Skiing Weekend, 2015

Last weekend we spent a couple days with Sarah and Sean, Miriam and Davis, and Garrison and Clarinda at Loon in New Hampshire for some good time skiing and hanging out with friends.

We got a Zipcar minivan, and Sarah and Sean came to our house after work on Friday and we Boston folk all drove up together in the van, while Miriam and Davis drove up straight from there house north of Boston. We stopped for dinner at Mr. Mac's Mac and Cheese in Manchester, New Hampshire, where we had a classic (Samantha), a lobster (Marcus), and a shrimp scampi, a pulled pork, and a taco for the four grown-ups. We stayed at Kancamagus Lodge, a not-too-fancy motel that was 1) cheap and 2) very close to the slopes. We had adjoining rooms with Miriam and Davis, and Sarah and Sean were above us.

On Saturday morning, all the kids went to ski school, Marcus and Garrison in the medium-kid (aged 4-6) side, where they give them a total of four hours of lessons over the day, and Samantha and Clarinda on the little-kid (aged 3) side, where they give them a total of two hours of lessons over the day. Samantha went in happily enough, but I wasn't impressed with the way the daycare workers talked to the kids, and I think it didn't live up to the Center (her beloved former "Baby School") either in her mind. She went through the motions of the skiing lessons, but then seemed thrilled when I picked her up the minute the last lesson ended.

"I already skiied two times so I don't have to do it again," she informed anyone who asked how she liked skiing. She and Sarah and I sat by an outdoor firepit, then rode their little wood-powered steam engine train back and forth around the base a few times before meeting up with everyone else.

Marcus, on the other hand, had a ball. His teacher said he was a solid Level 3.5 and would easily be a 4 if he had another consecutive day of lessons, but we'd already decided that kids would ski with their parents tomorrow, rather than doing another lesson that day. He knows how to ride the "big" magic carpet and also the lifts (once he and Garrison rode a two-person chair alone together); how to go fast--his favorite thing ("You just put your skiis into french fries and you squat down and go!"); and how to make controlled turns in a moderate snowplow on green terrain.

Robert and Davis and Sean went off with the two boys on Sunday after lunch, riding the gondola up and skiing down a long green trail, and Robert said that Marcus was actually a great skiier when there were people on the slope in front of him, making nice turns to avoid them.

 

We ate lunch both days in the Octagon Room at the base lodge near the gondola, and after skiing Saturday we went swimming in the hotel pool and then had a very looooooooong dinner at the hotel restaurant (Brittany's--not overly recommended at this point, though my Thanksgiving panini with a side of sweet potato fries happened to be quite good). On Sunday, Samantha joined non-skiiers Sarah and me, and Clarinda joined us for part of the day too. Despite a nasty virus that threatened to knock out our entire party (it made forays, but didn't succeed), we all had a great weekend!

 

Go back to web essays or over to links
robertandchristina.com was made with a Mac.
© 2015 C&R Enterprises
Email christina@robertandchristina.com or robert@robertandchristina.com
Created: 3/16/15. Last Modified: 3/16/15.