The Good, the Bad, and the Ugly

...Actually, I only have the good and the ugly to report.

The good: Alison and I went on a lovely snowboarding trip for three days. We are tired and sore, but feeling refreshed for work. Pics and description of our "weekend" (Wednesday-Friday, really) below.

The ugly: Awardees of the RWJ were contacted on Friday, and guess who didn't get a call? Worst Valentine's Day ever (since I didn't find this out until today). It really, really sucks. But last year prepared me for rejection, so I'm doing okay.

Back to our trip. We went to Bear Creek (where two of our fabulous friends got married!) on Wednesday at around 4pm, and went snowboarding for a few hours before dinner. I had the opportunity to break in my new snowboard, and it was awesome. Here's a picture of the board:

The first night was a lot easier than we thought it would be. We headed to one of the easier hills, to practice. It was only our fourth time snowboarding, and we managed to stay mostly upright. We then had dinner at the lodge, and relaxed in the room.

The next day, we snowboarded all day. Somehow, we always manage to miss ideal conditions. It was warm on Wednesday (over 60 degrees), which had melted much of the snow and prevented them from making more. On Thursday, much of the snow had turned to ice or puddles, and it was extremely windy. We went on the intermediate slope, and did okay for the first half of the day. After lunch, though, I became really off-balance and tired, so we went back to the beginner hill. Here's a picture of Alison shredding (well, at least gliding), as well as one of me. Note the snow on my butt. That's from all the falling.

After our day on the slopes, we ate some yummy soup and watched tv in our room. I iced my knee, which was now twice it's normal size, and a lovely shade of purple.

They did not make any more snow on Friday, but they did groom the slopes, so it was much easier to handle. We returned to the intermediate hill, and I had a much easier time. Alison exchanged her snowboard from some skiis. Since she has skiied since age 13, she spent much of her time waiting around for me. Here is Alison looking dapper:

I fell a few more times that day, and added a few bruises to my other knee, and a very large, swollen bruise to my hip--I don't know why, but I always look and feel like I've been in a traffic accident after snowboarding, while Alison is largely injury-free. Although she does have a nasty nest egg on the back of her head at the moment.

Anyway, all in all, a good time. It was great to get away, and to get more experience on the slopes. If we can swing it, we'll go once more this year. Hopefully after a generous snowfall!