Back to School

It’s been one hell of a week (or so), and with no break in sight, I thought I’d take this few minutes of down time that I have to try to get everyone up to speed on what’s been going on. 

Last Thursday we officially started classes, but these really shouldn’t be confused with actual classes. I have been having classes on the snow. There are 64 skiers and 8 instructors, which works out nicely to 8 groups of 8 skiers each. My group isn’t too bad, and there are some really good skiers in there. Classes last week went Thursday through Saturday and we had Sunday off. Honestly, we didn’t really do much for the first 3 days as most people hadn’t been on snow yet this year. Having been here for a couple weeks already, it was kind of boring going slow and taking it easy, but it was good for those who just got here. Monday we really hit the ground running though and every day it has gotten better. Normally classes run Monday through Thursday with a new instructor each week. This week (and Thursday through Saturday before) our group got Laura. It’s her first year with Nonstop. Laura was  great instructor to have for our first week. I kind of got the impression that some of the groups had been kind of messing about, (which is good!) and not focusing very hard on technique and things, though I could be way off. Laura did, though and we are all much better skiers because of it. She broke down everything that was wrong with our skiing and did her best to fix it in the 4 days that she had, and it’s pretty amazing how much everyone has improved since then. I’m kind of making it sound like she was a hard-ass but that’s really not the case at all. Just the opposite, in fact. She is incredibly nice and patient, and a hell of a skier herself.

The beginning of the week everyone had a different way of skiing and a different way of getting around. Some were too low, some too far back, some were standing up too tall (me) and some were skiing with their feet much too close together. By the end of the week though, we were all starting to look much more like the standard that we have to meet. Granted, no one is spot on, but it’s the first week. Some of these guys have been skiing all of their lives and to change something so engraved isn’t going to happen in 4 days. On Wednesday we got 3 or 4 inches of snow, so it was time to try some more difficult runs. During the dumping we had to sit through Laura’s lesson on how to teach someone who has never skied. An essential thing to know, for sure, but it’s just tough to listen when it’s dumping out! To her credit, she sped it all up so we could ski some of the fresh stuff that had been coming down. We tried the most difficult run I think I’ve ever skied, and while it wasn’t exactly pretty, I got down and didn’t die, either. Toward the end of the day we skied some tree runs, and just about all of Thursday afternoon we skied tree runs off of White Pass chair. By the end of the day, I wasn’t terrified anymore, and things were clicking. I still need to work on getting lower though. It will come, and the class even joked that my new song to sing to myself is the “Apple bottom Jeans and boots with the FURRRRR” song so I can remember to “Get Low, low, low, low, low, low, low…” It’s been stuck in my head for 3 days now. Whatever works!

One of the highlights of the week was Thursday afternoon we hooked up with another instructors (Bruno’s) class and found a trail through the trees used for mountain biking in the summer. Apparently the kids call it the “Star Wars” trail because it seems like you’re on a speeder bike going through the trees just like in “Return of the Jedi”. It’s fairly slick on the trail and there isn’t much room to slow down, so you kind of just have to go with it and stay looking ahead. Like most things, the first time through was terrifying and the second was just good fun! I’m definetly going back for more. 

I am pretty tired today, and I can definitely tell that I skied hard for 4 days in a row. It was a good day to have the Avalanche Safety Training course, which is what I’ve been up to since 9 this morning. It finished about an hour ago. A long day for sure, but it was definitely worth it. Today was only half of the course though, and during one of the coming weekends, I will be going up the mountain for the “hands-on” day. Should be good fun!

When you sign up for the Nonstop course, we were all given a certain number of ‘credits’ to use on extra activities that are offered. The AST course was on of the credit activities that we could sign up for. I’ve also signed up for a backcountry touring day where we skin up the mountain and ski down a couple times. I’ve signed up for a night on the mountain, too, where we hike up, build a snow cave, sleep in it and then ski down in the morning. Also, I’m going on a trip to Red Mountain in Rossland for a weekend. We are put up in first class hotels with outdoor hot tubs, so that should be a good time. I’m also signed up for a First Aid course and to top it all off, Cat Skiing in the backcountry of Fernie. We’re supposed to get fresh powder turns all day long, so I’m really looking forward to that one. 

