This past year for the Christmas holiday Darrel, Emma and I went to Wyoming to visit Darrel's brother and family. They live outside the town of Jackson, very near the Grand Teton National Park and the Jackson Hole Ski Resort. Randell, Trish and the kids (Jesse, Justin and Christopher) always pamper and spoil us, and this year was no exception. They live in a lovely house that Randell and his company built, and have a large workshop on their land. The second floor of this building houses a little office and a small apartment where we stay. It's got a comfy bed, a bathroom, a fridge (always stocked with beer and wine when we arrive) and a coffee maker. What more could one ask for?
We had talked about the possibility of skiing a bit during our visit, but I was hesitant. Darrel and Randell grew up going to France to ski (tough life, I know), but it had been 20 years or so since Darrel had been on the slopes. I had skied once when I was 10, which really doesn't count. Emma hadn't tried the sport yet, but I wasn't really worried about her. It was my out-of-shape self that I was concerned with. But, not wanting to be a negative-Nellie, I got all kitted up too and gave it a try.
Randell rented us the skis and boots for a week as a Christmas present, which pretty much committed us to an awful lot of skiing. Darrel picked it again up right away. He's shite at ice and roller skating, so I figured he'd not be any good at this. I was wrong. He was very graceful, and the only time he ever fell was when he was trying to help Emma and me up from the ground. Very impressive.
Emma took to it right away. She was adorable all bundled up with her helmet and goggles on. And fearless. Not worried at all about falling. It took her a bit of time to learn to control her speed and direction, but once she had that down, there was no stopping her.
It took me longer to get the hang of things. Going down the hill was no problem. Its the slowing down and stopping that gave me grief. I fell a lot, but with Darrel and Randell tutoring and encouraging me, I built my confidence up and began to enjoy myself. Skiing is a bit of an insane sport, if you ask me, but once I figured out how to control my decent, I felt much better. I'm certainly not good at it, but I did have fun. We'll hopefully do it again, and I'll be better prepared for the whole endeavor.
It was fantastic to see Emma out there, following Darrel and Randell between trees and over little hills. And it was beautiful. Just gorgeous. And we saw moose from the lift! Can't beat that now, can ya?
We also took a trip out to the National Elk Refuge, and dragged the Wyoming Mayers clan with us. It was beautiful out there, and we saw not only lots of elk, but two bald eagles and a couple of coyotes. Stunning.
For more photos of our trip, visit my Flickr set.
