Last week, Neil and I took a mini-vacation/house-hunting trip to Boston. We picked Ann up at the airport, said good bye to the kids, and waited for our plane to leave. We waited for another few hours until they cancelled our flight going in to Boston. Fortunately for us, there was a flight with space for us the next morning to Manchester, New Hampshire. Renting our car in New Hampshire saved us $100 in taxes and fees compared to what we would have paid in Boston. That paid for the hotel we stayed at in Raleigh when our flight was cancelled. While we waited in the airport and for the hotel taxi (they forgot to tell the driver to come get us), I was repeatedly reminded of how stressed I would have been during the wait if I had my four children with me.
We visited some homes in Belmont, MA once we got our rental car and then drove back to our B&B in Danbury, NH. My thought on the houses in Belmont is that if the house has a trash compactor in the kitchen, it's time to update the appliances. The Inn at Danbury is a quaint, family-owned place with authentic German food. I tried Wiener Schnitzel, which, due to a five-year old-esque aversion to the name, I never thought I would eat. Instead of the traditional veal, I substituted pork; I am not that adventurous. Who knew that this crazy sounding dish was actually breaded pork tenderloin. Yum.
I consider myself a fairly low-maintenance girl, but as we prepared for this trip, I was adamant that my snow clothes had to be cute and matching. This stubborn streak drives Neil insane; however, in my defense, I should be allowed one high-maintenance eccentricity. Waiting for cute clothes to go on sale rather than dropping money on clothes I will hate sounds reasonable to me. We had to drive to Raleigh to find snow boots for me. Neil could not understand that I wanted super cute pink and black fashionable snow boots instead of hiking boots. Unfortunately for me, REI does not carry such stylish boots. I ended up with brown and maroon hiking boots; I am pretty sure that Neil planned this all along. Neil's trip to the desert/mountains provided all the cold weather clothes he will ever need. My new Fayetteville friend, Adriana, and my mom loaned me clothes and mittens, and we were ready to go.
If you know me well, I would guess that you are already laughing at the prospect of me on a snowboard. If you have seen Neil's video of me snow boarding, you are still laughing. I have discovered that the "Thrill-Seeking McMullin Gene" is not inheritable through marriage.
Example 1: I never thought I was afraid of heights until I rode on the ski lift. All the way up to the bunny slope. I would have had an anxiety attack if Neil had not been there to remind me to breathe. It is true that I would have felt better with at least a bar keeping me from falling to my death, but I could not manage the bar with my snow board. Needless to say, I about had a heart attack watching some kids practically wrestling in the lift on the way to the top of the mountain.
My rental snow board stuck to the snow, which made my life difficult, but I had a great instructor and great, warm clothes. The sun was out and we were sweating as we rode down the mountain. I even had to put my hand warmers in my coat pocket because it was too warm for them. Snow boarding, even when you go slow like me, is exhilarating. It is also an incredible work out. At first, my legs were thanking me for all of the squats and lunges I did in January. By lunchtime, though, my legs were shaking.
Example 2: Once you fall backwards on a snowboard, there is only one way to get up. You cannot turn over and rest on your hands and knees. You just have to point yourself down the mountain to take advantage of the gravity, and stand up from a deep, deep squat. I did not think my knees would last. Another problem I had standing up was when I was pointed down the mountain and started sliding downhill before I had finished standing up. Going down the mountain while attempting to stand up was more than I could handle.
Example 3: One other thing I had not anticipated were all of the small children crossing my path. When those little kids on snow boards and skis lost control around me, I had to crash myself to avoid running them over. Other times it was humbling to watch them zoom past me. Those little kids on skis, especially, had no fear. They never fell. They just snowplowed down the mountain. The little kids on snow boards fell more often, but they never crashed and burned. It was more likely that they could not control where they were headed, so they just sat down. Sometimes they would stand up and then fall over forward. But none of them fell more than I did.
The first time I fell forward, I felt the jarring from my fingers to my shoulders and I was grateful for Kristen's suggestion to wear rollerblading wrist guards under our mittens. The time I fell back and landed only on my tailbone and head, I was grateful for my helmet. Apparently the snow in NH is less powdery and more icy than Colorado.
Example 4: I did not try snow boarding backwards down the mountain like our coach suggested. Big surprise there. Instead I just shifted which foot would lead down the mountain. That sounds like a much more sane idea.
Example 5: Did I mention that I fell every time I got off the lift? Yeah, you have to snowboard right off the lift down a 80% incline hill to get to a landing where you can actually strap your boots into the bindings. Needless to say, I usually just slid down the hill. Luckily, they never had to stop the lift for me. That would have been more than humiliating.
Notwithstanding all my crazy crash stories, learning to snow board was a blast. The first time I actually went down the hill and turned and kept going was cool. It is difficult to explain what it felt like. The morning was made even more amazing with the combination of snow and beautiful blue skies.
That evening, though, Sydney asked me on the phone if I had broken my leg yet. Apparently I had previously remarked that I was thought it might happen. I do not think I was such a fraidy cat when I was younger, but oh well. This is to be our family sport for the next three years. I have the pants, I have the hot pink coat. And Neil bought me some snow board boots on sale yesterday. They are hot pink and black and exactly why I would never settle for anything less than amazing. With my pink boots and some wax to keep my snow board moving, I am ready to try again. I am still looking for my pink snow boots, though.
In case you were wondering, Neil, of course, was great at snow boarding. He said something about skate boarding when he was a kid and all of the exercising he did in Afghanistan making it easier. That still doesn't explain the ten year-olds passing me on the mountain.
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