Haley, Dustin, Mary, Morgan, and I were off to Fernie by 8:30 am on Friday. We took our time...stopped several times for food and bathroom breaks...went through fairly heavy snow from Taber to Fernie...and arrived after 11.5 hours on the road. Dustin had a mishap when her arrived. His snowmobiles were on the deck of his truck. One snowmobile became wedged under the overhang of the motel entrance. Dustin handled the situation with remarkable calmness. I admire that.
Haley and Dustin were impressed because the hotel staff had presents waiting in their room for the dogs. Yes, my grand dogs were part of our Christmas vacation.
After settling in to our rooms, we had pizza before bedtime. Not recommended for a guy like me who has trouble sleeping when I eat late.
On Saturday, Morgan, Dustin, and I spent the day skiing. Morgan kept us entertained with his Shell Lake-style skiing. He was the only skier on the hill wearing a Carheart High Viz ski jacket. The highlight was going to the top of the mountain in white out conditions, getting buried in snow, wandering of the run into an avalanche area, losing a ski, swimming up a 45 degree slope to retrieve my ski, thinking I was going to die, and eventually descending the hill by sliding on my bum until I reached an area that was skiable. Don't let me be misunderstood...we had a great time and certainly have a story to tell. I don't know how people can ski multiple days. My leg muscles were tighter than a drum after nearly 5 hours of skiing. Could have something to do with the fact I am 60. Needless to say, we didn't ski on Christmas Day. We were done.
After skiing, we hit the hot tub, then went to a wonderful East Indian Restaurant for an amazing meal...lots of curry and nan bread. The girls scoped out a Lutheran Church for Christmas Eve service. All five of us enjoyed the service. There was no pastor. A lay person led the service. Very informal, but meaningful. Mary and I participated in a reading during the service. Morgan managed to burn his hair on a Vesper candle. Don't ask me how.
On Christmas morning, my beautiful girls had prepared Christmas stockings for all of us. I cried. It was a tough, tough day. I felt like a zombie. Full blown grief. I was just going through the motions. In the afternoon, we went back to the ski area for a sleigh ride. Nice touch.
As we left the ski hill, I asked the girls if they could come to my room for a talk. Talking things through is how I heal. The girls were wonderful. I usually feel like I have to be strong and support them. On Christmas Day, it was the girls who were strong for me. I felt much better after a long talk with them. After our chat, we hit the hot tub again, then went out for Christmas dinner. We capped the night off with our family's favorite card game..."Oh Crap".
Haley and Dustin stayed an extra day to go snowmobiling in the mountains. Morgan, Mary, and I drove back to Saskatoon on Boxing Day. I listened to Snoop Dog and Metallica for 9 hours. Do you know it is possible to go into a trance that allows you to block out all stimuli?
Today was a day of getting back to an empty house. These are tough times, my friends.
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