved!  Kim and I skied down to a lift that we knew would take us to the lodge.  However, by the time we reached the lodge, over an hour had passed, and Tamie, probably tired of waiting for us, had headed down to the village.
 

Colorful evening sky

Poor Kim was totally shot after our little adventure, and decided her skiing was done for the day.  We had a bite to eat, and then Kim headed down to find Tamie.  I wanted to ski just a little bit longer, so I took a couple runs off of the Thunderhead lift.  But it didn't take long, and my legs let me know they were done.  So I found Valley View Run again, and had nice slow trip down to the bottom.

What a great couple days of skiing!  And Steamboat Springs is such a beautiful place.  I didn't want to leave.  April was staying in Steamboat for the month, and it was really tempting to extend my vacation a couple of days to keep her company.  But sadly, work and  home was calling, so I packed up on the fourth day, and bid the town goodbye. 

Thanks April and Howard, for inviting us to such a wonderful place.  I enjoyed skiing and hanging out with all you girls - Kim, Tamie, Vicky, Theresa, and April - it was lots of fun.  Let's do it again next year!