Solitude, Indeed

Photo by Brad B

   Brett, Rafael, Brad and I spent Monday and half a day today at the aptly-named Solitude. It's a small resort, and since these are weekdays, we REALLY had zero lift lines, and the slopes to ourselves. And the slopes, as it turned out, were fantastic: wide-open rolling groomers and bowls. It was another bluebird day, and there was a great number of fun and fast blue runs. I even hit a couple of blacks. Learning to carve down the steeps still—it's intimidating, but I'm getting better. I've come a long, long way on this trip.
   Many of the lifts were the old-style ones that whip around at the ends, but fortunately I had gotten over my acute fear of those on day 1 at Park City Mountain Resort. You just have to be ready to get off those things FAST. The first time I rode one, at Breck a couple of years ago, I was riding up with a stranger on skis who didn't move quickly, I got tangled, lost my balance and slipped, and the lift grabbed my right arm and nearly tore it off. Fortunately the operator was vigilant. I wasn't clamoring to get on another one like it, but had no such trouble this time. Progress!

   On Monday we rode like crazy from 9-4:15, then hit the Porcupine for a massive pile of gourmet nachos and beers, before we headed back home. Later, Brad picked me up and gave me a tour of downtown SLC. The coolest part was grabbing a coffee to abate the chill, and walking around the Mormon temple, tabernacle, gardens, conference center, reflecting pool, and statuary. It is a stunning complex, right down to the ornate iron gates surrounding the grounds.

Walker Center tells the weather!!!

   Tuesday morning the Tres Amigos loaded up all our things and headed back to Solitude to ride for a half day. Our only option was a full-day lift ticket, so we rode like mad men to get the most out of it. I really dig the Eagle Ridge to Sunshine Bowl to Grumble run. Super long, rolling groomers with long, flat, FAST stretches in between. I've made peace with speed and we are amigos now. And I have the windburn on the exposed areas of my face to prove it.
   Now we're at the airport hoping to catch our flight from SLC through Denver to KC. All three cities got significant snow last night (all my coworkers seem to be working from home!), so it will be interesting to see if we actually make it tonight as planned. I have to admit, it wouldn't break my heart to be stuck in a ski town for an extra day. Have board, will ride.  :)
   You don't see pictures on these last few posts because, apparently, the cold in Utah was too much for my old iPhone 4s. Said a prayer, steeped it in rice, prayed again, didn't work. So I'll have to get some photos from my friends to add in later.

Snowbird, Day 3

   By this morning (4 am to be exact), it was clear that I had more than a cold. Richard graciously offered to take me to urgent care and to pick up my prescription, so the other three boys could get on with their day. Sinus infection confirmed, I got on my meds and debated on whether to take it easy at the condo or head to the 'bird. The decision was easy: fresh powder yesterday, and a gorgeous, sunny, bluebird day today. To the mountain!
   We arrived by 11:00 when the crowd was already thinning for lunch & the Superbowl, so I was able to get a lot of riding in. My head began to feel much better, and much to my relief, I was able to focus 100% on having fun again. By 1:00 the slopes were empty; we nearly had all the runs to ourselves. Thank you, football!!!! We rode until 4:30 when the lifts closed and made a beeline home to the beef stew we'd thrown in the crock pot this morning.
   I was thinking, as crummy as it is that I'm not feeling well, I'm well enough to ride, and THANK GOODNESS it hit me on this trip and not when I was in Roatan. Here in Draper, a great urgent care facility was 2.5 miles away, and the pharmacy next door. I could ride with a head cold. In diving, however, there would be no such luck: congestion means no diving, there was NOTHING else to do at our resort, and good luck finding urgent care on the tiny, remote island of Roatan. So I'm very grateful things worked out the way they did!