Tonight there is a Ghostriders hockey game, so everyone is going to that. People are starting to actually get the game and not just care about the fights and things, which is good. I swear I’ve had to explain the rules of hockey a couple dozen times already, but it’s paying off! Malin even screamed “Get it out of the zone!” last week when the Ghostriders were having some trouble breaking out. I was so proud! 

Tomorrow there is a race all the way down Falling Star which is the longest run in Fernie at 3 miles long. I’m not in it, but most of my friends are. I am supposed to start it apparently, which I’m a bit sad about. I really wanted to see the finish, because the finish line is a rental guy. That’s right, the start is at the top of Falling Star and the finish is the first person to run into the rental shop and give any rental shop guy a high-five. Last week the snowboarders did something similar and it was a pretty close finish. One of them ran in and knocked over a rack of ski poles to get to the guy. They were a little upset, but they thought it was funny when the snowboarders explained what the race was. They helped clean up as well… all in good fun!

I’ve been looking at guitars for the last few days and I have it narrowed down to a couple that I really like. They aren’t too expensive, either, which I was surprised at because everything else here is so inflated. A 30 pack of Kokanee beer (the local stuff) is $50. That’s no typo. FIFTY BUCKS. Needless to say, I don’t have a beer to wind down at the end of the day. 

With any luck I’ll have a guitar by the end of this weekend. 

S’mores and a little acoustic jam by the fireplace aren’t too far away.

Move like a Jellyfish

I have officially started classes (well skiing classes, so yeah) and it’s been a bit tasking. I get home pretty exhausted at the end of the day. There’s lots and lots and lots of hard skiing. Not fast, just… technical. And to be honest, it’s actually much more physically demanding to do it the correct way. 

Everything is going well though, and the point of this post was to tell all of the OneGoAround followers that I’ve just been very exhausted the last few days. To do much of anything except sleep and watch a movie or two is just too much to ask at the moment.

So take a note from Jack and move like a jellyfish… there will be a big update soon, promise!

Never Fear, the Internet is Here!

We officially have the internet in the OGS. It took me all day yesterday and 4 hours on the phone (don’t worry, not the cell), but we have it. I type this from the couch! Woo!

It was quite the task and I had to give up a day of skiing for it, but it was worth it. It’s nice to not have to hike all the way to the lodge just to write an email or two.

Last night there was a movie premier at the Bulldog Bar. The movie was put on by a local snowboard shop and was shot 90% in Fernie. It was actually pretty well done with some good tricks and everything. They had a big giveaway with a bunch of prizes and things. One of the original OGS’ers won a t-shirt and a box of mac and cheese. Not too bad! They also gave away a couple sets of bindings and 2 whole board setups. Even though I’m not a boarder, that would have been cool to win. 

The board shop that put it on had all of the Nonstoppers hang out before the premier in the shop. They gave out free beer and everything. A pretty good way to start the evening. I actually called it an early night once the premier of the movie was over, but a few people stayed and tried to win some prizes. 

We woke up early this morning for our first breakfast at the Lodge. Nothing spectacular, but when you’re feeding over 100 skiers and snowboarders, it’s tough to get much else. There was orientation this morning after breakfast for the people who just arrived, so we skipped that and went to ski for a bit. 

My right boot has been giving me trouble for the past few days and it’s a little annoying to say the least. I went into the shop to get it looked at last night and they helped out a bit, but I think we fixed a symptom and not the problem itself. Tonight after dinner I’ll take it back in and see if I can’t get things sorted out before lessons tomorrow. 

