skiing – The Hermits' Rest

Sportsing and Friending

What Olympic sports do you enjoy watching the most?

Two topics today: visitors and Olympic sports.

Since the prompt is about sports, I’ll answer that first. I’m not sure I’d decided on a favorite Olympic sport, but upon reflection, I realized all the sports I like most involve twisting and flying in the air. I also figured out that I like winter sports the best.

So, in summer Olympics, I enjoy gymnastics and skateboarding. I had to check to see if skateboarding was still going to be in. Yes. Much twisting. I also like equestrian jumping.

In winter sports, I like ice skating, ski jumping, and snowboarding. Very twisty. I just love watching those sports, none of which I can do myself.

As for visitors, I’ve been looking forward to some old friends from my LLL days to come here for months now. They arrived from different directions within five minutes of each other!

So nice to have a guest motorhome, and space to park a guest’s motorhome.

My friend Patty from Arizona drove here in her very cute travel van. She’s already visited some interesting spots and will continue her adventures at a ranch in the best part of the solar eclipse on Monday and then on to parks and sights on the way back.

Sherri Jo and David are here from the Seattle area. He was skiing in various mountain areas until heading here after picking Sherri Jo up in Dallas. They’re going to a cool house on Lake Travis to watch the eclipse with friends. That also sounds fun!

We talked a lot and sat in the hot tub. Well, I didn’t, because I was checking on Apache constantly. He’s walking but not well. I knew it was time for another setback, darn it. I gave him pain meds and took him off the grass. Hoping that helps.

Work started on the fence that will let me manage grazing more easily.

After swimming, we went to the Central Avenue Bistro for the longest meal ever. Wow the service was slow. The food was good, and it was nice to have Anita join us. I got the bonus of seeing friends, too. It’s sure nice to have guests occasionally! I treasure time with dear friends.

I drove them around after dinner and showed them the town at night. People invited us to drink wine as we drove past the ZX place. It sure made Cameron seem friendly!

I look forward to tomorrow. We will do more Cameron activities, such as they are followed by dinner. And maybe I’ll get in the hot tub.

Why I’m Staying in My Room

It’s my last full day in Utah, and I don’t have to work. You’d think I’d be going around seeing the sights, shopping, eating, etc. The ski area finally opened, so all those nice shops I’ve only been able to look in the windows of are open (with their ski resort prices, no doubt). But nope, I’m not going out today.

It would have been smart of me to take a video, but here are moving ski lifts.

I did take a walk yesterday, fairly late in the day. I just wanted to see what the place looked like when things were running. I got to see the ski lifts in action, with people actually riding on them.

ski people — Well-spaced people with skis and snowboards preparing to board ski lifts. Only parties who are together can share a lift.

There were actual skiers in their ski clothing. They sure look well protected with the boots, pants, jackets, hoods, goggles, and masks. Yep, I didn’t see one skier who wasn’t also wearing a mask.

These folks do not appear to be as well spaced.

The ski lift lines have markers for keeping people distant, and I’ve read they are limiting access to the mountains. That’s all good, I think. All the restaurants are limiting seating, but I predict the same thing that was happening downtown will happen here: people will line up for the restaurants in normal lines. That sort of defeats the social distancing purpose, right?

Something cheerful. People sledding. Note the distinct lack of snow. It’s supposed to be clear for quite a while.

After thinking about it and talking to Lee, I agreed to stay at the condo today, since I have a feeling the first Saturday of ski season will be crowded. Good thing I have that knitting project (and a lot of packing to do).

Masked people were putting these decorations together on Thursday, so I was glad to see them finished. It’s all real greenery. Tasteful.

So, it’s good to have seen the decorations, the activity, and the finished fire pit I watched getting built. But, I’ll be in my room.

There are lots of these benches that look like lift chairs now. This is the finished seating area, where they carefully put the rocks 6 feet apart. A friend points out that this is a lot of wasted gas and heat.

The good news is that I’ve been reading more and more about how planes are pretty darned safe. My main worry is being in crowded airports. On my way here, they were pretty empty. But it’s Thanksgiving week. I hadn’t thought of that when booking my trip. Going home last week would have been a better idea from that perspective, but things in Cameron are a bit of a mess, so it’s perhaps better that I stayed here. Sorry, I’m thinking aloud in my blog. I guess it’s allowed.

I’m going to ask anyone who’s reading this to take care around your friends and family right now. You don’t know where people have been and who they’ve been around. I know for certain that not all COVID deaths have been reported as such, which makes me think things may well be worse than they really are. And with so many people convinced they have a right to NOT take precautions, it really seems like a good idea to be careful. Sorry to be preachy, but I care about MY family, and I assume you care about yours.

They’re Ready for Ski Season

It’s becoming more and more obvious that the area where I’m staying will be getting more crowded. They will open the mountain resort here on Friday or Saturday (though it has warmed up again and the snow is melting rapidly). I do believe I’ve timed my trip just about right, since my motivation has been staying away from people and their germs.

They’ve cleaned up all the statuary, as you can see.

I’ve been noticing a lot of interesting things as the staff gets busy, and it’s all pretty educational, since my last ski experience was almost 30 years ago.

Unfortunately, the construction around the resort where I am staying has not abated. But, there is a street cleaner (at right).

The easiest way to tell they are about to start skiing is all the convenient ski resting spots they’ve put up everywhere.

This is the main shopping area in Canyons Village

This is right outside our building (nice view of Hyatt resort) — This is the main shopping area in Canyons Village

And of course, all the holiday decorations are a dead giveaway, too.

Giant Christmas tree and decorated lamp post — Cheery fire area with greenery

They are firing up the ski lifts, and I even saw them getting the ski patrol ready to patrol. They sure have a lot of fun ski vehicles! I would like to try some of those out.

Snow vehicles and ski lift in action (though of course you can’t tell)

One thing had been making me wonder as I walk around in the chilly air, and that’s why all the walkways at the main ski resort area are never covered with snow. I was imagining elves getting out at the crack of dawn and working on the sidewalks, but I also didn’t see any piles of snow.

All that fresh concrete behind the cones is heated!

Now I know. I forgot to take a photo yesterday, but workers were making a seating area of rocks around a fire pit, and sure enough, there are all sorts of warming wires on the ground. Today, they are covering it all up with concrete, and you’d never know the heating elements are there. I guess all the walkways are like that!

It looks as if this will be a fun place to hang out, once all the shops are open, but I still like the mountains and the trees the best.

Ski patrol getting ready to roll out, plus people sledding on the hill.

I hope these photos gave you a break from whatever’s troubling you today. Love to all, especially my family.