Adventures in Wyoming

(Margot beneath the elk-horn arch in the town square of Jackson, WY)

After a long, snowless winter, we booked a trip to Jackson, WY, to have a little fun in the snow before (blessed) Spring arrives in a few weeks. Lo and behold, it snowed 6+ inches in DC while we were away. (We can't win.)

The trip was full of ups and downs - literally and figuratively. After all, it was a ski/snowboard vacation. (Go ahead - groan all you want. I recognize that is horrible writing, but it's late and I'm not feeling creative right now. My 9-5 job is draining my brain these days.)

And so here is a summary of the ups and downs of Jackson.

Let's start with a major downer:

This is what a missed flight looks like. For the first (and hopefully only) time in my life, I missed a flight. The plane was still at the gate, but delays in parking, security, and checked baggage brought us to the gate three minutes after they closed the door. The most painful part was that the plane was still sitting there at the gate, but the agent wouldn't let us board. I tried crying but to no avail. The heartless gate agent never raised his eyes from his computer screen.



Things improved, though.

Here's Min on the up and up (groan again, go ahead). She's above 10,000 feet for the first time (well, other than in an airplane):


And here she is learning to ski. The ever-resourceful Brodie fashioned a harness for her and spent over an hour on the bunny hill with the Min (this was in lieu of ski school). She rode the tow rope by herself, and, while it looks as if they are on a flat surface, let me assure you that she did a great job sliding down the bunny hill. Each time she would assume a crouched, Quasimodo-like stance and just slide on down with a huge smile on her face the whole way. By the end, she even did a few turns. I was really amazed at how much she improved over last year.


The ski champ!