Woke up every two hours, on super light sleep mode last night. I got up at 5am and was wide awake. I felt light and everything moved in a quicker smoother pace in getting ready for the day. I packed and prepared to check out. I drank 2 cups of water and a cup of orange juice, freshly squeezed. I brought oranges and a juicer with me.
I snowboarded 4 hours. It was a very cold windy day. I could not feel my fingers. I was so so cold, I could not feel the last 3 toes on both feet. There is also lake wind advisory today, I am glad I avoided snowboarding on days with lake wind advisory, now I know what this actually physically means. I was pushed like a sail boat or wind surfing. I would just keep going up the hill towards the trees. This wind made it miserable to navigate. I really was not having a good time with the wind and cold.
Snow flake flurries fell all day. The slopes were powdery. There was a lot of soft thick snow to ride on. Nevada side was mostly closed. California side of the resort had top 3 lifts closed due to wind. So everyone on the mountain was on the Powder Bowl Express lift. It was super busy and packed, very crowded, not so enjoyable for my taste. I kept on wanting to quit and call it a day but there was nowhere to go and nothing else better to do. With the wind blowing on the outside I felt a lot of wind releasing on the inside. I fell and hit my bum and head again today. The manta for the day was, “Shut up!”
On the last life ride on Patsy, I sat next to a 70 year old grandma. While we overlooked the extreme terrain park, she wanted to know if I plan on riding the extreme jumps. I told her I am a beginner and I don’t plan on doing extreme jumps ever, it’s not me I told her. She said, “Life is not a dress rehearsal. Just do it!” Well, I don’t have health insurance or a savings bank account to pay for injuries.
I was happy to see the kids playing in the snow in the woods. The boys were shoveling snow and ice off the steps, driveway, porch etc… They dug their own snow fort in the back. The girls got the help of the boys to get their fort going and they got on sleds and sled off the fort walls. We all had so much fun together.
I was quite hungry but the food was all packed in Miki’s car and they are still on the road in getting here. All the kids got into Hiroshi’s car and all the food is in Miki’s car. The kids were hungry so Helen and I went to Safeway and CVS to buy canned soups and bread. We had our lunch or afternoon snack at 3pm and lit the fire place.
Miki’s car arrived and it was full and packed with food. We put all the drink outside on the deck and shoved them in the snow to chill.Yoshiki brought his guitar and song books for singing in the evening. Miki is quite the iron chef and was our chef for this trip. After Miki arrived, Hiroshi and Helen went to Heavenly to ski for the remainder of the time. This is their first time on this side of the mountain.
Cindy and Joe arrived at 5:30pm. I was glad they made it in the snow storm. There was chain control when they crossed the summit. Fortunately they had 4 wheel drive and that saved them and they did not need chains. I was worried they would be stuck in the whiteout driving conditions and fear the road may closed while they are on it. With their arrival, the party officially began.
People drank a lot of alcohol. It’s amazing to see very capable people, super organized and generosity at work. It was a lovely symphony. I was super tired at 8pm but dinner was not set until 7pm. I decided since Friday is all snow and I don’t plan to ride at all, that I would just hangout as late as everyone and not go to bed even though I was exhausted from today’s snowboarding and this afternoon’s tramping in the woods with the kids. We went into the jaccuzzi at night underneath the night sky on the deck with snow falling. It was quite the atmosphere. The boys went in first and I attacked them with snowballs. That was fun, the snow as so powdery, it could not form into snowballs. Which made it all the much safer to throw at the boys. I later went in with the girls.
The boys took camp in the living room and all squeezed with each other in front of the fire place. Sean and Kotaro slept on the pull out couch and Naoki took the floor. Sean showed up with red inflamed lips this afternoon. His eyes bothered him and he kept blinking. By the end of dinner he had a headache. I think he was dehydrated. He drank and drank a lot of liquid to rehydrate.Today is Sean’s birthday. We had candles for the cheesecake. He looked really happy in the midst of all his discomforts. He showed class, maturity, grace, and integrity. It was all very beautiful to see. The rest of the evening was more alcohol and singing. I sat and tried to follow along but I really had difficulty. I was just too tired.
