Random Droppings

We went on a ski trip with the Scout Troop, so we have spent the weekend dealing with high levels of testosterone and a long drive. We left Friday afternoon, once Sonny was released from his education edifice, and the dogs had been deposited in the canine kenneling location. Despite our use of the HOV lanes, we still had buckets of traffic to wade through as we got north, and then we had a lengthy trip west to the resort. By the time we got near, it was dark enough that we couldn't appreciate the scenery. Somehow we parked, found our way to the contact person, and received our "chalet" key card, meal tickets, and other tickets. We had eaten on the way, so we weren't hungry, and we wandered the halls of the resort for a while. Eventually the rest of the group collected, the kids settled in to watch tv, and the grownups took the chance for an evening "out" at one of the lounges. Two pitchers of beer later, we all agreed that it was bedtime, and away we went.

Bright and early the next morning, everyone was up and ready to go. Breakfast needed eating, skis needed renting, and the slopes needed skiing. The younger scouts needed some training first, and Honey sat in on the class with them, as she hasn't been on the slopes in about a year or so. Unfortunately for her, she let herself become a "buddy" for one of the new scouts, who had never skiied before, and they ended up on a trail ski that was slightly above his ability to ski. He was apparently petrified by any semblance of speed, and consequently it took them 2 hours to get down the mountain. By the time they got to the bottom, her feet were hurting (a mix of bunched socks and slightly too-tight ski boots), so she was Done for the day. By that time, it was nearly dinner, so we took a short break, had a quick nap, met for dinner, collect our tubing tickets, and wandered until it was time to go snowtubing.

This was not quite as much fun as I would have expected, but it wasn't bad. Everyone kept moving along efficiently, and the "magic carpet" made the climb back to the top a lot less tiresome. I went down the slides 4 times, and then was done; Honey managed another run before she stopped. Sonny had not dressed appropriately for the cold (no hat, no gloves, no snow pants) and gave up before either of us, although he wouldn't admit it.

By the time we were done with tubing it was nearly 10 pm, so we turned in for the night. Yes, we're old farts who need to be in bed at a decent hour.

In the early AM, we packed the car, ate breakfast at the buffet again, and headed out. Overnight it had actually snowed, so there was a nice fluffy layer of 2 inches on top of everything, and it was still snowing occasionally. We drove down the mountain through snow, without the benefit of windshield washer fluid, because Honey's car seems to be designed to let the fluid lines freeze up. It takes hours for the lines to defrost, so I had to manage the drive by letting cars or trucks pass us for a quick spray and then turn off the wipers to prevent huge amounts of smearing. Finally, way down the elevation and hours away, we got our spray back and I could see again.

It was a nice drive through rural Pennsylvania -- farm country, with some developments -- and semi-rural Maryland. Old farmhouses, working dairy farms, sod farms, some cows, corn stubbled-fields, and the occasional raptorial bird flying lazy circles over the area.

We got home around noonish, quickly freshened up for our little neighborly gathering -- Sonny stayed home and cleaned up his room a bit -- and then got the dogs liberated from the kennel. They were very bouncy, clean and happy; they'd just been fed, so we got them home and Sonny took them to the playground for a little activity.

Now we're waiting for the Chinese food delivery, after which we shall partake of General Tso's Chicken, steamed dumplings, vegetable lo mein and steamed rice. The cats have been fed their gooshy fud; the boy is studying Spanish, the Honey is working on her exam -- she gets to make them now -- and I should be reviewing a document for work.

The dogs are exceedingly tired tonight, and no wonder: even though we spent a total of four hours in the car, they also spent five hours mostly running around after a tennis ball.

My partner's younger brother hosted the family picnic today. His large yard is fenced in, and they have four dogs. After a little spat with their largest dog, Sam, our dogs focused on the ball and everyone relaxed. Hercules and Athena picked out the likliest next person when they wanted to play again, and dropped the ball at the chosen victim's one's feet. Most people obliged willingly, even though that ball got slimy and soaked in no time at all.

They ran around all day and will sleep very well tonight. I let them out in the back yard before dinner, and I won't bother walking them tonight. I think they deserve a rest. ;-)