Tonight we have a big mandatory dinner where everyone gets together and the mayor talks and a cop tells us not to be idiots. Too late for some, I’m afraid.

Official lessons start tomorrow and I have to say that I’m really looking forward to it. Hopefully I’ll have my boot sorted out before then and I can ski as good as I am able. If not, then I guess I’ll just have to do with what I can and hope it’s good enough.  

I forgot to buy a shaver and a 2 week beard-thing isn’t too becoming on me, so Tom and I are off to buy a couple of them. His doesn’t work for some reason, so there’s a new one in his future as well. 

I’m really hoping to get my guitar soon. I asked my parents to send it and they said that they would. I was originally going to take it and then decided not to. My dad told me I’d miss it and he’s right. I hate it when that happens. 

Until then I suppose I’ll be listening to my iPod and humming my favorites. 

Or, I could always enjoy the silence and the scenery…

 

The View From the Office

 

 

 

I like option two.

S’more Shack

So we found a great new spot on the mountain. I’m not sure what it’s called officially, but we’re calling it the S’more Shack. See, no one around here knew what s’mores were, so I did my duty and introduced them to the wonder that is the s’more. I even threw in a “You’re killing me Smalls!”

After we all stuffed ourselves with them, we thought it’d be a great idea to bring s’more stuff up the mountain and make some for a after lunch warmer-upper at the shack. It’s a nice little place off of the Elk Chair with a big wood fire furnace thing and benches all around. 

 

The S'more Shack

We did run into one problem. We ate all of the s’more stuff the night before. So, we were reduced to just sitting in front of the fire, which actually isn’t bad at all, since it was pretty cold this morning. It did provide for some good brainstorming, though. Since we have to bring our own lunch for the course days, we thought that we could make some ham and cheese sandwiches, wrap them in tin foil and put them on the top of the stove for a bit and voila, grilled ham and cheese sandwiches. So that’s the plan for tomorrow anyways… we’ll see how it goes.

Today had about the same scenery as yesterday, except that the clouds were a bit lower and so it looked even cooler.

 

 

The crew above the clouds

Everything continues to go well and tonight I am introducing everyone to ‘Flippy Cup’. If you don’t know what that is, then c’mon down to the OGS in Fernie. I’d be happy to explain!

Cheers

So everyone that I talked to thought that I would have a Canadian accent when I came back. What they didn’t realize is that 90 percent of the folks with Nonstop (which make up 99 percent of the people I hang out with) are from England. So if anything I am coming back with a British accent. Case in point: instead of saying ‘Thanks’ they always say ‘Cheers’ and the other day I asked someone to hand me my poles, they did and without thinking I looked them square in the eye and said ‘Cheers, man’.

*shakes head in disbelief*

So if it’s possible, I am in Canada and am going to come back with a British accent. Whatever. I didn’t know what to expect when I came here, and this just proves that I had no idea what I was getting into!

I have been staying in the OGS house, which stands for the Old Grocery Store. Nonstop, for some unknown reason, has people staying in different places for different periods of the trip. Since I arrived early (as did everyone else in the OGS) most people have to move out to a different place once the course actually starts on Wednesday. Every single one of my housemates has been great and I am the only one out of all of them staying. We’ve all been having breakfast and dinner together every night (since it’s not provided by Nonstop until we actually start our course). It’s been really crappy seeing them all move out. The good news is that since I’m still staying there for the course it won’t be so weird once they all move out and we still hang out there. We would regardless, but since I’m staying there, it’s not SO weird.  

The mountain today was amazing. We didn’t get any snow or anything like that, but the view from the top today was worth the entire trip here. 

 

Fernie at it's finest

 

 

The day didn’t look like it was going to be too good, because for the last few days it had been very cloudy up top and we didn’t expect anything different when it was cloudy this morning. It turns out that the top of the lifts was well above the clouds though giving us an amazing view. We actually hiked out to a point to get some photo’s. I have a great panoramic that I need to put together. I really hope it turns out because it’s got some real potential.

