Sunday, Jan. 2nd, 2005
3:00PM – Ken and Izzy leave Fountain Valley…make a quick stop at REI to buy two locks for the new Yakima ski lift we put on Ken’s car (though Izzy knows we have six spare locks at home).
4:30pm – We stop at Wahoos in Mira Loma for dinner
5:45pm – Adelanto – Ken tries to pass a camper trailor and a monster truck pulling a trailor. They will not let him in, and successfully force him onto the shoulder and off the road, onto an unexpected exit. Thanks to some quick maneuvering, we are able to zip through town, to the next light ahead of them, and successfully gain entrance to the highway lane before either of them can cut ahead of us. It’s great to be in 1st place!
6:30pm – Ken tries to adjust his headlights, and ends up turning all of them off (mind you, it’s now very dark out).
7:00pm – Ken tries to get me to sing a song, as his radio is not working. But he doesn’t want to sing any of the folk songs or ballads Izzy knows, and he can’t think of any on his own.
8:15pm – Ken gets pulled over by the CHP for driving 55 mph through Big Pine, which is a 35 mph zone. Fortunately, God showed mercy upon us, and Ken’s auto insurance premium, and we got off with a warning to slow down for ice, and fix the headlight we had out. No ticket! Thank you, Lord!
8:25pm – Izzy announces that it is past her bedtime. Ken finds this absurd, but such is life.
11:00pm – We arrive in Mammoth, check into our hotel, and hit the hay. We need to get up early tomorrow, if we’re to catch a lesson.
Monday, Jan. 3rd, 2005
8:15am – We wake up a little later than expected…no early bird private lesson today. The continental breakfast is fairly satisfying (I recommend the Quality Inn), and it gives us a good start to our day.
10:30am – We arrive at the lodge, pay for a 3-hour group lesson (skiing for Ken, snowboarding for Izzy), put our extras in a locker, and head out to meet our instructors.
11:00am-1:00pm – Ken learns to ski, and Izzy learns to snowboard. Her instructor tells her that she can do a very strong “falling leaf,” and to tell her next instructor that she is a “novice.” Sure…Ok.
1:00pm – Ken and Izzy meet up for lunch…mmmmmm! Soda, tasty fries, and a burger. We share a table with some Aussies who are working at the lodge for the season…one of them has what looks like a plate full of nacho-like food. He swears that somewhere, buried under all his processed cheese and condiments, is a hotdog.
2:00pm-4:00pm – We spend the rest of the day riding the green hill…Izzy refuses to try her legs on anything more difficult. All in all, our duo doesn’t have too bad a time at it. Izzy manages to make it down the hill several times without falling, which is nice. And I must say, she has not had a bad spill yet today…just balance issues. Ken is feeling comfortable on his skiis, and upon re-entering the lift line, at one point, engages a five-year-old in conversation. It goes something like this:
Ken: “Hi.”
Boy: “Hi.”
Ken: “Are you having fun?”
Boy: “Yeah…”
Ken: “Is this your first time skiing?”
Boy: “Nope. This is my 2nd lesson.”
Ken: “This is my first time. I’m taking a lesson, too.”
Boy: “(Gasp!) Adults take lessons too??”
Ken: “Yep! We sure do. Well, bye!”
Boy: “Bye.”
4:30pm – The lifts close, and we catch a shuttle back to the hotel. Ahh, to get out of my boots! We contemplate what to do for dinner, and finally decide to order pizza in. Izzy makes a few business calls, and then we settle in to watch the movie “Hero,” which Ken had recently purchased. Izzy was asleep by about 8pm. Ken, of course, was not.
Tuesday Jan. 4th, 2005
Our intention today was to wake up, and ski/board for a ½ day, and then head home. But we were both so sore and tired, that we opted to sleep in. We were sure to get packed and ready to leave before check-out, though.
10:30pm – We begin to head out of town, when Ken begins to feel that maybe the tire chains are not working as they should. Izzy checks the car manual (novel idea), and behold, they should have been put on the FRONT tires, not the rear as Ken had thought! Ken gets out to make the switch, and realizes that we have LOST one of the chains! We drive to the nearby Chevron to buy new chains, (ones that actually fit), and Ken puts them on the correct pair of tires. We begin to leave town, but Ken wants to pull over to make sure the chains are fitting properly, and to re-adjust them, if necessary. When he inspects these new chains, he discovers that one of them has come off! So, we drive back into town and re-trace our route. Nope, no chain. We blew almost $60.00 on a new pair of chains only to have one fall off just 5 minutes later. The great irony: the coupon book that Izzy had picked-up at the hotel had a 50% off coupon for chains at that very Chevron. Oh well…who knew. We decide to head out of town with just one chain on the car. Ken is very good at driving slow, so we make it down the hill with no problems. Yes, road trips are fun, but it’s always good to be home!
P.S. I know this post is a bit overdue...but here you finally have it. Stay tuned for our latest adventure!
