To Ski or Not to Ski, That is the Question

Whether tis nobler overall to suffer 

the bumps and bruises of sliding down a hill

Or to leave the skiing to those who know how

And say "fuck it," and skate instead.

Having now completed Angry Birds (well, not completed -- I can always go back and get 3 stars on every level, but I started on that and decided it doesn't have the same grip on me), and also finished transferring selections from my journal into Blurb for a book (will report back on how that went) ... I now have time to journal again, and I'm off on vacation.  Yay!  Going to Tahoe for a nice long weekend.


(With this guy:

Yeah, just realized I never posted the Paris pictures.)  I'll be going to Tahoe with the same friends I met up with in Paris a couple months ago.  I've travelled quite a bit with them -- they're responsible for every other "ski trip" I've been on, even when it hasn't included actual skiing.


This time, we're staying at the Northstar resort.  We went to Northstar last time, although we didn't actually stay there.  That's what really made me sign on to this trip -- I have a tendency to want to go back to a destination and "fix" everything that wasn't quite right about the last visit.  Last time, I realized that staying in Northstar would've been so much better than where we had stayed before -- so when Peggy said they'd be staying at Northstar this year, I was totally in.


Northstar is also the one place I skied successfully (as opposed to Park City, where I skied unsuccessfully), so it naturally raises the possibility of whether I want to ski again.  Am not sure.  Haven't been sure for months.  On the one hand, it was kinda fun, once I actually got down to it.  On the other, I know it's "not the sport for me," as I can only go for a limited time before my knees give out, and seeing as I accomplished all I ever really wanted to accomplish (skiing down one run) last time, I'm not entirely sure whether there's anything to be gained by going again.  (Especially since it's been about a year, so I'd probably end up taking the "first time beginner" course again -- now for the third time.)  

ANYWAY, they have an ice rink, and I've packed my skates.  If the surface of the ice is good, I can skate all weekend instead.  (I think the rink is actually free -- they only charge for skate rental.)  I haven't skated in years, but skating is something I am actually good at.  Not in a competitive sense, but compared to my skiing ability, my skating competence is pretty much off the charts.  I've gone years without skating before, and every time I go back, I generally have to start at the beginning again, but can get it all back in a few hours.  I'm sort of planning on that happening again, but I guess that depends on the weather, how crowded the rink is, and whether that muscle memory thing still works into my forties.


So, that's the plan, such as it is.  There will be Northstar.  There will be skating.  There may be tubing or geocaching or bungy trampolining.  I'm laying good odds on there being substantial consumption of chocolate.  But whether there will be actual skiing ... dunno.