 

Charlie, Me, Tom

 

 

*Note the helmet

I’ve got quite a few more on my flickr account, so check that out if you want. I also got a picture of the place where I fell down. 

 

Ouch...

That’s Brendan at the bottom where I landed. I took off about where the second tree from the right was. Not the ones in the fog, but the ones you can actually see. Like I said earlier, it’s between 70 and 85 degrees all the way down. Again, lucky to say the least. 

Well I will have the internet in my house next week so emails and these updates should be much more regular and concise once that happens. 

I am currently being called to a game of pool and so I must go. 

Oh, the Subaru was not a huge deal, but fairly expensive, so that sucks. In any case, it’s back in business and is currently being a workhorse bringing 7 of us up to the mountain at a time. We’ve got a few pictures of the thing packed with 7 people and all of the gear. It’s pretty impressive, actually. 

Tonight, dinner is another first for the Brits – Chili Dogs!

I’m getting a new vocabulary and they are getting new foods. 

Win-Win!

I’m the One With the Accent

It’s been a couple of days since I last posted here and it’s been nonstop (pun slightly intended) adventures since. I met the rest of the folks in my car, got to Fernie, unpacked (ish), already went to my first Nonstop Party and skied my first day at Fernie Alpine Resort.

I woke up Monday morning around 4 and (surprise) hit the snooze button. I had done some math in my head and since Malin and Paul weren’t getting in until 4, I decided that was more than enough time to take off. I was actually rolling about 4:30 or so, since I had packed the night before.

The day before I had called my dad and told him that I was having some problems with the Subaru. The oil light was coming on when the car was warmed up and it was idling very low. He had heard that it might be an oil pump failing and he wanted me to get it checked out before I went any further.

I didn’t.

We talked about it and since I was leaving so early and nothing had happened yet in the first 10 hours of driving, I decided to roll the dice.  I took it easy for the first few miles or so, but everything seemed alright, so I went ahead and continued on.

This might be a random story, but whatever. I got just outside of Helena and came across the strangest radio station I think I’ve ever listened to. The DJ was a computer voice like Stephen Hawking and they were playing all kinds of Japanese techno that I couldn’t understand. Weird. Then they told a story about a guy who was a vampire and didn’t know his powers were in his mind or something like that. I changed it after that. It was weird enough to begin with before stories about vampires. 

The rest of the drive went well. I listened to a book on tape which sucked, but it was better than listening to the radio anymore. 

I finally got to the airport in Calgary and after searching for awhile, I found Brendan waiting outside. Brendan is from Sidney, Australia and has the accent to prove it. He’s about my height and is a thin as a rail. He used to ride Trials Bicycles, which he calls “Pushies”. I am actually now room mates with him, though I didn’t know it at the time. 

After loading up the car we decided that since we had a 3 hours to kill that we’d go see some of Calgary. That was a bad call. Lost doesn’t describe it. I’m pretty sure finding up would have been quite the task for us. We passed the Zoo twice in what we thought was the same direction. In any case we made it back to the airport in time to greet Malin and Paul. 

It seemed to take forever to pack the car and even though I had the roof top carrier, it was a task. I had by far and away the most stuff, but we made it all fit eventually. When we finally left the airport we ran into traffic. It took about 45 minutes to get out of Calgary and it should have taken 10. Oh well, once on the open road it was fine. Everyone seemed very tired from their individual treks to Fernie (Brendan had been traveling for 4 (FOUR!) days.) and so after some small talk everyone kind of dozed off. 

The rest of the trip was pretty uneventful until we arrived in Fernie. We went to the Red Tree Lodge (which is where I’m at now) and checked in. After some official stuff, the second thing that we were told is that there was a party going on and how to get there. After figuring out where we were going to be living for the next week or so and dropped Paul off (He is living in an annex and Brendan, Malin and I are all in the OGS house) we headed to the party. Literally within 20 minutes of being in Fernie, we were at a party. It wasn’t a drunk-fest party either, it was just a good old gathering of about 35 fellow Nonstoppers. When we got there 3 guys were building a ramp for their skis just outside the door. Later they would jump this ramp, much to the approval of the crowd. 

