Steamboat Springs 2014

Vacation is under way, and it’s been interesting so far. Tia, Kendall, Delaney and I came up Saturday night after Kendall’s friendly volleyball tournament. They played well, though no real idea of how they’ll do against the state competition.

Our drive up was fairly uneventful, until we got close to Rabbit Ears pass. We had a scary moment when ice appeared on the road. I managed a slight swerve and then put the truck in 4WD, with a slower journey over the pass to the hotel.

We didn’t do much that night, relaxed with some cards and then got up Sunday to start skiing.

It was a whiteout, with lots of blowing snow and fog. Both little kids had trouble with their glasses fogging up. Tia struggled with motion sickness, and it wasn’t a busy afternoon for us. We spent a bunch of time with kids frustrated with fogging lenses and Tia dealing with nausea. We spent a bunch of time in the lodge before heading back for an early afternoon.

Delaney started to feel sick at the room. We got him food, but he wanted to then just go to sleep. He took mine and Tia’s room and then the rest of us watched a movie. Actually Tia watched The Hundred Foot Journey. Kendall and I fell asleep early.

Delaney bailed on Monday skiing, and the rest of us went. Again, a whiteout and tough skiing. Kendall struggled in the morning, but did well after lunch. Tia had motion sickness on the second to the last run, so she went back to the room while Kendall and I did one more. Kendall’s doing great with boarding and wasn’t fazed by the blues.

Kyle arrived late, and we all crashed after a few card games. We then headed out Tuesday, but Kendall decided to take a day off. The rest of us had a great day out, skiing, and helping Delaney get a new face cover to help with his glasses fogging.

The boys had a good time together, which was nice to see. They joked and laughed quite a bit. The weather was better, with us able to see more, though still some fog and clouds rolling in. At times it felt like we were in a ghost story, unable to see things until we got close.

At the end of the day, we were trying to leave and got stuck in the snow. It was crazy, with Delaney and I unable to slide much forward. Tia got a neat video of it on Facebook.

 

On Wed, we all went out, which was a blast. We headed up early, did a few runs and had an early lunch. We avoided lines and then hit the back side.

The back side was great. Both little kids hadn’t been there before. Kyle, Tia, and I had enjoyed it a few years ago, in deep powder and through the trees. It was sunny, not much wind, and still some powder. The top part was daunting for Delaney, steep and lots of moguls, but once we got down and into the trees, the kids loved it. They wanted to go through over and over. We’d get separated, then see one of our group in the trees, and had a blast.

Kendall and I followed each other quite a bit, wrecking sometimes in the soft powder and laughing a lot. I got a video as well of Tia, Delaney, and Kendall coming through some trees.

The hard part of the day was as we prepared to head back to the front and home. We got onto a black, and tried to go slow, but somehow Kendall lost control and wrecked. I didn’t see it, but she said she hit her head hard. We sat there for five minutes or so, and she said she was OK. We started down, but she stopped and said she couldn’t go. We were worried, so Tia headed down for ski patrol right away.

They came, and assessed her, deciding it was likely a concussion and she needed to go to the hospital. She couldn’t remember the number the guy gave her, and couldn’t remember her middle name, so we were concerned. I chased them down to the bottom, and they loaded her in their emergency vehicle. Tia met us and went with them, while I took the boys and stuff back to the condo to get the truck

We got to the hospital, and they’d xray’ed and CAT scanned her. Concussion, sprain/strain of muscles in the back for sure. No TV for a day or two, no texting, just taking it easy. Also, no volleyball for a week until she’s cleared by a doctor.

All in all, a good vacation. We did Secret Santa gifts this morning, and Kendall seems fine. She didn’t have much of a headache, feels OK, no nausea, just bored. Good signs.