7 year Anniversary

Usually for our anniversary we go out to dinner. Chili's or something similar. This year since we had a house full of family to watch the kids, we opted for something more ambitious. We planned a 3 day/2night ski trip to Treetops Resort in Michigan. We'd considered many different possibilities but in the end we went with the most affordable one that would still put us in pretty landscape rather than something closer (and flater) to Chicago--against Tammy's recommendations. She'd been worried about driving conditions and she wasn't wrong. But our driving dramas start before we ever got into the car.

The morning we were to leave, we got up early and were mostly--amazingly--on schedule. But when we started loading up the car we had borrowed from Arron, we were shocked to discover broken glass littering the front seats and even the hammer the thief used to break the passenger window. We'd taken basically everything out of the car but the GPS mount on the window was enticement enough for someone to break in. They made off with a mount and a charger converter thing (with 2 regular outlets for laptops or whatever) but not the desired GPS. Honestly, I was so stunned I kinda shut down and my mind went blank. I just didn't see what we were supposed to do next and we stood there in the snow staring at the gaping hole with bags in hand.

Luckily, Tammy and Tom were not stumped. We pulled the car around back to the garage, cleaned out the bulk of the glass, attempted to get the cops to come make a report (a futile effort even with the hammer as evidence), moved all our things into their all wheel drive Outback and headed out only about an hour and a half later than planned. They even managed to get it fixed by the next day (Dec. 23rd--not the best day for getting anything done) while we were off having fun in the snow. Do I have the coolest sis or what? Oh and Tam and Tom also leant us their ski outfits. Awesome. Actually, I was wearing Tom's smaller pants. Not so great for my self-esteem.

So even though we were off to a rough start, we made it safely to our ski resort in about 8 hours (as compared to the projected 6 hours by googlemaps) which was excellent time since we were expecting worse conditions. The first hour was sunny and gorgeous. And then we hit the snow and icy roads. Iz got really good at driving in these conditions while I napped (I know, I know, but something about cars just sends me off to dreamland) and watched the scenery. It was beautiful to watch the landscape drift from urban to rural, all blanketed in fresh snow. How is it that snow can make even beautiful things more breathtaking? Maybe it's my rosy tropical eyes.

By the time we'd checked in, changed and rented all our gear, we only had a couple of hours to ski, which was perfect since it gave us a chance to try out our snow legs without the chance to overdo it and be too tired the next day. But before we hit the slopes we had yet another misadventure--we locked ourselves out of the room. We had the key card. But that doesn't do any good if the chain is also locked since we'd left through the glass sliding door. That also added to our lack of ski time that first night.

First, let me say that watching me try to skate across the level area to get to the tow rope must have bordered on the insanely ridiculous. Not a graceful line in my body. Second, that tow rope is trickier than it appears. It zips so fast and if you don't have a strangle hold on it the thing just slips through your fingers, burning through your gloves while you totter about on your skis making jerky little spurts up the hill till your husband tries to help and you both end up in a twisted pile of limbs, forcing someone at the bottom to turn off the dang thing. Sigh. And then you let a bunch of little kids zip past you while you regain your breath and try again. Fairly humiliating. But it only happened the one time and I quickly figured out how to get that strangle hold at the start and keep my poles out of the way, too. Soon I was zipping up to the top of the bunny hill with the rest of the kids.

I'm actually pretty proud of how well we both did. I only fell once and was even starting to get the hang of curving down the hill. It was all french fries for me down the bunny slope. No need for pizza feet. The time I did fall was in order to avoid another beginner who was swerving into my space I had to quickly turn aside and had too much speed to stop before I would have hit the side fence so I toppled myself over. Tom had given me a lot of tips but I had forgotten to ask him how to stop quickly. Iz made friends with an employee who took him onto an intermediate run using the ski lift. Even though everyone had warned us that everyone falls on the lift, Iz, of course, did not. Except for when the employee (this was his 2nd time snowboarding) went in front of him off the lift. By the time our 2 hours were up, Iz was pretty comfortable on his board, even carving up little hills and stopping in a swoosh of snow like a pro. And I even went down the intermediate run with him a couple of times without biffing it. Definitely pizza feet though. And I could skate better, too, except only on a slight decline and not on the flat parts. Problems with my momentum.

We headed back in and returned our rentals feeling pretty good about the world. Everyone at the resort was incredibly friendly (that may be our NY lowered expectations speaking here), the employees helpful and genuinely interested in their customers. They had joked with us before we headed for the slopes after hearing we were from Hawaii, telling us to save our more spectacular falls for outside their window. And even the kids getting their own gear on were nice, immediately striking up conversations and wishing us luck. The midwest is pretty cool.

We went into the nearby town, Gaylord to look for something to eat and found a gem of a Mexican place with friendly staff and huge portions. I was really happy with all our culinary samplings this trip. The next morning we used our free breakfast vouchers and had one of the best breakfasts in a long time. Iz's ham steak was extra thick and tasty and his eggs buttery and hashbrowns perfection. My huge plate of banana bread french toast was lush and almost like dessert with the caramel sauce drizzle. I guess they realize they have to feed you well to fuel your day on the slopes.

The day flew by with chilly rides up and exhilarating runs down the slopes. Iz did several harder intermediate runs while I stuck to the longer beginning one and the first intermediate run. The wind really picked up and the snow was coming at us sideways and I was really glad we'd gotten me a pair of goggles or I wouldn't have been able to see anything. I biffed it again, this time on the intermediate slope. I have a harder time turning toward the right than the left and I was going too fast and ended up going head first into the snow. Iz said the poof of snow was pretty impressive. Then it was my turn to watch Iz as he plowed through a little girl in the half pipe, grabbing her and trying to cushion the fall. Poor thing was so frightened--being attacked by a grown man must be pretty scary. But neither of them were hurt and they both made it down the hill. However, Iz's pocket was open and the car keys had flown out and into the snowy haystack. It took some time and lots of prayers but he eventually found them. Whew. Crisis averted. At around 4:30 (when the visibility really dropped and my hands were freezing inside my gloves inside my pockets)I got this really awful feeling that something was wrong. I couldn't really put my finger on it but as I timidly approached the run one more time (both Tam and Tom had warned about those "one more times") I said a silent prayer seeking protection. And it was almost like hearing a sigh. Like God was saying, Really? You're asking me to protect you as you set off to do something you already feel is stupidly dangerous? So I called it quits and returned to our room to warm up while Iz kept going, getting better and better. But just before I was winding down, I did get to see Iz Anyhow, while I vegged out in front of a tv with more than the 6 channels I'm used to, Iz continued to carve it up out in the blizzard. He did get injured though at the end--doing something reckless, of course, like jumping off a 15ft side bank. Jumping wasn't hard but the landing sure was--he'd tilted backwards and had his board slid out from under him while his arm was ripped up and around at body contortionist angles. And he still hasn't gotten back full motion.



After eating a mediocre dinner at the lodge, we went back to our favorite mexican place for the most massive brownie ever--served on a sizzling skillet with 2 scoops of ice cream. Awesome. Life is definitely good. It was a nice end to our little ski adventure. We'd decided to forego another amazing breakfast at the lodge since all the weather forecasts said the next morning was going to be brutal--as in only drive if absolutely necessary and be sure to have food and blankets with you at all times. But our immense driving luck (which apparently did not extend to parking luck) held out and we made it back to Chicago in excellent time. We only had torrents of rain instead of snow. Even with a pretty long breakfast stop at Steak N Shake, it only took 6 hours to get home. Plenty of time to help out with Christmas Eve dinner.