2/14/09 - Happy Valentine's Day!!

I'm happy to report that I'm break/sprang and more or less pain free after my day of skiing in Wisconsin. David, myself (of course) and our friends, Shar and Eric, went skiing at Chestnut Mountain in Galena, WI to celebrate V-Day and just to have a good time. David has wanted to go skiing for a while now and was disappointed that we didn't get a chance to go while we were in Utah.

Galena is very quaint. A fun little city. As for the slopes? They are certainly different from what I grew up with though not necessarily easier (for me at least). I was a little nervous about going on this trip. First of all, it's been nearly 15 years since the last time I went skiing. Yes, I grew up in Utah and skied occasionally, but most of the skiing I did was in my backyard. Then in college I went maybe 7 or 8 times at the resorts. Not to mention the fact that I'm probably in the worst shape I've ever been in my entire life and I had to go to Atlanta on Sunday for work. That in and of itself made me more nervous than the 15-year Hiatus and being out of shape because it's not like I have "regular" job where I can call off if I break my leg. Broken Leg or not I *have* to be on that plane.

Truthfully, I did better than I thought I would, but I wouldn't say I did well. I think I managed about 5 runs. On the beginner and bunny slopes. Three of them David went down with me, guiding me the whole way and then 2 I did on my own so David could go do his own thing. The first one on my own was not good, I basically snow plowed all the way down, but the second one was better. The last one I did was on a bunny slope and it just about killed me. My knees were killing me by this point so by the time I got to the bottom I wanted to just build a snow cave and stay there. Getting back up was nearly the worst part. It was this tow rope thing that you grabbed onto and it pulled you up the mountain. I felt like I was water skiing, which I suck at because I could never hold onto the dang bar-thingy! I just about let go twice, but managed to finally make it to the top. I knew when I got there that; I'd had my last run of the day. I just had no strength left in my knees and I knew if I kept trying I would injure myself for sure. Had I not had to go to Atlanta, I probably would have gone a couple more. I was really starting to feel comfortable.

I hung out in the lodge for the next hour or so while David, Shar and Erick took a few more runs, then we all met up and walked to this lookout point and watched the sunset. Then Shar and I headed back to the lodge and waited for the boys to take a couple last runs. Later on we went to dinner at a place called Benjamin’s in Galena, then headed home. Shar's B-Day is 2/15 so we also had a little mini-B-day party for her at the restaurant.