Christmas and Skiing in Utah

Spending Christmas Eve and morning in a Casino was kind of surreal. We drove to Mesquite on Christmas Eve, stopping in Las Vegas for a buffet and a visit with relatives. On Christmas morning, we ate a breakfast buffet at the casino and then I gambled and lost $1 playing slots. Gambling on Christmas must be a sin, but oh well. From there we drove to our Aunts husbands son's house for a Christmas meal. This too turned into a buffet, with lots of good food and desserts. Most of the people there, and it was a full house, were not directly related to me, so it was nice of them to invite us on a short notice.

The day after Christmas we went skiing at Alta. Now I hadn't been skiing in over eight years, so I felt like a beginner. Even though I have my own skis, I still rented. Skis are now shaped differently, making them easier to turn - or so I was told. I still had trouble turning and had to snow-plow way too much. I think part of the problem is my right ankle moves around in my boot, plus I could use a ski lesson, which I have never taken.


The ski conditions were almost perfect. It snowed the whole day, so there was a nice thin layer of powder covering the hills (much better than ice). The only problem was with the blowing snow it was sometimes difficult to see the terrain. I quit around 3:00 as my legs were getting tired and sore. Back at the car, we saw that there was about 4" of snow on the hood.

The next day I convinced my Brother and his wife to go cross country skiing. There was a place in Park City where my sister and I skied before. It was on a golf course with three different trails to choose from. This time we opted for the 3 km one. By the time we were done we were all tired, hot and ready to stop. Cross country skiing is a lot of work, and yet still fun, at least I think so. So we returned our rented skis, ate lunch and went back to our Aunt and Uncles house for the night.