Geronimooo...!

I have been trying to get to this post all week long and it just hasn't happened. We had such a great time on our ski trip. No I did not ski down the Geronimo because it is a black trail and I do not ski on black trails although I did have some geronimo experiences which I will elaborate on shortly. For you non skiers out there blacks are considered the most difficult, blues are intermediate, and greens are the easiest. I am a mostly green-occasional blue kind of girl. We left early on Friday morning and the drive was not too bad. My friend Mindy and her husband Lee went with us and we all rode on a van together. We played Spades for about 3 and a half hours straight. It was intense but it made the time fly by. As we neared Ruidoso and the mountains we all got very excited but a little concerned at the lack of snow in town. I was kind of hoping we would have snow around our lodge but the view of the mountains made up for it.



Our lodges were really nice. They were 4 stories and by the end of the week my thighs were burning. We stayed on the very bottom level with Mindy and Lee. The next level had a game room with a pool table that we had fun with especially the guys. I have to throw in that I did beat my husband once. I was quite proud. The next level had three more bedrooms. My friend Melissa and her husband and her family stayed on this level. Melissa's husband Jimmy hurt his back about three weeks before the ski trip. We were really sad that he was not able to ski. He was actually in alot of pain most of the trip but such a good sport about it. And then the top level had a living area and the kitchen. The whole lodge was very roomy and comfortable and the view was spectacular. We had 45 people on this ski trip ranging in age from less than 2 to greater than 70. We were spread out over 5 lodges. But we met for meals and bible studies at the biggest lodge. It was such a fun group of people to go with and get to know better.

We woke up at the crack of dawn Saturday morning to dress in layers and prepare for a day of skiing. The drive up the mountain was very interesting. I tried to avoid the treacherous cliff side that lacked railing. There was rope at some points of the drive but I doubt it would have prevented us from flying over the edge. I tried not to think of these things on the 40 minute drive to the resort. We finally got there and unloaded our skis and boots that we had picked up the night before. There is no way to be graceful when you are dressed in bulky ski pants and snow boots trying to hold onto clunky ski boots and slippery awkward skis. It was actually colder than I expected and there was more snow than I expected. We got our skis on and made are way to the easiest green. It was actually called Easy Street. I was amazed at how fast it came back to me. It really is like riding a bicycle. We took it really easy that first day and stayed on greens mostly. Rodney and I split up after lunch so he could ski some more difficult stuff with the guys and then we met up later and skied a blue together. Amazingly I did not fall once that first day. Now the second day is a different story. This was my least favorite day. I was extremely tired and sore. My body was not used to the early hours and all the physical activity in addition to the altitude. That morning we skied more greens with some of the new skiers particularly Mindy and Lee, Melissa and her sisters Vonda and Mary. After lunch we all rode up in the gondola to the top of the mountain for some photo ops. I only took about 20 pictures of the whole trip which is totally unlike me. But I was too busy having fun! Everyone else rode the gondola back down the mountain but Rodney and I decided to ski all the way down. There were several blues to choose from and we decided on one called Ambush. I should have known better. This was one of my geronimo moments. I looked up the exact definition of ambush. One of the meanings is hidden peril or trap and I couldn't agree more. The first part of this trail was not that bad and then we turned a corner. Rodney was ahead of me and then he stopped and looked back at me and grimaced. My heart dropped to my knees as I stopped next to him and saw the steep hill up ahead. It was the only way down and I was literally terrified. He skied about half way down while I waited at the top for my courage to arrive. There was another girl up there in the same boat as me. Her man was at the bottom waiting for her. She started down the mountain and I recognized her slow unsteady winding down the mountain. So I went for it. I was about a third of the way down when I lost control and fell. The mountain was so steep that I immediately started sliding head first and couldn't stop. I frantically dug my fingers into the snow and tried to turn myself around. After about 10 seconds of sliding, although it felt much longer, I was able to get my skis underneath me and dig them into the snow. I finally stopped and to my amazement I was smiling. I couldn't help thinking to myself or I may have even said it aloud "Well, that was one way to get down the mountain". My skis never came off and I was able to get up easily and slowly made my way down. By the time we got to the foot of the mountain I was worn out but exhilarated. I was ready to hang out in the lodge and drink some hot chocolate. I reached into my pants pocket for my cell phone so I could call Mindy and Lee but it was not there. Then I realized that my pocket had been unzipped when I fell. I grudgingly told Rodney and he made the executive decision that we had to go back and look for it but I was not looking forward to it. We were very quiet as we rode the gondola back to the top of the mountain. I was trying really hard not to sulk but it wasn't working. I did send up some silent prayers that were less about my cell phone and more about me getting down the mountain in one piece this time. This time I took my skis off and hiked down that steep hill but we could not find my cell phone. I checked with lost-n-found several times. Rodney was very kind and said I could just get a new one. We were about to leave for the day and our fearless leader Wayne got a call from my mother-in-law saying that ski patrol had called her and said they found my phone. Whew! I was relieved although I was looking forward to a new phone.

The third day was my most favorite day. It was Monday and hardly anyone was on the slopes. There were no lines to get on the ski lifts. It was great. We skied several blues that morning including the Capitan. Mindy and Lee even braved this one and did really well. I ended up skiing the Capitan three times and never fell once. I took my time winding back and forth. I did have two big falls on this last day though. First, I fell off the ski lift because I waited to long to stand up and had to perform a small leap (another geronimo moment). I landed all wrong and ended up on my tush. It hurt but I was more embarrassed than anything. Then later I was on an easy green and my skis got to close to each other and I fell. One of my skis hit the inside of my thigh and I have a pretty nasty bruise that I just discovered today. I quit early on the last day because I was starting to get clumsy and didn't want to seriously hurt myself. I already had some pretty close calls. It felt so good to take off my ski boots. I met up with Mindy and Lee and we all got some hot chocolate and thawed out in the lodge. Rodney did a few more runs by himself which I encouraged because he had been so patient in waiting for me. He likes to go fast and I like to go slow. Which is strange because in real life he is much more cautious than me. By the time we got back to the lodge I was starting to miss my little man at home really bad. The drive home was not much fun. We were all worn out and miserable because we couldn't sleep on the church van. I was just ready to get home to see Tobey. He was so good while we were gone. I think it really helped that Rodney's parents stayed at our house. I am not even sure if he missed us at all. He and my mother-in-law were both sick all weekend while we were gone. So they just stayed in the house and played and watched movies. He was still awake when we got home and he ran into my arms. I think I cried I was so happy to see him. We were only gone five days but I am sure he grew an inch. We are so grateful to Mimi and PawPaw for allowing us to get away. I know y'all read my blog sometimes so thank you, thank you, thank you from the bottom of our hearts!


The Capitan!

First Baptist crew enjoying some grub.


Taken from the gondola.


Our first trip on the gondola. I was not smiling on the second trip.


On top of the mountain with Mindy and Lee.


Me and Rodney


Melissa, me, and Mindy


Mindy and Lee on our last day.


Finally got some hot chocolate. Farewell slopes!