Everyone here is extremely friendly. It might be because they are actually like that, or because we’re all in this amazing place and it’s pretty much impossible to be mean. Either way, everyone is great, even though they have never heard of Biscuits and Gravy. They think I’m an idiot because it sounds disgusting to them, but I’m going to make it one of these days and then they’ll see the light!

The next morning we woke up fairly early and went to the store, cooked breakfast, and got Malin some demo skis for the day. Malin, Brendan and I were on the mountain by 11 or so. They hadn’t been skiing in awhile, so we stuck to some green runs for the first few times up and then headed to the good stuff. Fernie hasn’t seen snow in a bit and we aren’t expecting more until Monday or Tuesday, so it was a little icy in spots. 

Fernie is steep. More so than anything else I’ve skied. Runs that usually are easily a black most places are blues here, and double blacks, well those are just insane. The rest of the day went relatively well with the exception of one run. 

We decided to try a different part of the mountain, one we hadn’t skied yet. On our way down, a snowboarder stopped pretty quickly in front of me and blew up a bunch of snow so I couldn’t see. I tried to stop or slow down before going through the snow-foggy stuff, but it was no use. What I didn’t see in front of me was, well, nothing. There was a slope at least 60 or 70 degrees that dropped off 35 or 40 feet or so. After a few tumbles, cartwheels, and general crashing, I landed in what little powder-ish stuff was left in the resort. I was a little shaken, for sure but all in all, I was fine. I had to hike up to find my other ski and it took another run down the same trail to find my other pole, but in the end we found them and all was good. I did tweak my neck a bit, but it’s been a day or so and it’s fine now. I’ll get some pictures up of the spot when I go up again (hopefully later today). Helmets from now on, for sure. 

With my neck not feeling the best, I took yesterday to get some new boots. I looked at pretty much every shop in Fernie and landed on a pair of Nordica’s. They are pretty amazing and I honestly can’t believe how crappy my last pair was. Way too big and stiff as a rock. These are going to be great and I can’t wait to get on them. 

Last night the Subaru almost overheated on me and the antifreeze was more or less pouring out. I made an appointment to get it checked out today and it’s actually in the shop as I type this. With any luck it will just be a leaky hose or something. Keep your fingers crossed. 

So, once again, I am stuck at the lodge. 

I did find out that I will be staying in the OGS house, which is where I’m staying now, so there’s no moving for me! It’s going to kind of suck seeing everyone move out, but there will be more people moving in, so that’s always good. I feel like we have a good group in there now, though. So all of the new folks have some shoes to fill!

The good news though is that now I can finally get internet in the house hooked up. As it is now, if I want to get online, I have to walk to the Lodge and that’s just a pain. Updates will be much more regular when I don’t have to walk to do them!

Fernie is going very well, and with any luck I’ll be skiing by the end of the day!

Again, keep those fingers crossed.

Big Sky Country

I am going to say this as eloquently as possible. 

Big Sky is the absolute shit. 

Honestly. When you think big, what comes to mind? Think of something. 

Nope, it’s bigger than that. Try again. 

Bigger than that too. 

 

Big Sky

 

 

 

See, Big Sky is so unbelievably huge that it’s hard to fathom. Maybe it’s just because I’ve been skiing at Great Bear too long, but I really don’t think so. I guarantee that the first lift I went on was bigger than all of the other lifts I’ve ever been on combined. I am not joking. The first run was the same way, too. It is massive. 