Snowbird, Day 2

   Day 2 at the 'bird was a bit more trying... After two hard days of riding, my legs were beginning to talk back, making my form sloppy and falls more eminent. It snowed all day, with visibility greatly reduced for much of it. Thank goodness Brett loaned me his low-light goggles, so I had a snowball's chance of seeing where I was going! Mine are only for sunlight. While we were cold and vis was poor, fresh pow is always welcome.
   I also woke up feeling lousy, and suspected a sinus infection. Huge bummer to be sick on vacation, but I wasn't about to let that stop me. I rode from 9-2:00, until my head was pounding so hard I simply couldn't continue. Then I sat in Creekside Cafe at the base under a warm heater, drinking 50/50 hot chocolate & coffee, and chatted it up with the locals. Had an invitation to join a couple of guys in their hot tub but figured I'd better decline.  ;)
   We all cooked dinner tonight at the condo: Mexican extravaganza! Made chicken enchilada soup, fresh black bean salsa, and fresh guacamole. Big hit. (Thanks to Ginny for the mixes that made it even easier.)

Snowbird, day 1

Los Tres Amigos!

   Snowbird proved to not be as difficult of a mountain as everything I've read... Either that, or I'm becoming a better rider! Spent all day on the blues and some greens. Great day to ride, with the sun and even a little blue sky peeking out at times, near white out at others.

   Met up with Brad & his family briefly and then went back up to kill it some more.

   Traveling with five dudes + others met along the way = awesome

Dinner in Draper

   "Live underwater"?! Of course I'd find the scuba cart at the grocery store on a snowboarding trip to Utah!

   Extensive beer selection at the condo. Thinking of Trish!

   Putting Brett to work. Shopping & cooking for 5 is harder than for 1, it turns out.

Buckeye and Luckyboy

   Greetings from on high #jenandrafael #snowboarding #buckeye #luckyboy

I feel right at home here in Park City. In fact, I love it!!!!!!

Giddyup!!!!!

   Heavy snow as we touched down... Double-digit fresh pow overnight! Pow all day long. Power to the Pow-Pow! Yesssssssssssssssssssssssss

Catching up on Omaha!

   I took a quick weekend trip up to Omaha July 6-8 with Allyson and Scott—my first time at the Henry Doorly zoo! I was shooting with my brand-new Canon EOS Rebel t4i (which, admittedly, I don't even know how to use yet), and Scott borrowed my Sony HX1. We both got some great shots, and I'm working on posting them now. Scroll down to the "blog archive" pulldown menu on the right and select the appropriate date range to see what we captured.

Asombroso!

   PADI just posted this photo by Armond A on their Facebook page: cave diving in Mexico! I'll be doing 2 cenote dives with the group, among other dives, in little over a week. Equal parts mind-blowingly amazing & frightening.

Omaha Zoo: Flocks of Birds

Peacock in hiding

His adorable family! (ARGH! My photo is blurry!!!)  :(

Scott gives Ms. Peacock a wide berth

Stork, sans baby

Flamingo quarrel

Meanwhile, a sweet moment between ibis

Watching from under the bridge

Spoonbill storks and their gangly, pink babies

A very serious-looking snowy egret

Omaha Zoo: Bear vs. Bear

   The polar bear. Handsome, charming, and a delight to all, with those big, furry paws and charming backstroke.

   And then there's the Malayan sun bear. I'm sure he has a... uh... nice personality.

Omaha: Desert Dome

   Omaha zoo has some very cool exhibits and many unusual animals that you don't see at every zoo. The Desert dome was a favorite for sure, full of foxes, bats, and black-footed cats; thick-kneed birds, finches, meercats, and hyrax.

the handsome thick-kneed bird

the incredible & incredibly charming klipspringer

I need to research what the dark spot is at the corner of their eyes

saying hello to a beetle

they can fit all 4 hooves on a spot of cliff the size of a Canadian dollar

kookaburra

a grouchy-looking yet adorable burrowing owl

a sleepy and not-so-swift swift fox

Omaha: Primates

   Ah, Omaha... home of King Kong burgers, and equally impressive real primates.

   Check out these big boys from the zoo. They gave me a good chance to try out my new DSLR camera.

   HEY, MONKEY! Aren't you supposed to be holding up a giant hamburger?!

Flipping me off, eh?

Well, let's move on to the orangutan then...

More fun than a bucket of monkey!