We quickly fell into a comfy routine of Shane getting out for an early-morning ski while Juliette and I drank coffee and played Foosball at the lodge. You’ll see I left my left my guys tipped up in her favor, because…
that smile!
After Jules had sufficiently whupped me in the game room, we drove down the mountain to meet up with Shane, who had skied his way into Winthrop. We grabbed pastries and another round of warm beverages from the Rocking Horse Bakery, taking our sweet time at our corner table. The absence of any sort of rush felt almost as decadent as my ginormous slice of carrot cake.
Juliette and I had extended our ski rentals for another day and the three of us set out on one of the nearby trails near the Methow River. There was a bit of a hill near the start of our course and I almost asked Juliette to walk it, as it was a pretty speedy little dip. But her bold little spirit drove to go for it – she bent her legs, kept her eyes laser-focused on the grooves ahead, and…skied. I high-fived her at the bottom, overwhelmed with pride and relief.
She’s so fierce.
We skied for a couple of hours, cruising over bridges and past barns and under leafless trees. Sweet, sweet serenity.
Juliette was so stoked to be skiing with poles on her second day that she snuggled up with them when she hopped in the trailer.
Here’s to sealing our fate as a (slow lane!) ski family.
Post-ski, we grabbed a pizza lunch in Mazama and then huddled for a few minutes at the outdoor fire pit before heading back up the mountain to the Lodge.
Back at Sun Mountain, Shane and I did a few practice runs in the clearing near our room while Juliette played on the snowy playground. I can’t for the life of me figure out how to climb uphill on cross-country skis, and any progress I made often ended up with with a backward slide on my stomach, but I’ll keep at it. This feels like a worthwhile endeavor.
No day was complete without a solid hot tub sesh, so we took a family dip and soaked our tired legs, then wined and dined at the pub. I know I’m gushing, but Lodge Life! It’s the best.
It started snowing in the evening and kept up through the night so that on Wednesday morning we awoke to twelve inches of freshy-freshy-pow-pow. Shane went out for an early ski and Juliette and I went for a stroll to check out the snowy scene.
THIS PLACE.
And then, blue skies!
I gave Juliette my old point-and-shoot Nikon and have loved having a little photographer buddy with me on our travels.
We made snow angels and cleared the snow from the playground slide and made a game of seeing how fast we could run in the thigh-deep/chest-deep powder.
Take a load off, kiddo.
Juliette and I took one last dip in the hot tub, milking every single minute until our noon check-out.
I bummed hard as we scraped the mound of snow from our windshield and waved goodbye to our mountain retreat. Those few days had been an intensely good break from the daily grind.
Adios, mountains.
Adios, horses.
Adios, snow. WAAAHHHHH!
