The Powder Room

If you aren't a skier or a snowboarder, what I am about to tell you may not seem like that big of a deal. To this official ski bum and his lovely wife, I assure you that it is a big deal. Get ready for the news...wait for it...wait for it...and here it is...winter has finally returned! Wooooooo Hooooooo!!! The snow has been falling and the temperature has plummeted which means that the mountains around here are the best place on earth for us to be. I'm not sure how long this string of snowy and cold weather is going to last, but for now, we are taking advantage of what we have.

I'm sure that most of you reading this are fully aware of the lack of winter that has taken place in the Western half of the United States. Mt. Bachelor in Bend has had the same string of poor winter weather as the rest of the ski resorts out west, however, since Mt. Bachelor is quite a bit higher in elevation than most of the other ski hills, some of the rain that has plagued the other resorts has luckily put enough snow on the slopes here to make skiing halfway bearable. We've been able to be skiing while a lot of you poor suckers in Seattle are looking at dirt on the slopes. The last 2 days of winter weather could be the best skiing that has happened this year...anywhere. And the better news is that it should continue for at least the next week with cold temperatures and more snow on the way. Hallelujah!

So along with this exciting news, I am going to fill you in on some of the lingo that has been in play for us while we are sliding down the slippery slopes on the glorious new snow that has fallen. If this lingo doesn't make sense or resonate with you, it may be because you are even older than my knees feel. I don't exactly know what all this stuff means, but since I have heard some of the younger-than-me crowd say some of this stuff, I'm sure that it means something good.

We've been shredding the gnar...gettin' the goods...gettin' the freshies...skiing in the pow-pow...bombing the chowder...hucking big drops off of cornies into bowls...in the white-room...ripping big lines...taking face shots...being steazy...and my favorite...we've been in the powder room.

I'm sure that if I was hip enough, I would understand what these crazy kids are saying when they tell me some of this stuff, but since I'm not really that hip, all that I can really tell you is that the skiing is now back to incredible and that there is nothing better than fresh powder on a great ski hill. It's amazing what some fresh snow does to the moral of the people in this ski town. The town is abuzz and we are of course going with the flow and caught up in the frenzy of the fresh snow. If this snow keeps up, someone's head may explode...it's that exciting here.

The sad news is that the RV park where we are staying has unfortunately just shut down and removed our good friend the hot tub (aka The Tub) in preparation of the new hot tub that is supposed to be installed in the next couple of weeks. Just as my aching body is getting worked by the gnar (I'm still not sure what the “gnar” means, but I do know that I am getting worked by it), we are without relief and relaxation that The Tub gave us. Bummer.


Other than the thrilling news of the new snow, we have seen some more of the incredible sites that Central Oregon has to offer while we were waiting for this new round of winter to come. In the past week we have checked out the Painted Hills, hiked through Blue Basin, we've made treks into the Deschutes National Forest, we've climbed some of the peaks, and we have hiked up to Tumalo Falls. It's been great fun to see some more amazing sights, but until things warm up and this winter weather ends, I'll be powdering my nose in the powder room.

The Painted Hills

More Painted Hills

Looking down into Blue Basin...incredible place!

Tumalo Falls

Tumalo Falls up close

That's Brenda in her happy place...hiking in the boonies.

The tippety-top of Smith Rock with our good friends Mik and Christina

An amazing amount of water comes bubbling out of the ground right here and forms Jack Creek in the Sister's Wilderness area.  Kind of cool to see the very start of a river come right out of the ground.


Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

A Double Birthday and the Italian Connection

Image
There is an interesting thing that happens on this side of the world. When we left Seattle, we crossed the international date line which puts us one whole day ahead of where we came from. Basically, we lost a day. Because we lost a day, Brenda turned the ripe old age of 40 one day sooner than she would have if we were in Seattle. On September the 12 th in Vanuatu, we got to celebrate her big day. But since she says her home is in Seattle, we also got to celebrate her 40 th birthday when September 12 th happened on that side of the world. Basically, she got the longest birthday known to mankind...2 big days long. There is another interesting thing that happens when you are cruising the world on a sailboat. You run into other cruisers that come from all parts of the world and all backgrounds. Where we are currently moored on Aore Island in Vanuatu, there are 4 boats that are from 4 different countries. It's an international coalition. Our newest neighbors jus...
Read more

The Garnet Ghost Town

Image
For years before we left, I had always told people that we were going to sail around the world. Now that we've been out for a few years, I still tell people the same thing. It's a concept that makes sense to the average Joe – a circle around the globe. A start and an end. One complete lap. When a random stranger we meet on the road asks what we are doing, I still answer with, “we are sailing around the world.” But that explanation is and has always been just a quick way to put into words a concept that still doesn't make sense to most people. Because in reality, we aren't going to sail around the world. One big lap of the globe doesn't really have any appeal to us. Although we aren't realistically going to make a big giant loop – with a beginning and an end – we are doing our best to see the world, and we'll be doing it for as long as it takes. So, I think the proper way to explain what we are doing, is to just say that we are out here to see the ...
Read more

Balls Hot

Image
If you don't know by now, I'm from a little town called Seattle. You may have heard of the place - it's nice. But coming from Seattle, where 11 ½ months of the year has the city covered in a cool, thick layer of clouds, and the sunshine we receive is in liquid form (rain), I've never had to become accustomed to heat of any kind. Sure, the 2 weeks of summer we get are heavenly and worth the wait, but when the temperature reaches a whopping 60 degrees, everyone starts running around in shorts and flip-flops and turning their skin that has been covered for the past 11 ½ months a blistering shade of red. And a Seattle heat wave? That's about 75 degrees. It's also when everyone who was begging for summer for the last 11 ½ months starts complaining about the heat and wishing they would have sprung for an air conditioner. Before we came to Mexico, we had heard from other friends and sailors who had spent the summer in the Sea of Cortez, riding out hurrica...
Read more