We drove up to the cabin in my truck after work on Friday. The next morning we slept in and then took off for Breckenridge about nine in the morning. Everything went fine on the drive up. We decided to eat lunch in the lodge before renting our skis and heading outside. We skied from about noon to four, taking periodic breaks for the bathroom, snacks, and renting a sled.
Julia had a great time. She was in good spirits most of the day, but got tired towards the end and wanted to be pulled in the sled. I figured Nordic skiing would be a good place to start, since the terrain can be pretty flat, the skis light and loose, and the weather in the trees much nicer that on the mountain. She fell down a lot in the beginning, mostly backwards. However, towards the end of the day she started to figure it out and did really well as long as we were walking. Hills and turns will come later.
I had a great time and am thinking about the possibility of making this an outdoor winter hobby. I haven't done anything during the winter in years. It's great exercise and fun. At the end of the day I pulled Julia past Troll Forest, and down and around two "blacks" called Uff Da and Shock Hill. There are a couple of huge hills that were fun for Julia and me. The uphills on the route tired me out, especially because I had to pull Julia up them.
Afterwards Julia warmed up with a hot chocolate and a free s'more. On the ride home I tried to explain to Julia that 45 minutes left was like counting to 60, 45 times. Off she went. She counted to 60 about 35 times (the entire ride back), but stopped only because we reached the dirt road off the highway. The dirt road means she can take her seat belt off and stick her head out the window.
I have a great video of skiing too. Since videos take up a separate post and don't print out, I may start just providing the link instead.
Julia skiing video:
http://youtu.be/2fzJlwO9brw
