Sugar Mountain Trip Report

Friday Feb 9, 2007

I took a half day off with the intention of leaving as soon as Derek got off the school bus. Unfortunately, Helen's van had no gas and somebody wanted to stop by the library for some trashy novels. That put us right in the middle of rush hour traffic. If you're trying to leave town on a Friday night it better be before 4 pm. We've learned that lesson a couple of times recently. Traffic finally broke free about the Mall of Georgia. We still can't believe people live that far out. Much to the boy's delight, we stopped by Wendy's in Commerce. The boys watched "Superman Returns". Adam cried for Derek to cover his eyes when it looked like Superman was losing. The boys eventually fell asleep and we arrived at the condo in Sugar Mountain about 11:30. Helen dislikes my choice of rubbermaid storage bins for luggage, but they're great as far as I'm concerned. They stack nicely with 6 of them fitting perfectly in the back of the van and they're a breeze to carry.

Saturday Feb 10, 2007

It was overcast and the temp was in the teens. Derek kept bugging us to go skiing, but the mountain was crowded. It was an ordeal just to rent all our equipment. We walked down to the resort from our condo to check things out. We decided that since it was so crowded that we would just hang out and wait until the evening to go night skiing. We watched "RV" and thought it was pretty cute.

The crowds had thinned out for night skiing. Derek was apprehensive at first, but picked up right where he left off last year when we went to Keystone, Colorado. We spent most of the night on the magic carpet. I held the back of Adam's jacket as we skied down together. It was irritating that they were making us take off our skis to go up the magic carpet. We figured it was probably because it was so cold that ice was forming on the carpet making it slippery. But what a pain.

We finished the night by taking the lift up and skied down "Easy Street" back to our condo. Adam's skis got tangled up with mine and we went down. I maintained my hold on his jacket, but unfortunately all that did was ensure that Adam got a face full of snow. He was not happy with Daddy about that one.

Sunday Feb 11, 2007

It was a beautiful clear day. The temperature was in the low 30's and the crowds were gone. It was perfect. Adam started picking things up quickly and it wasn't long before he was going down "Easy Street" without my help. Derek was long gone. Helen was working on her turns and felt much more comfortable, although we all agreed that she needed to add more "french fries" to her diet. The ski school at Keystone taught the kids "pizza" (snowplow) and "french fries" (downhill). By the end of the day Adam and Derek were getting down to the bottom at the same time. Adam would promise that we would wait for Mommy next time and each time he would take off down the mountain.

Helen made spaghetti for dinner. We laughed how it was a big mistake that we made dinner reservations a couple nights last year in Keystone. We were miserable because we were so tired. This year we ate in. The condo had a really nice kitchen. Helen wished she could take it home. We watched "Little Manhattan" and really liked it.

We got equipment as part of our vacation package, but only for the weekdays so we had to rent equipment for the weekend. I had to return the rented equipment and, once again, the rubbermaid storage bins came in handy. The skis, boots, and poles are so unwieldy and hard to carry, especially for the kids, but I was able to put all the boots and equipment in one bin and carry it myself.

Monday Feb 12, 2007

The weather was soupy and warmer. It took a while to get our new equipment, but we made up for it by getting the Twilight lift ticket which was from 12 pm to 10 pm. Derek got poles for the first time because I told him that it would be easier to get around with poles on the flat parts. We decided to get helmets after seeing how the boys were flying down the hills. We were happy that the snow was soft and slower. They close the slopes from 4:30 to 6 so we took a break. We tried to watch "X-Men" but Adam cried that it was too scary.

When we went back out for night skiing the snow had crusted over and was much faster. We went over to "Big Birch" and the "Lower Flying Mile" blue slopes. I was trying to work with the boys on controlling their speed. Derek did much better after a couple tries, but Adam was flying. At one point Derek took off down one trail that bent around to the right. Adam followed, but missed the bend part. He started to fall backwards as he headed into the wooden guard rail and then vaulted head first under the rail. Helen came up just as I was pulling Adam up from under the railing. She's always been scared to death that somebody's going to go off the edge. I think Adam finally got it and started concentrating on slowing down. He even asked to go down to the easier slopes to work on his turns. The boys had most of their falls when they started trying to turn. There's just not much opportunity to catch an edge when you go straight down the hill.

Helen made chili for dinner and we watched "Me, You, and Dupree". Adam played with his knights and ignored the movie for the most part. Derek watched the movie and , ahem, didn't quite catch some of the grown up humor.

Tuesday Feb 13, 2007

The weather was warmer and it was misty and foggy. We were going to go tubing, but the staff recommended against it since the snow was so soft. We decided to drive over to Beech Mountain and check it out. It was unbelievably foggy as we headed up the mountain, but eventually the fog broke on the way back down the other side. The weather was terrible, but Beech Mountain didn't look near as nice as Sugar Mountain. We thought the town around Beech Mountain was nice, but the ski resort was not nearly as nice as Sugar. A lot of the shops were closed and there was trash all over.

Adam continued to be content to follow me down and was no longer in a hurry to race down. Derek mastered the polls and was always the first one down. Helen skied some, but packed it in early. She keeps asking me when we're going to take spa vacation instead. It started raining harder as we headed in. We were leaning against night skiing in order to get ready to go in the morning and the rain made it easier to justify with the boys.

Overall, we were very happy with Sugar Mountain. The negatives were that the ice behind our condo was almost impassable and made getting to the slopes an adventure until the weather warmed. Also, the fact that lift tickets had to be purchased each day and could only be purchased an hour before each session. We also had to have Adam walk up to the second floor of the resort in his ski boots to receive his complimentary lift ticket. The positives were that the resort staff was friendly and the facilities were nice. Also, there was more than enough mountain to challenge us, especially with the kids being so young. Helen said she preferred the smaller size to the resorts out West.

We watched "Smile" and didn't really care for it. Adam played with his knights while I packed and Helen and Derek cuddled and watched the movie.

Wednesday Feb 14, 2007

Valentines Day. We woke up to a dusting of snow. We had everything packed, but it was still an ordeal to get everything and everyone loaded. Our wiper blades were worn out, which was not good with the falling snow and mountain roads. We made a small detour into the town of Newland and stopped by a NAPA store for some new wiper blades. The difference the new blades made was amazing. The weather cleared and we enjoyed the picturesque drive back. Whenever we take road trips we always find ourselves drifting off and wondering what the people do that live in the houses and towns that we pass. What brought them there? What keeps them there? Could we do it?

The boys watched "Little Manhattan" again and we stopped by a neat 50's style diner for lunch. We stopped by the grocery store on the way home and saw all the guys making their last minute Valentine's Day purchases. Helen chided me and asked if I needed to get my last minute gift. I thanked her again for being a reasonable and rational woman and realizing that it was silly to have me get in line with all the other herd animals and give our hard earned money away for some trumped up Hallmark holiday. Thank you, Thank you, Thank you. You're the best.

We made it home and began the arduous task of unpacking. Our car was covered with road salt and generally filthy so I washed it. We had cereal for dinner and hit the bed.