Monday, April 7, 2008

Super-fun ski weekend!

Our little bus trip skiing was a resounding success of fun...it's the end of the ski season for us, but we hope to get to do it again some weekend (or maybe more than one) next year! As expected, it was a whirlwind, but relaxing in its own way:

We raced to get to the bus which was to leave at 6 pm sharp...and it did! When we boarded, people had already started the party...some were actually nearly three sheets to the wind before the bus even started up. ;-) We met the leader of the trip and the people sitting near us -- it ended up that three of them (single guys) were already assigned to be our "roommates" in the condo where we were assigned in Mammoth. They were all characters, but super nice and they totally adopted us as they had done the trip many times before.

We settled in, DB cracked open a beer and I had some wine (which we had brought) -- we also got Subway sandwiches for dinner and had healthy snacks (mostly TJs beef jerky which we've become addicted to -- low fat, high protein, not bad sodium, filling and delicious). It was a very jovial atmosphere. I read and half-watched the movie they put on when it got dark (Fast Times at Ridgemont High). Riding through the desert in the night was almost like flying -- nothing to see out our windows as we hurtled through the night. I slept for about the last hour of the trip and we got there a little after midnight (excellent time for a bus that had to get out of L.A. in Friday night rush hour traffic!). We found our place (we had a private bedroom and bathroom in the condo -- very separate from the common area) and went right to sleep...the morning would come early.

We got up at 7 for breakfast with our roommates then we took our time getting ready -- we had decided to ski out of another lodge than the one the club was going to (the bus left at 8 for the slopes). We took the local (free) shuttle to the gondola in The Village and took that up to the lodge where we'd be based. Got our tickets and rentals and got off the lift for our first run by 10. The beginner "green" hill at this lodge was very fun and challenging for me...I skied it the whole weekend...much longer than I was used to so I had to rest on the way down every time! But it was FUN. DB left me to go ski his fast style on more difficult runs but would come back to check on me every once in a while. By about 12:30, my right knee was hurting so much that I decided I had to rest or maybe even stop for the day. It ended up being stop for the day -- DB was also tired by about 1 so we headed back to our condo, picking up some drinks and good snacks on the way home.

We grabbed some drinks and headed to the hot tub for a nice long soak before everyone else got back from skiing. We had fun chatting with one of our roommates who was a real character and a very nice guy. At 4, we went back for a shower and a nap which was WONDERFUL. The apres-ski is one of my favorite parts of the whole skiing thing! At 5 we got ready for the party. Yes, this club had a party on Saturday night -- they provide food and everyone is invited to bring their own drinks. They pick a condo in which to have the party and, you guessed it, we were in the Party Condo. It was actually really nice -- everyone came to us so we didn't even have to put shoes on and got to meet a lot of fun people. By 7:30 everyone was off to have dinner (either in their condo -- they provide dinner with the trip -- or on their own -- we went for sushi). We were in bed asleep by 10.

Sunday, the alarm went off at 7. It seemed awfully dark, but it was important for us to get up and get going on time because we had to have all of our luggage on the bus at 8 before it left for the day (we could take ourselves by shuttle later, but we had to have all our gear sorted and ready). I got up, put on my contacts, started to do last minute packing and then looked at the clock -- it was SIX am! DB's Blackberry had changed the time in the middle of the night (this weekend was apparently the old "spring ahead" weekend) and it said 7 when it was 6!!!! I was a wee bit cranky about this...took out my contacts and went back to sleep for another hour. ;-)

When we got up for real, we got ready, ate breakfast (a nice roommate cooked for us every morning -- I ate the omelette on Saturday, but skipped it for dry toast on Sunday -- I needed to get a grip on the food with all the unaccustomed drinking I was doing!) and got our stuff on the bus. Then we shuttled over to "our" lodge and hit the slopes by 9:30. My knee was hurting again by noon, so I stopped for the day, had some salad and hooked up with DB about 1 when I was having a beer in the bar overlooking the slopes (I love to watch the skiers when I'm not actually skiing!). We went to the other lodge where the bus was, changed our clothes, wandered around looking at helmets (I'm going fast enough now that I think I need/want one for next season) then settled down for a snack and another beer (I am NOT a beer drinker usually, but in the afternoon when skiing, I kind of like the taste of Hefeweizen with lemon). The bus left at 4, stopped to pick up sandwiches (which we had ordered earlier for everyone) and we were back by 9. It was great not to have to drive after skiing on Sunday! And they played two movies on the way back: Blazing Saddles (meh) and Rendition (good, but flawed). We were home before 10 (which was much earlier than expected so we were happy!). I actually feel like I had a little vacation. :-)

Now for the summary of what you're all here for:

Food: I didn't do badly at all. Subway and jerky on Friday night. Omelette, small piece of bacon and dry toast on Saturday morning. Open-faced tuna sandwich and water for lunch. Ate very little of the bad snacks at the party on Sat. Small spicy tuna salad and veggie roll and miso soup for dinner. Sunday was just dry cinnamon raisin toast and coffee for breakfast, salad for lunch, teeny chicken open-faced chicken appetizer for snack, huge Mediterranean veggie sandwich and Caesar salad for dinner and some pretzels for snack.

Drinking: Not as good. I drank the whole bottle of red wine that DB had put in a Gatorade bottle for me on the way up. Believe it or not, that is not bad for my previous drinking ways -- it's like having 3 or 4 glasses over a 6-hour period. And I had a beer when we got to the condo. BUT, I really felt this because I'm not used to drinking anymore. I was SO dehydrated and felt yucko in the night and the next morning. This did not, however, stop me from drinking a similar amount of red wine, plus sake at dinner, on Saturday night. Again, I was up off and on all night with dry mouth and bad dreams and feeling pretty yuck. Yesterday I had about 2 1/2 beers.

So that's my confession. Not great, but I did get a lot of exercise (just walking in ski boots is exercise!) and I was pretty good with food and I'm immediately back on the wagon. My ski pants (that I bought before I first skied three years ago) were looser than they have ever been (yay). And my assistant told me this morning she could really see me slimming in my waist.

Fun was had...some cheating was had too...and I may pay the price at weigh-in on Friday. But I'm still committed to The Drastic and have several more weeks before beach bathing suit time...

2 comments:

ar said...

That sounds like a mini-vacation just as you said Hellen. Amazing all the activity you put in in such a short amount of time. Lots of exercise in fresh air. Envious over here :>)

Grumpy Chair said...

Gosh you and DB know how to have fun!

Sounds like a great weekend mini vacay and I am so impressed with your eating while away from your usual environment.