It takes a certain kind of kid to put up with parents like us. This past weekend really put Cally to the test and we couldn't be more proud to call her our daughter.
Saturday, we woke up early and decided to finally clean up the house after our hosting extravaganza, do some grading, snow blow the driveway, and stack wood before heading out on an afternoon adventure. All the while, Cally took a two-hour morning nap, allowing for us to actually do all the ambitious aforementioned tasks. And so, at noon, with our bellies full and the car loaded we headed up to Smuggler's Notch for the afternoon. The previous day, we'd purchased an afternoon ticket with our Bash Badge (for $15) and traded off skiing and Cally hanging. While I skied for an hour, John brought Cally down to a great bakery/cafe in Jeffersonville for lunch. Upon swapping, I skied Cally up the Notch Road in the Chariot to check out some ice climbers and lots of dogs who were with their snow shoeing or skiing owners.
And so, the plan was the same for Saturday........ Although we ran into a significant "misfire". In order to "share" a ticket, we needed a key ring to which we attached the ticket and then could move from one jacket to another. Unfortunately, by separating the key to the lock box from the ignition key, it became clear that we had forgotten the lock box key at home (in a certain pocket in a pair of pants that were worn the previous day). Accordingly, our skis were held hostage above us in the car. We were at the mountain, where it was dumping snow, and we had no way to take advantage of it.
To no avail, we came up with a plan B....... we'd drive the 1/2 hour back to our house, retreive the key, and do a backcountry adventure on Mt. Mansfield. We live 8 miles away from one of the quintessential ski trails in New England, the Tear Drop. On a good year, I probably hike and ski that trail at least 20 times a season. With a baby, the logistics become a little more complicated, but that didn't thwart us........... Our plan was for me to skin up the steep ski trail while John pulled Cally in the Chariot up the round-about CCC trail/old road. I'd ski the top of the Tear Drop to where it intersects with the CCC road and then ski Cally down the round-about route so John could enjoy some turn down the lower Tear Drop. I was almost certain our timing would work out and no one would have to be waiting for long.
Alas, things don't always work out as planned......... The CCC road has numerous water bars. And even with the 18 inches of new snow, these water bars were not filled in. Therefore, every time John came upon one with Cally, he risked getting a ski/runner stuck in the waterbar and tipping her over. To avoid this, he ended up having to take his skis off and pull her across the dip at least four times.
By the time I'd skied my powdery run, John was so "done" and it was clear that I couldn't ski Cally back by myself (as darkness was going to be setting in). And so, with John's help at the waterbars, I attempted to ski down with her. What usually takes 10-15 minutes to ski, took over an hour. We got back to the car at 5:15 pm (in the dark).
In the end, Cally was in the car for more than two hours and the Chariot for two and a half hours, but she NEVER complained. She just went with the flow, often chatting, singing, or laughing.
The next day, we left the house at 7:30 am for a day at Mad River Glen, the ski area. There was over two feet of fresh snow in the driveway and we couldn't wait to make turns in this Utah grade powder. The drive over the Ap Gap is always a gamble, but it all worked out. We got to the mountain by 8:20 am and were overwhelmed by the situation upon us: the thermometer on the car read 5 degrees F and the winds were honking. We packed Cally's bag, my bag, and John's bag into a sled and I pulled it with Cally in my hands while John carried both sets of skis and poles. People gave us looks like we might be abusing our child by exposing her to these conditions, but once we were in the lodge we had it all figured out. John got to take the first run (since he missed the turns on the Tear Drop the previous day) and then we'd switch off every few runs. We even lucked out because our friend Colleen offered to watch Cal while we took two runs together.
Cally was the queen of the Base Box (Mad River's base lodge). She strutted her stuff, smiled a lot, ate well, made friends, and even napped in the Ergo carrier for an hour. Here we were, focusing on our own agenda, but Cally, once again, went with the flow and made the experience even better than it could have been in the days before we had a kid.
Cally Jane, you are a true trooper! You really do go with the flow, enrich our lives, and make us so, so proud to be your parents. Keep on keeping on! Below is a video of Cally strolling around the house.
