Feb 19, 2010 1:44:27 PM

111°0'17"W
45°40'58"N
WhereBlogger!

At the Pita Pit for lunch, Bozeman MT.

Feb 19, 2010 1:06:15 PM

111°1'14"W
45°41'28"N
WhereBlogger!

Morning

Melissa is cracking me up this morning. She got up at 6am and has been jumping around and acting silly for about 32 minutes.... I think she is looking forward to getting on the road and heading for Bozeman which I think secretly is her favorite city on Earth. She loves it there, all of the fun little shops and cool places to eat. I am also looking forward to getting there. I looked outside and the cars are covered in a dusting of Montana powder. It is starting out perfect...

Phase 1 of Vacation

Well it all started 133 days ago when I started the countdown which would lead to today...

I had a hlaf day at work today which was nice, I was busy so the 4 hours I was there went very fast which was nice. I left there at about 11 and was home at 1125, we loaded up the car and were on the road by noon. I had a goal of making it to Dickinson North Dakota, which would have been a great day 554 miles from home over half way. We made it to Fargo in exactly 4 hours. We got gas and had something to eat and hit the room. We got to Bismarck in what seemed like no time at all, the roads were perfect which was so nice. I knew we were going to make it to Dickinson with no problems at all. I asked Melissa when we were done getting gas in Bismarck if she was tired and she said no. I asked if she wanted to go a little further since everything was going so smoothly, road conditions and all. She said yes. Well we made it to Glendive Montana in exactly 10 hours... I couldn't be more pleased. It will make our day tomorrow so easy. We have an easy day of 364 miles to Bozeman tomorrow so I am very happy. We will get there early and have the whole day to bum around...

So far all is well...

Andriod blogging app..

I am just testing an app for my Driod. My goal is to blog daily while I am on vacation. I just want to see if this one is working...

Powder Day in Minnesota

Well the snow arrived this week and it arrived with vigor... We got about 10-12" between Sunday and Tuesday. I went out on Tuesday just as the storm had ended and left behind a fresh playground for me. I ditched out of work 30 minutes early and headed to Welch Village. My god it turned out to be amazing. the place was pretty much dead and there were fresh lines all over the hill. The entire hill was skiing great. I only found one spot that was icy. It was on the run Chicken which is the steepest run there and gets skied out pretty quickly. But otherwise there was fresh powder everywhere. There was awesome snow on Dan's Dive and Wild Finale, I was getting knee shots on Dan's which is unheard of for here in Minnesota. The snow was soft and a joy to ski in. I skied till just before close and then headed home thinking about how much I love to ski powder, even Minnesota powder.

Skiing on Tuesday night really just amped my excitement for Big Sky which is now under a week away. I cannot wait to get out there. I am really looking forward to it and have been watching the weather forecast more closely now for about 2 weeks trying to see patterns and estimate how our week out there is going to play out. I am hoping for dumpage all six days we are skiing. I am hoping the weather cooperates for our 2 days drive and then it can snow all it wants. We are hoping to get a ski day in at Bridger Bowl as well. So if everything goes as planned this will be the ski schedule:

Saturday - Bridger Bowl
Sunday - Moonlight Basin
Monday - Big Sky
Tuesday - Big Sky
Wednesday - Moonlight Basin
Thursday - Big Sky

Then we will start home on Friday... Booooooo

I just have a few things left to do and then I am ready to roll.

I think I am going to get one more run down to Welch in before we leave. I have Monday off so I think I am going to go down in the morning and ski the fabled Welch Back Bowl till it is ski out and then head home and finish packing for Montana...

I am going to try to blog dialy while I am out there so check back if you are interested.

Getting Ready

Well once again it is that time of year when I start to think, "Head west young man" I am now 14 days away from leaving for my ski vacation. So much to do so little time. I have to put a nice fresh coat of wax on our powder skis. Decide which out of my 10 skis jackets I want to bring. Clean my goggles. Pack up my ski pack with the essentials, Tibetan prayer flags, my picture of his holiness the Dalai Lama, my avy shovel and probe, lifesavers candies, Advil, bandaids and Cliff bars. Busy busy... But mostly my mind is starting to drift to the powder stashes on Lone Mountain and the awesome vibe that ones gets skiing in Montana. This needless to say is my favorite time of year. I have goals once again for this year as I do every year I head west, This year I want to ski Marx bowl and ski in the Dakota Territory. Those will be 2 new areas for me. I can't wait to get out there. Big Sky is getting snow and a lot of it. I am hoping Ullr will be kind to us once again this year.

Life is quiet, which I think is good. My head is always thinking of new things to do and new things to try. Work has been busy these last few days, so my brain is focused on the soft Montana powder and getting there. The time is going fast, I started my vacation countdown at 142 days and now I am down to 14... I know I am a dork, but that is how I roll.

Even though I am not religious this is pretty damn awesome:

Upon our skis, Lord, You bless us.
When we ponder the splendor of the mountains
and the glaciers sparkling with snow,
Upon our skis, Lord, You bless us.
When we ski, filled with joy,
in brilliantly white powder,
Upon our skis, Lord, You bless us.
When, through the cold blueness of dawn,
we track the snow-covered slopes,
Upon our skis, Lord, You bless us.
Lord, protect your friends the skiers and guide them
across the pistes and fields of snow
until the summit of our love resounds,
in praise and adoration.