The day started off a little later that I had hoped for. I was hoping to be out there around 9 or so when the open, but it just didn’t happen. The alarm went off. The wake-up call came. I was tired, man so I hit ’snooze’ a time or two. Finally around 8:30 I decided I had better get moving if I wanted to get there at any reasonable time. I was really craving some ‘Scuts and G (That’s biscuits and gravy for everyone else) and the nice lady at the front desk gave me some coupons for the restaurant in the hotel, so what the heck. They weren’t even half bad. My waitress must have doubled up on her Prozac this morning, because she was super excited about the specials, but I suppose there are worse ways to start the day. Plus, there was about 5 inches of fresh snow on the ground outside. Can’t ask for much more on a ski day!

Big Sky is another hour or so outside of Bozeman, and since I couldn’t find a free shuttle anywhere I had that drive to look forward to. After I packed the bags and dressed like a skier should, I was off to the hill. Now, since it had snowed the road conditions weren’t great, but they were okay. As the snow started to melt from the all cars driving, there was quite the brown mist all about. This proved to be an incredibly annoying thing as the Subaru’s spray things to clean the windshield don’t exactly work. I had to stop 3 times on the way out, but I was headed to Big Sky. No reason to be upset!

Big sky is not very well marked as I found out. I knew how to get there, I knew that there was actually a town outside of the village, but I figured there’d be huge ‘HEY! Big Sky is right over here!’ but there were none. Luckily I saw some visible ski slopes to my right and turned in there. It turns out that they weren’t Big Sky’s runs, but they got me going in the right direction. But I didn’t actually find out about this until after a friendly chat with one of Montana’s finest. 

That’s right, I got pulled over. 

Not a big deal. I wasn’t speeding or anything like that. See, I was on my way toward the village (though I didn’t know it yet) and I had decided that since there weren’t any signs that l should turn around back toward town and ask somewhere. So I did. There was a driveway and I turned in and instead of doing a ‘DMV Approved’ 3-point turn, I hit the e-brake and spun it around. It’s snowy out man, what do you expect? Unluckily for me, there was a state trooper watching my every move. He glared and once he saw I was going to go back in his direction, he pulled over and let me pass so he could in turn pull me over. Everything was okay though and he just gave me a warning. Whatever. He did tell me that I was headed in the right direction before all of the vehicular acrobatics, so this time, with a perfectly executed 3-point turn, I went toward Big Sky. 

Eventually I did actually make it there around 10:30. A little later than I wanted, but hey, I made it. The first thing you notice, if you didn’t gather already, is that it’s huge. Massive. Large beyond belief. Tickets were a little expensive at $74 or something like that, but I’m on vacation, so I didn’t think twice. The second thing I noticed was that for a resort with the rapport of Big Sky, there weren’t that many people here. I’m not sure if it was a Sunday thing or they just haven’t been that busy or what, but it seemed like there should just be more people here. I skied straight to every lift. Not one single one-minute wait. Unreal. There was even one time I was changing songs and stopped on the side of a run and sat there for probably 10 minutes without one other skier passing by. I’m not complaining at all, don’t get me wrong. It was just strange.

With the 5 inches or so from the night before conditions were good. It was very warm at the base. One other thing I noticed was how much different the weather was up top as opposed to down low. At one point I was going up the Lone Peak Triple Chair and it was windy, cold, and kind of snowing. When I got to the bottom it was so nice, I took a layer off and skied with my coat half-zipped up. 

The Lone Peak Triple was as high as I got. The runs down weren’t impossibly steep and a couple turns were even enjoyable as opposed to simply hoping to say upright. By the time I got to the top of the chair, most of the runs had been tracked out, but you could get a turn or two in of fresh powder if you tried. Plus, it was kind of nice crashing. I know that sounds weird, but it was honestly like falling into a bed full of fluffy down pillows. 

I did the South Wall area a few times until I found that there was still fresh powder to be found in certain spots. There was virtually no one in the Shedhorn area and there were entire runs where there were only a half dozen tracks in it. Unfortunately I only got down once before they shut down the Shedhorn lift due to high winds. 

