4/24/09

Day 48

Conditions: Mild and mushy
Location: Snowbird, UT

We flew in last night after school and work. When we sat down, I immediately snatched the window seat, leaving Dirk with the middle. I need the window seat for several reasons. First, it guarantees that the only person touching me will be Dirk – when people spill over into my seat or use the armrest (with their clothing touching my arm) it really bothers me. Second, when I’m feeling particularly claustrophobic I can lean into the window, clothes my eyes, and try to escape the current reality.

So, I noticed that the guy sitting in the aisle seat – and therefore next to Dirk – extended his hand and introduced himself to Dirk. Dirk hates conversations almost as much as I do, and was taken aback. This was my cue to start pretending that I didn’t know Dirk at all, lest I be pulled into some awkward conversation. The aisle guy went back to reading his book, which I later determined was a bible-study text. As the flight went on, aisle guy pulled book after book out of his bag and stacked them on his tray. They were all religious, with a prized, leather bible stacked on the top. I just waited. I knew this guy was going to find a way to talk to Dirk about religion. I kept my headphones on the entire flight, even when my iPod was off, just to stay out of it.

At the end of the flight, the guy handed Dirk a fake “million dollar” bill. All Dirk could do was mutter an awkward thanks - it was clearly propoganda meant to break the ice. Then the guy starts pointing out the features of the bill, including the colors. Finally, he got in his pitch. “There’s a million-dollar message on the back of the bill,” aisle guy said. At this point, most people would turn over the bill. From the corner of my eye I proudly watched as Dirk refused to turn over the bill and read the message. The back of the bill was no doubt a Jesus message. (I wonder if the guy was bothered by the fact that I was reading Harry Potter?)

To return to boarding…We expected hard conditions and slept in a bit after arriving late last night. Surprisingly, the snow was already soft with perfect Spring conditions when we got onto the hill. We found great, soft conditions all day – both on and off the groomers. Since we had such a huge breakfast, we ended up riding all day with no break. The snow was very deep mush. It was slow, but sometimes the turns felt as smooth as riding on powder.

Highlights:

- Great spring conditions and even better scenery.
- It was warm. So warm that we had to shed some layers in a locker mid-day.

Lowlights:

- End-over-ends. We both performed a few in the slow mush. Luckily, that stuff is really soft.
- 3.2 beer. It’s all they have where we are staying. We would have to drive miles into Salt Lake City to get to a state liquor store that sells real beer. Weak.

Après Ski:

We walked around and ate dinner at the delicious and pretentious Aerie. The food was great. The only downer was that the waiter seemed to fancy Dirk. He specifically asked to take Dirk's order first, and spent the entire evening talking exclusively to Dirk. Hm.

Days to go: 2