Skiing With the Fam

(DZ, Adeline, Mr. and Mrs. Shoe and me at the top of Comstock ski lift getting ready to make our last run down the mountain.

Peter and Joann are already down the hill at the village below)

Nothing is sweeter than being together as a family and skiing at Northstar

we had so much fun

...that is, after our bumpy start...

first, we didn't get to the ski resort until about 10, which resulted in losing out on the free parking next to the resort...so we had to park a mile down the street and take a shuttle bus

we inadvertently left Adeline's skis on the floor of the garage, so she made the 40 minute round trip drive back to the cabin to fetch them.

She did meet us on the slopes just as we finished our first run.

we came ready to purchase the great deal offered by Shell gas stations...

you fill up your tank and you get a coupon for 2 lift tickets for the price of 1...

only we didn't realize that they were only valid Sunday through Friday

mr. shoe caught an edge on his snowboard (he is pretty fast),

and wiped out bad with a face plant...

got the wind knocked out of him...

cracked his goggles and cut his eye...

check out his swollen and black eye here:

photo courtesy of the Mr. and Mrs. Shoe

as it turned out, it didn't matter that we had a late start

for by the time we got skiing, the snow softened up
really, five and a half hours of skiing is plenty at my age

(note: when I was in college, my friends and I would ski all day, without even a lunch break and then go to the spaghetti factory at Trolley Square to have a gigantic dinner...

can't do that now)

the sun was shinning.

the lines weren't too bad as long as we stayed on top

able to ski without having to stop mid hill (most of the time)

could keep up with everybody (most of the time)

the best run was the last...

there I was, all alone

making the most of each turn...

the cool wind brushing my face as I swooshed down the hill ..

I was tired but it felt oh, so good.

such a beautiful way to spend the weekend with my family

and being up amongst the beautiful snow covered, tree studded Sierra mountains

well, so long to the 2010 ski season

(that is unless I sneak up there on a Friday in the next couple of weeks

to use one of those coupons...)

anyone interested?