What A Weekend (a.k.a. What A Day Part II)

This post is a much requested follow up to the "What A Day" post of Jan 23rd. So if you haven't read that one yet you may want to start there to see from where we start.

When last we left our heroine, Moira, she was taking in the events of her fortieth birthday day. And what a day it was - a new President, a beautiful snow fall, frolicking children, a parade of animals and, of course, the party and Moira's over flowing gratitude to those she loves. What A Day! If you have missed the sarcasm try re-reading What A Day.

A week and a half to the big trip and here is what we have. Pants that don't fit and a hotel reservation with ski passes. Here is what we are missing: any skiing talent what-so-ever in the entire Duncan clan, ski classes for the kids, ski gear for all (gloves, socks, goggles, helmets, neck/face warmers, hats, etc), enough clean clothes for four to weekend at a 4 star resort, a place for the doggie to stay while we're away, time and energy to get all this together and I am told a good attitude. Do I (oops I meant "we") pull it all together in time? Yes. Is it painless? Nope. But it does get done. With a huge shout out to my friend Katie and her boys for loaning me all the ski gear thus saving me hours of time and probably $300+ for what may well be a one time adventure.

I have mentioned that I sucked at skiing 15 years ago when I did ski. Didn't I? Well I did. What I failed to mention was that I was virtually terrified and in pain the entire time I ever spent on a slope. I learned to ski when I was 16 years old (the age of bravery and unbelievable stupidity). By the way, I use the word "learned" loosely here. My friends could ski . They were taught either in ski school or by loving parents as small children and developed their skill as they aged. I had never even put on a pair of skis. Kindly they invited me on a group ski trip. "Oh you don't need lessons. We'll teach you." Always one not to miss a good time I believed them. Here is how it went down. "You put your skis on this way. This is a J-bar." Roars of laughter followed by, "Oops, we meant to tell you not to sit on it." One trip down the bunny slope to learn my lifeline move the "snowplow". Then onto the lift and "easy" blue trails with soon-to-be broken promises of going slow so I could keep up. Now if you have ever skied I think you can understand where my ski career went awry. If you haven't, then to help you understand what this was like try to picture the following scenario. On the same day you get your learners permit to drive you are handed the keys to a stick shift (you learned to drive on an automatic) and are told to drive on a four lane highway in heavy traffic into a city with no idea where you are going and it is all going to be filmed for YouTube. OK you are getting close but now add severe charlie horses in both legs, sub zero temperatures and lots of ice (this is the northeast after all). I think you can see it now. Throughout college there were similar scenarios except now my friends thought I knew how to ski and didn't coddle me like they did on the first trip. I eventually was able to snowplow blues with a shaky confidence and even accidentally hit a black diamond or two. I hated every minute on the slopes and could be found in the lodge more often then not. I was good at lodging. So with that as the whole of my skiing experience I think you have a better understanding of my less than excited reception to my fortieth birthday present. In addition to the fear and pain of my skiing memories I now have the added joy of keeping two kids happy and their unlimited stuff organized (mittens, hats, goggles, and on and on). Yippee for me.

Thursday night before we leave. Molly is curled on the couch writhing in abdominal pain and has been for close to four hours. I am folding my second load of laundry with one still in the washer and another in the dryer. Liam, the six-year old, is thinking he doesn't want to do ski school he'll just stay at the hotel and be in the arcade. Oh, and it is already 8:00pm and we are leaving at 7:30am. We contemplate cancelling but then, lucky us, Molly hurls all over the family room rug and thinks that maybe she will feel better in the morning. The kids go to bed and I clean the rug. Yippee for me again. Laundry and packing resume and we are off to bed at 11:45pm leaving tons to do in the morning. I don't want to be a naysayer but things aren't looking too good and I am not all that disappointed. Morning comes all too soon. Unbelievably, we pack, Molly is feeling better, we drop the dog off and are off just 15 minutes behind schedule. The house looks like a tornado hit it but we're off on our adventure.

Day one: Fairly successful. Steve and I take a real lesson with a skilled and patient instructor. By end of the day both of us are almost parallelling. Well kind of. Molly and Liam do pretty well in ski school. Molly spends the first few hours ready to cry from fear but then gets the hang of it. Liam falls twice and spends the last hours of ski school sitting on the ground eating snow. Gross!

Day two: Actually to my chagrin, day two is great! Kids are back in ski school and Liam is promising a new attitude. Steve and I take the big lift up to the top and do a wide easy "green" trail. Who even knew green existed? It must be new in the last 15 years or so because I am sure my friends would have taken me down them. Wouldn't they have? Steve does some very impressive acrobatics on the way down. Helmets are definitely new in the past 15 years and Steve puts his to good use. Best $12 we ever spent. After ski school Molly is certified "chair lift ready" and we even coax Liam up once. He declares that he "loves skiing" and "skiing is awesome".

The Mount Washington Resort is spectacular http://www.mountwashingtonresort.com/. Built in 1902 and absolutely magnificent. One of the first steel framed structures of its day. There are huge windows looking out to sweeping views from every side. A wide covered veranda encircles three sides just perfect for rocking the day away in warmer weather. It is home to a wide array of dining and entertainment options from elegant and very grown-up to bed time stories and family movies. Plus there is a Kids Club allowing parents to have grown-up time. In the winter you can relax by the enormouse fireplace in the lobby, swim, ice skate, go tubing, cross country ski, downhill ski and even go dog sledding. Perfect for a romantic get away, an action vacation or a family trip. Who would have guessed? I stand 100% corrected. Do you hear that Steve? Take it in. You know how often I admit that I am wrong.

I was, however, dead wrong on this trip. It was a blast. I finally understand what people see in skiing. Skiing at forty is the way to go. No 16 year old ego to force you to fake bravery and skill. Just nice slow skiing with people at your skill level. Pure joy. Liam is right. Skiing is awesome!