The End of a Ski Era - Almost

In the past three weeks we have traveled from Colorado to North Carolina, then back to Colorado, then to Utah, and then to British Columbia (not kidding, 16 hours in the car to ski a few inches at Whistler). Now we are back in Tahoe. Woosh!

Our 2008 Subaru Outback has been a trooper, so has the dog - and man that dog hates the car.

Our ski odyssey is almost over for the winter  and I am feeling melancholy about the whole thing - everyone cry me a river. Despite the relatively dry winter throughout the entire western United States, it was a blast!

So what to write about?

I am at a bit of a loss. In this case, I will follow our brilliant friend S.J.'s example and keep it simple with a report card summary of the last few weeks.

• Surprising the J.M. family in Charlotte, North Carolina with a St. Patrick's Day visit. A+

• Our trip to the local Charlotte Walmart for a green shirt for Dave for the J.M. and K.M. St. Patrick's Day party spectacular. He ended up with a Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtle t-shirt with a cape (for $7.95). C
• Dave's weird green-colored party beard, just not OK. D
• Amie drinking Irish whiskey all night at the St. Patrick's Day party. D-
• Amie taking a 10:00 p.m. nap and rallying the rest of the night. A

• The beard, fear the beard. B-

• Having to leave Utah early because there was NO SNOW. C-

• Hiking with Dave's dad instead of skiing. B+

• Uncle S.M. giving us his old ski, which we fashioned into the official house shot-ski. A

• Eat, drink, sleep, ski, repeat......for days. A+++++

• Arriving after a 16 hour drive in Whistler and seeing almost no snow at the base, I almost cried. D-
• Making the best of it with a local Okanagan Valley Gamay (good) and Pinot Gris (a bit sweet for me). B

•  Mountain biking around Lost Lake on the days we didn't ski in Whistler. C+

•  Being back in Tahoe and getting warmly welcomed by 4 new inches of snow at Heavenly - YAY. B+

•  The beard. B-
• The ceremonial shaving of the beard this afternoon. I sort of miss it. B

Next up is Coachella (I have NOTHING cool to wear) then a week in San Diego goat-sitting at J.Z.'s house in Valley Center, California.

I posted our future plans at this site on the right-hand side. Email me if you want to join us anywhere along the way or will be in the area at the same time. We have extra reservations at most of our campsites along the way. Miss you all!