After some further exploring, I found more powder runs, even one that had only two tracks in it from the day before. Virgin powder… it doesn’t get much better. 

I was having such a good time that I completely forgot about eating. I had packed some granola bars so I pounded some of those on the side of Stump Farm… or somewhere in there. I found a tree to plop against and just looked. It was a great lunch. Much better scenery than a cafe at the base. Cheaper, too.  Afterward realized my pack was ridiculously large. I had another layer in there, another pair of gloves, liners, red bull, water, an extra pair of goggles, and my helmet. The only things I used out of there were my goggles and water. There was snacks that I used and also my camera, but as far as other equipment, I needed none of it. Oh well, live and learn. 

By the time 3 rolled around I realized I hadn’t stopped skiing since I got there. With the exception of a couple stops for H2O and ‘Lunch’, I had literally either been skiing or on a lift ever since 10:30. It must have been this realization that was my downfall, because the very next run my legs were killing me. It was like I remembered that I had them. So I did as many more runs as I could, and after crashing on things no one should ever crash on, I decided that it was about time to call it a day. I was rolling down the road at 3:45 and they close lifts at 4. Just enough time to beat the ‘traffic’. 

Once I got back I headed straight for the hot tub. Good stuff there, and after a shower, I am finally ready for bed. 

I am kind of disappointed that I only got to ski one day here, but Big Sky has left me yearning for more, without a doubt. 

Heading up the first lift of the day I was reminded of something my Dad used to tell me when we talked about moving somewhere spectacular, be it the mountains, the ocean, or somewhere in between. He used to ask “Once it’s in your backyard, would you take it for granted? Would you still see it?”

Unfortunately, I think eventually you wouldn’t see it for it’s raw beauty anymore. I think it’s inevitable. Your sense of wonder would get desensitized to it. 

But, at least in the case of Big Sky, not for a long, long time.

Go West, Young Man

 

My Trusty Steed

 

To say that I gave 5th gear a workout today would be an understatement. I (kind of) saw the sunrise and the sunset, both from the driver’s seat of the Subaru. From 8 this morning until 9:30 or so (Which is actually 10:30 because of the time change) I was driving. I did stop to see Sam’s team play in Rapid City for an hour and a half over lunch. It was good to see him and say goodbye one last time. Plus, his team scored the first goal. It was tied 1-1 at the end of the first period when I had to leave, but the were looking pretty good. Hopefully they pulled it out! But the bottom line is that I don’t need to see the open road again. At least for another day. 

The rest of the trip went well. Saw a great sunset…

 

They don't call it "Big Sky Country" for nothing

 

 

…and some fairly large mountain-ish things. I’m sure there will be more to come of those. I really got into all of the bigger mountains after dark. There was a full moon out though, so you could just make them out if you looked hard. It was kind of neat seeing them in the moonlight like that. 

I am currently staying at a Holiday Inn in Bozeman, Montana. The lady at the front desk was very nice and when I told her what my plans were, she knocked a few bucks off of the room. Nothing super substantial, but it’s better than a kick in the pants. Come to think of it though, so are a lot of things. 

Despite the ridiculous amount of road time that I put in today, I feel pretty good. I am definitely ready for bed, but all in all, I really don’t feel too bad. 

Tomorrow is Big Sky. I know that the resort has free shuttles going there, I just have to find out where they leave from. The fact that it’s another hour south makes it definitely worth doing that. It’s just 2 more hours that I don’t have to be driving. 

I’m looking forward to it though. Who wouldn’t be, I guess, but it’s going to be interesting just because I don’t know what to expect. I’ve never skied anything that even comes close to half the size of Big Sky. 

I realize that this isn’t quite what he had in mind when he wrote the song, but I think I have an answer for him. 

How does it feel to be on your own? Like a rolling stone?

Pretty damn good Bob, pretty damn good.