A Change in Plans

Curt and I had a little trip planned over the Christmas holidays - we were planning on spending a few days in New York City!  We were going to leave on December 27th and return on December 30th - unfortunately, we had quite a snow storm overnight on the 26th and roads weren't looking good for that kind of drive.  We left Acton with the GPS set to our hotel in New Jersey, but about 20 minutes into our drive, we decided to head home instead.  The roads weren't really that bad at that point, but we just didn't feel great about what may lie ahead; and, we figured that if NYC had been hit with the same snow, it would be a little awkward getting around the city.

After our usual 3 hour drive home turned out to be closer to 5 hours, we were pretty sure we made the right decision!  Our drive to NYC was supposed to be about 8.5 hours, but at that rate, it would have been closer to 10 hours!  That's a long drive for only two and half days to actually take in the sites of the city.  Like I said, we had a hotel booked in New Jersey, but were able to cancel our reservation without penalty, so there was nothing lost when we changed our mind.

Now of course we knew that when we woke on Friday morning, the roads would be clear...so, as I got to work unpacking, Curt started researching other options.  And, by the end of the night, we had decided on a different trip, one that made the snow an advantage, rather than a disadvantage.  We went to upstate New York to go skiing!

We left early Friday morning and drove straight to Snow Ridge Ski Resort, in Turin, New York (about 45 minutes outside of Watertown, which is just across the border).  We've actually been here before, back before we were married we went with another couple, but we were snowboarding on that trip.  I'm not really sure how we ever ended up at this place because it's really in the middle of nowhere!  On the way there, the gas stations and two or three restaurants we passed, had more snowmobiles in the parking lot than they did cars!  Apparently it's a good area for snowmobiling.

I've never actually been skiing before, so I was a little nervous going in!  I've tried snowboarding a few times, and each time was HORRIBLE!  I was pretty confident that skiing would be better, after all, the motions required are a lot more natural (and not totally opposite to figure skating, which I find snowboarding to be)...but, I still had visions of big falls and broken bones :)

We started out on the bunny hill, and after the first two turns I knew I was going to be fine...

When we bought our lift passes, the lady mentioned that the hills were 'ungroomed'...I didn't really know what that meant at the time, so I didn't think much of it.  But, once we left the bunny hill and started down one of the bigger hills, I realized that it meant we would be skiing through a lot of powdery snow....sounds nice, but it actually makes it a lot harder!  Well, for a rookie anyway.

Midway through the day, they opened a new run that had been groomed, and that's when I realized the difference!  Needless to say, I spent the rest of the afternoon on that hill!

Our second day was a beautiful day to be on the slopes, it snowed ALL DAY!  It made for some beautiful scenery.

Curt at the top of South Slope...

Curt thought he would try venturing off the beaten path...he discovered, the hard way, that he didn't have enough speed to make it through the deep fluffy stuff!

On the chair lift, looking a little chilly...

By the second half of Day 2, there was no holding me back.  Here I am leaving Curt in my dust ;)

Even after Day 1, I never thought I would be comfortable enough to ride the chair lift alone.  But, Curt decided to spend the last hour on Day 2 doing some snowboarding, so, while he changed his equipment, I did a few runs by myself.  Eventually we met up at the top, and Curt took this picture of me coming off the lift...

We only skied for about 4 hours each day, but that was enough for both Curt and I.  It left me a little sore, but nothing like snowboarding did in the past.  Our hotel had a hot tub, so we made good use of that, and I think our evening soaks helped ease our sore and tired muscles!

Going into this trip, I figured that even if I hated skiing as much as I hate snowboarding, at least we would get the chance to do some shopping in Watertown!  It was a win-win in the end, I ended up enjoying myself on the slopes...AND, found some great deals at some of my favourite American stores.

So, we had a great few days away and have no regrets about changing our plans - we've just moved our plans to go to NYC to the summer!