(Note: Thanks to Donna for the pictures. I had my camera but I was too lazy to take any pictures…)
The day I got back from Hong Kong, Kel & the kids met me at the airport. We dropped my truck off at the airport and headed on down to Blowing Rock, North Carolina. (Near Boone - about 180 miles from home.)
We, along with a few others, rented a house within walking distance of Appalachian Ski Mountain.
We’ve been doing this every year for a number of years (although I’ve weaseled out of it once or twice - I don’t have any interest in being outside in the cold). For the past few years, we’ve been joined by a pretty constant cast of characters.
Of course, Donna is a given…
David, Anne & Julie have moved to Charlotte (N.C.) in the past year or two. As such, we picked Appalachian Ski Mountain instead of the ski resorts in West Virginia or Virginia.
Kel and Donna have known Beth for lots of years. Beth is joined by her husband, Paul…
…and her daughter, Catherine…
Friday night we hung out at the house. The ladies drank wine, and I shared my homebrew with David and Paul.
Saturday morning, everyone but me bundled up and braved the wind and the cold.
Dyson and Keira both had private (one-on-one) lessons.
Keira’s only comment about her lesson was, "the instructor didn’t care if I complained and whined." Oh, the things people put up with for their job…
Dyson seemed to really take to it. When he was going down the bunny slopes with Kel, he kept telling her, "Don’t hold my hand. I want to do it myself!"
He enjoyed himself until another little kid plowed into him and really knocked him down. After that, Kel made sure he tried one more time (the whole get-back-on-the-horse concept) but he was ready to go back in.
Paul didn’t ski either. But he, at least, ventured out to watch the others…
We had lots of snacks, spaghetti & garlic bread, and more beer and wine. I was mostly good about my diet while in Hong Kong. So much for that…
After dinner, several of them did some night skiing.
Dyson jamming to the music while stuffing his face…
The girls wanted to try out the karaoke, but there weren’t any karaoke CDs. Not to be deterred, they just put in one of Julia’s CDs and tried to sing along with it.
Julia, being the oldest, directed the show…
On Sunday morning, no one worked up the energy to ski before checkout. Watching TV seemed easier…
At first, Dyson was a bit nervous about the bear skin/head.
By Sunday morning, he was slyly sticking his fingers in the bear’s nose…
(And holding on to his "best friend", a feather…)
Apparently, the bear didn’t like Dyson’s exploration of its nasal passages and decided to rip out Dyson’s throat. I barely managed to restrain it…
We drove back to Roanoke and spent the evening watching the Super Bowl…
