I learned that . . .
. . . one night makes all the difference!
. . . sunny warm weather with icy snow on Thursday can turn into cool cloudy weather with awesome powder on Friday.
. . . I will never tire of driving over Wolf Creek Pass, especially if we’re headed to the Hot Springs Spa and Resort to get the “free” lift tickets that come with our room.
. . . even 9 year olds can board hard enough to wreck their board.
. . . it’s difficult to complete your turns when you’re missing an entire edge on your board.
. . . Texans go home on Friday.
. . . there are no lift lines after the Texans go home.
. . . every lift at Wolf Creek requires you to walk up a hill.
. . . Dude doesn’t care if he has to walk up hill as long as he has a cool rental board instead of his broken board for the day.
. . . the bottom of Hubby’s board is as fun as the top.
. . . Dude is very proud of the board he picked out for Hubby.
. . . boarding on powder is much more fun than boarding on ice!
. . . the same runs are completely different when it’s snowing out than when it’s sunny.
. . . the moguls are much easier with powder than with ice.
. . . flat light makes it difficult to see the moguls.
. . . with the fresh powder, you never know if the moguls are going to go “poof” when you hit them of stop you in your tracks.
. . . it’s a lot of fun to try all the new runs on new lifts.
. . . I don’t like riding up chairlifts that go almost straight up at the end to get above a double black diamond run.
. . . this is not what I want to see when I get off the scary chairlift.
. . . I would like to have more visibility than this at the top of a run I’ve never been on before.
. . . moms will always worry about their kids getting hurt.
. . . even though my kids care less that there was a bazillion foot drop off right at the edge of the catwalk to our blue run, I will always be nervous for them.
. . . watching my family board off into the great unknown makes me nervous.
. . . boarding down new runs in the fog is fun!
. . . it’s easier to board when you can see what’s coming.
. . . when you can’t see what’s coming, you slow down too much and get stuck on the one flat part.
. . . you don’t make that mistake the second time you do the run.
. . . you board out of the clouds about half way down the run.
. . . the run was beautiful.
. . . there were some steep hills on the run.
. . . I made it down the steep hills safely, and even completed turns on them!
. . . when you turn around and don’t see your Dude behind you, you should stop.
. . . when you hear your Dude yelling at you from the trees you just came out of, you should listen.
. . . 9 year olds forget that you shouldn’t board close to trees because of the huge sink holes.
. . . Dudes that forget this and try to go over a jump between two trees will fall into said sink hole.
. . . it takes a 9 year old Dude approximately 3 minutes to dig himself out of a sink hole by a tree.
. . . it would probably take Dude less time if he’d unstrapped himself from his board.
. . . I’m the kind of mom that will sit there and watch my kid and laugh while I dig out my camera.
. . . Daddies and Daughters are awesome!
. . . we have all gotten considerably better at skiing/boarding this year.
. . . we are willing to try just about anything and have fun doing it.
. . . I am willing to pay a bazillion dollars to eat mountain food for the second day in a row.
. . . our second day of skiing/boarding does not last as long as the first.
. . . even though you’re going downhill, it’s still a great workout.
. . . it’s very difficult to board on a board that needs wax.
. . . when they say it will take 10 minutes to wax your board, they really mean 30.
. . . my little Dude is old enough to take $5 and go to the cafeteria by himself to get a Gatorade.
. . . my little Dude is sweet enough to realize that if his costs $2.50, he has enough to buy one for his sister.
. . . my little Dude knows that I will be OK with him buying a Gatorade for his sister, even though I told him to bring me the change.
. . . Paradise is a short 30 minute drive from Wolf Creek ski area.
. . . Paradise is apparently 108 degrees.
. . . the Hot Springs Resort and Spa is worth every penny.
. . . 21 natural hot spring pools are beautiful.
. . . 21 natural hot spring pools do not smell beautiful.
. . . kids will always think a window seat is cool.
. . . kids will moan and groan when you tell them they cannot sleep on the window sill.
. . . there is a free coffee/capuccino/juice bar in the lobby of the hotel.
. . . I couldn’t have anything there because I gave up sugar for Lent.
. . . the Lobster Pot is hotter than Paradise.
. . . my kids make cute lobsters.
. . . I’m fortunate to be able to do fun things like this with my family.
. . . my kids understand how fortunate they are that we get to do fun things like this.
. . . my kids are spoiled.
. . . my kids are not rotten.
. . . the natural hot spring water is, well, hot!
. . . too many parents allow their kids to run wild.
. . . too many kids need more attention from their own parents so they don’t hang all over me in the pool.
. . . I will never understand people who sit in a 109 degree hot tub with a hot Starbucks in their hand.
. . . waterfalls are always neat.
. . . a camera does not take a good picture when there is a big water spot on the lens.
. . . your kids are more than willing to get out of the pools to go eat dinner if you tell them you can get back in the pools after dinner.
. . . all you can eat catfish and shrimp at the Dogwood Cafe is AWESOME!
. . . it’s easy to eat too much catfish and shrimp.
. . . even when you’re incredibly full, your kids will remind you that you did indeed tell them they could back in the pools after dinner.
. . . the Lobster Pot is not the hottest pool.
. . . the Burg is 114 degrees F.
. . . the Burg really smells like sulfer and the rest of the cocktail of minerals that make up natural hot springs.
. . . the resort controls the temperature of each of the pools by adjusting the rate at which the water is pumped into each pool.
. . . the hotter the water, the more it smells.
. . . it snows in the evening.
. . . natural hot tubs feel really nice while it’s snowing.
. . . your ears get cold when you’re sitting in a hot tub while it’s snowing.
. . . your body gets cold when you walk between hot tubs while it’s snowing.
. . . the Burg does not feel so hot when it’s snowing.
. . . wet robes don’t keep you very warm on your walk back to the hotel room.
. . . snow-covered flip-flops do not keep the bottoms of your feet warm when you walk back to the hotel room.
. . . the smell from natural hot springs stays in your hair through multiple washings, just like campfire smoke.
. . . the minerals in the hot springs make your swimming suit stiff.
. . . the smell from natural hot springs stays in your swimming suit through multiple washings.
. . . I really really really like hot springs!
Stay tuned to see what I learned in Part IV of spring break!