2009 February « Oh the things I see…

If you want powder, head North

February 23, 2009 at 12:00 pm (Personal Travel)
Tags: family, Pics, snowboarding, travel

My brother (Billy) and his girlfriend (Sara) headed up to Crystal Mountain this past Saturday to enjoy a Michigan winter weekend on the slopes. The day began when I picked them up after they were done teaching lessons at Apple Mountain in Saginaw, MI. I hit up the ski shop there because after turning my apartment upside down that morning I could not find my gloves or goggles anywhere. I wanted to replace them anyway and scored a pair of Burton Womens Approach Gloves that I am extremely happy with and just borrowed some extra goggles from Billy.

Sara’s grandparents live in Manistee, which is only a stonesthrow from the mountain. We stopped there on the way so Billy could wax my board and we could drop our overnight bags off. They’re house is incredible. I felt like I was in a house you see in the movies. Old victorian style, art everywhere, it was so cute! The dogs though, Toby and Molly, were not so cute. Sure I wanted to snuggle Molly the Westy but these dogs were VOCAL. Tres annoying. Sorry Grandma Marge and Bob, I was not sad to leave them!

Getting ready to go down a run.

So we jumped back into the car and headed to the mountain. Luckily I had new tires put on not too long ago as the road to the hill was not plowed at all. I am pretty proud of the Caliber for her performance over the weekend. Lift tickets for night skiing at Crystal are only $30 which is pretty sweet, and the snow was still coming down once we were strapped in and ready to go. Most of the runs were open and I even attempted the half-pipe (if attempted means I went halfway up the right side and bit it hard every time I tried the left). It felt good to be out there on my board again. I felt a bit rusty since I haven’t been out since my Copper Mountain trip out in Colorado a year ago, but it was like riding a bike. I didn’t get my guts back to try any jumps until the last couple runs, even going for a weak 180 after Billy’s coaxing.

Overall no one took any bad spills, the worst probably was when I wiped out on the ice getting on the chair lift. Nothing like cracking your knee on your binding and looking like an idiot in front of the 10 year olds behind me. What can ya do, ya know? Billy discovered he needed some new gloves himself when he couldn’t feel his fingers halfway through the evening. He went inside the lodge to warm them up while Sara and I did a few more runs. When we went in to find him we were surprised he was half-way through a pitcher of beer and enjoying the band…whatever warms you up! Heading back out we were informed by the girl working the lift line that, “The hill is always open but the lifts close at 9,” so we got as many runs in as possible then headed back to Manistee.

I love the northern parts of Michigan, this state seriously has my heart. Passing all of the snowmobilers zooming around the woods and seeing people cross-country skiing and passing cars with the snowboard racks strapped to the roof just makes me happy. I don’t understand how people cannot love winter, there are so many ways to enjoy the outdoors! Now that I have been on my board again I have the itch to get out as much as I can to enjoy the snow before it all melts away!

PS. You can always check out more pics to go with this entry by following the link to my Flickr account in the toolbar!

Prince Edward Island, not a place to visit in February

February 15, 2009 at 2:54 am (Work Travel)
Tags: Pics, travel, work

I just got back from a work trip to Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island on Sunday 2/15/09. This post was originally posted on 2/10/09 in my see_brownie_run livejournal, but it has been revised for my new blog.

My coworker Joe and I hit up trivia night at the Smuggler’s Jug on Friday night, a little pub down the street from our hotel, and it proved to be an excellent decision.

Turns out we made it just in time to play bingo with a riled up group of locals. While hilarious, neither of us walked away with any loonies or toonies jingling in our pockets. After bingo was over, they busted out the trivia. Joe and I called our team “The Americans” and we got second place the first round…which was actually pretty awesome considering we were the only 2 person team competing against teams with 5-10 people on them. The second round we didn’t fair so hot but were amused at the random questions thrown out that cost patrons a quarter a guess. We quickly blew through the few quarters I dug out of my purse and Joe had to run out to the car for some change after he yelled out (wrong) answers he was “sure of”.

Saturday we drove around the island and saw Green Gables of the infamous Anne of Green Gables, Confederation Bridge, a lighthouse, and a bunch of other stuff that is closed. Apparently February is not the touristy time to be on the island.

Standing in front of the infamous Green Gables house from Anne of Green Gables.

After getting back into Charlottetown we went into this music store called Back Alley Music and bought a compilation cd called Well-Oiled consisting of 17 local bands from around Prince Edward Island in 2007. The guy working at the music store gave us a tip to check out Baba’s Lounge that night if we like live music. It was a nifty little pub that was long and narrow, but we grabbed a seat at the bar and personally I enjoyed the band but they didn’t so much suit Joe’s taste. I just have a special place in my heart for hippy jam bands, though for the venue it was a bit loud.

I spent Sunday being lazy and listening to the rain outside of my hotel room window and didn’t do anything of real excitement during the rest of the work week. The highlight once again was Friday evening when we made our return appearance at The Smuggler’s Jug. Joe was a bit luckier as he hit the jackpot and filled his bingo card on the last game to pocket $30 in colorful (or is that colourful?) Canadian money and then correctly answered a quarter question for a free beer. The only thing I won was a nasty hangover that I didn’t collect until Saturday morning.

Luckily we knew just where to go to replenish nutrients on Saturday morning and headed downtown to Cora’s, a restaurant chain in Canada that NEEDS to make the jump to the US. We had dined there the previous weekend after adventuring and I looked forward to coming back all week. Most dishes come with a generous helping of fresh fruit, their crunchy crepes have been haunting my dreams and the waitstaff was so chipper you wanted to order whatever they were on. If you see one while traveling through Canada, I recommend you stop in!

Saturday continued into awesomeness as Joe and I sat at a diner in the Ottawa airport awaiting one of our connecting flights (of many). A couple of blonde twenty-something girls came up to the server at bar and asked if they could pay in American dollars. Without missing a beat the bartender replied, “You can pay in American dollars but you will get Canadian change.” Maybe the week was just too long for me, that put a smile on my face.

Overall, not a bad trip to Prince Edward Island. While the snow-covered, sparkling views were incredible, it still would have been nice to see some of the lush, green rolling hills that are plastered all over google images. Or at least a seal.