Favorite Christmas’ – Skiing
I’m not positive of the year. Most likely 1992. I lived in Roswell, New Mexico and the kids lived across town. Christmas morning was clear and cold! I was up early and loaded the car with presents for the kids and drove to their house. I stayed maybe an hour or two and got to watch them play with their new toys, etc. I then left so they could get on with their visiting other family, and I made the short drive to Ski Apache.
I was a Weatherman on KBIM TV at the time and Ski New Mexico provided all the weather folks in the state with free skiing! I had been a few times and was getting decent. It was way fun! That’s for sure. So, by 10am I was on the slopes and pretty much skied all day! I was by myself, so I didn’t really talk to too many people. I just enjoyed the skiing and the snow. Did I mention I LOVE SNOW?! The slopes close at 4:00. I skied pretty much until then, turned in my rentals, and drove home. Stopping at the Sonic in Ruidoso first, of course. I was tuckered out, but Christmas wasn’t done yet.
I got home a little after dark. I was invited to the Simmons’ for Christmas Dinner! I lived just a few blocks from them, so I changed and walked to their house using the Spring River Trail and then up the hill on Pennsylvania. The meal was delicious, as always, and I got to spend more time with the kids and also my ex-in laws.
For variety, fun, and family, it’s hard to beat this Christmas memory!
Mt. Lemmon
I’m so glad I was able to go. It made last weeks long hours worth it! Mt. Lemmon is just under 50 miles from the apartment and sits just above 8,000 feet. Michael and I have driven up there the last two Spring Breaks that he visited. Last March there was still snow up there. It is always scenic, and the views of the surrounding valley below are extraordinary!
One of the best things about going up to Mt. Lemmon is the winding road. It’s very fun to drive, but often slow traffic will get in the way. Still, it is fun even at 35 mph.
From last Friday through this Tuesday, it has been snowing up on Mt. Lemmon. They already had about 8 inches of snow from the storm the week before. They added about a foot and a half! Two feet plus is a lot of snow and the results were very pretty!
I did stop in at the Visitor Center and took a couple of pictures and bought a couple of stuffed animals for Lexi and Leah for Christmas.
One thing I did find out is that I really need some sort of sled. I could have had a lot of fun in Summerhaven if I had. Maybe next time! I also need to get back into shape. Ski Valley has some narrow steep runs and it would be fun to give it a try.
I LOVE SNOW!
I really do. Always have for as long as I can remember. Maybe it’s because I’ve never lived where I had to spend all Winter shoveling it. Could be. I think my favorite thing about snow is it’s just so pretty! Next in line would be it’s slippery. I love sliding around on the snow!!! Next would probably be building snowmen and having snowball fights. I even like the way the air smells when it snows!
I have way too many snow stories to tell. Some of them are on my web site, www.mikeshaw.tv. I think my love for snow is why I was looking forward to living in Alaska when I was a teenager. I was accepted to the University of Alaska at Fairbanks! Anchorage wasn’t cold enough for me :-) I was going to study Meteorology and Communications. Unfortunately, I wasn’t mature enough to make it happen. I still ended up being a weatherman, but I took the longer, poorer, more southern route. Who knows what would have been? As much as I used to drink back then, being that far away from home in a state where the drinking age was 19 and the outside temperature in Winter is usually below zero, it could have gone badly. Perhaps God was protecting me!
I still like to visit web cams in Alaska to look at the snow. AlaskaCam is probably the most famous overlooking downtown Anchorage. I just found another with a really nice view! Here’s a capture from earlier this afternoon. Perty, huh?
So, I’ve lived in frigid places like Western Oregon where a chilly rain is much more common than a snowstorm. Roswell, NM where it does get cold and snowy some years! Most though, not so much. Lubbock like Roswell can have some snowy years, but it usually doesn’t last long. In Odessa, Texas I think it snowed once in the two years I lived there and even then it was like an inch. Here in Tucson we had snow last year! Three inches downtown, but here in Oro Valley just a dusting of slush :-)
I think for now I am resigned to visiting the snow. Mt. Lemmon is about an hour drive away. They even have a little ski area at the top! Earlier this year in March when Micheal was visiting we drove up there and they still had snow! It was cold too :-) I’m hoping to go skiing up there sometime, although I’m not optimistic about this year. La Nina is forming in the Pacific. That usually means warm and dry for the Southwest. Oh well, maybe next year :-)
