2/7/09

Day 26

Conditions: Spring conditions: 45 degrees with mashed potato snow
Location: Boyne Mountain, MI

We decided to drive up late last night instead of this morning, a decision that proved to be disastrous in many ways. We started by grabbing a quick dinner at Panera. They were busy, but we didn’t really mind. We waited more than 10 minutes to place our order. When we got to the counter, we attempted to order soup and sandwiches. At this point, the highschooler at the counter said, “Well, we’re kindof busy. And, we’re going to have to make the sandwiches ourselves. So...it will be a while. Do you still want them?” This question was asked in an attempt to make us change our order to something less complicated than a sandwich. Obviously we still wanted them. For $8 per sandwich, I expect you to make them. We informed her we would wait for the sandwiches. We then got into the long line of people waiting for their actual meals. More than 15 minutes later, we arrived near the front. One of the young ladies making the food pulled Dirk aside. “Did they tell you we would have to make these sandwiches, and that it would be a while because we only have two people working?” Dirk told her that we were informed it would be a while, but we had already waited 15 minutes. Begrudgingly, the girl agreed to make the sandwiches (which we already paid for, by the way). This type of situation is the reason I hate leaving my house.

After mediocre sandwiches, we started the long drive to Lake Waloon. Near the end of the drive, I offered to take the wheel several times, since Dirk seemed tired. He insisted on finishing the drive, so I went to sleep. I work up to a scream, screeching tires, and a snowboard bag hitting me in the back of the head. Less than one mile from our destination, the Tribecca (only six months only) had its first accident when it hit a deer. Luckily, the damage to the Subaru was minor: a small dent and a piece of plastic that came off the wheel-well. We then when through the process of calling the cops to file a police report and calling Dirk’s insurance. We didn’t get to bed until almost 1:00 a.m.

After the dramatic trip up here, today was far less eventful. The trees were out of the question: it was far too warm and the snow wasn’t safe. We spent most of the day riding switch and perfecting ground spins on some blue runs. We even took a few runs through the baby park. Sure, the rails were only a few inches from the ground, but we still had fun. The snow was soft and chewy, making it a good day to do some technique drills.



Highlights:

- There were no ski teams today! There was a NASTAR course set up, but it was unobtrusive. We actually got to take several runs down Superbowl; it was a pleasant surprise.
- The people watching. Warm weather brings out the weirdness. Below is a picture of a guy who obviously didn’t realize that the Pro Bowl will be played in Hawaii, not Boyne City.



Lowlights:

- During the ride up the Superbowl chair, we started calculating how many days we have left. This year, Boyne opened early and Bohemia had great snow – if we are ever going to make it to 50 days, this is the year. But, we’ve already missed so many days to laziness, poor conditions, or resort closings. We came to the conclusion that it will be very close. We can’t skip another Boyne day, even if we are dying to.
- I took an accidental detour to the Boyne Land Lift – the beginner lift the literally moves slower than a human walk. It was humiliating just to ride it, but at least I can not say that I have ridden every life at Boyne Mountain.

Après Ski:

We stayed at the Hobey's, ate chili, and watched movies.

Days to go: 24