Road Trip 2021 - To Maine and Back

Today, we woke up in the snowmobile sno park to about an inch or two of snow! So we had an easy going morning while we waited for the snow to lighten up and temps to warm up.  Then, we headed on down the road to winter park. The scenery was beautiful going up and down mountain passes.  My mom decided to not ski again today due to the forecast. It was expected to be windy so hard packed snow. I headed up to the lifts, and she look a nap. The snow was definitely hard packed. They didn't seem to get as much freshies as Steamboat did. But it was still fun. I happened to run into the man from yesterday - I'll call him Tim. He's familiar with Winter Park, so it was nice to have a sort of tour guide! We went up to the top of Mary Jane which is a bowl that funnels into trees. The top of which is at 12,000 feet! The snow was much better than I expected too!  We did several of these runs before my knees called it quits. It was a great way to end ...

Today, we woke up expecting snow, only to find none. It was chilly, probably around 28degrees. We had a leasurely morning getting ready, making breakfast, and using the wifi at the KOA to do some trip planning. Then did important things like dump garbage and get water.  Around 10am, it started hailing. It didn't last long though. So we headed out to Steamboat Springs ski resort. My mom decided to sit today out because of the weather forecast. It had been in the 50's the days prior and was cold (28) today with a chance of snow. So she hung out at the camper while I headed up to the lifts.  As I headed up, it started to snow! This whole time, I thought that weather forecast was a joke. I figured that it would be dust on crust from the freeze of the previous days warm temps; if I got three runs in, that would be fine. I just wanted to check out the area.  My first run was bad. It was dust on crust. Light powder on top of sheer blue ice. My second run ...

Today was another big driving day! We got on the road and got gas and coffee on our way out. We stopped at a coffee shop of the neighbors of the boondockers where we parked in Salt Lake City. It was a very cute local coffee shop. We got on the road and saw some beautiful views and even antelope! We decided to stop at Dinosaur National Monument as our lunch and halfway point stop. It was hot, I think around 81 my truck said! We ate lunch with a beautiful view.  Then headed to the Quarry where thousands of dinosaur bones were found. From 150 million years ago! It's essentially a rock wall filled with bones piled up that used to be a river. The dinosaurs died from a drought, then later, the bones were swept up from a flood causing this one area of a congregations of skeletons and bones. Several have been extracted and sent to museums. But over 1,500 bones still remain.  The park had beautiful views too. We di...

Today we drove back up to Solitude to ski for the day. It was a beautiful sunny bluebird day. We headed out early to get some good snow before it warmed up too much. We had some great runs! Until it got really slushy. So we called it a day around noon.  Back at the camper, we joined several other tail gaters and had our lunch. The vibe of spring skiing and easter was all around. The people across the parking lot from us were blowing  bubbles for everyone who walked by. We enjoyed lunch in the sun before heading out.  On our way back into town, we ran a few errands. Then went to park back at the Boondockers place to chill for a little bit before heading back out to dinner. We were meeting an old high school friend of mine who happens to live in Salt Lake now! She's the one who let us crash Thursday night for a shower.  We met at a pub for dinner - and it was great to see her and catch up. It was also my first time eating...

Today, we went to Brighton! I snowboarded, and my mom took a day off to chill.  We did the same routine as yesterday, because that seemed to work well. Our Boondockers site is a little closer to the mountains, so we woke up around 6:30 and arrived at the mountain around 7:30. Then we hung out and made breakfast, coffee, and lunches while I got ready.  I could tell the snow was pretty soft from the day before already. But my goal was to get a taste of the mountain; a few runs on each lift. Which is exactly what I did. I chased the sun again too. Starting where it was sunny and moving as it softened up. The mountain is much smaller than Snowbird with shorter runs. But it had a nice community vibe. Everyone was in the parking lot tail gating and enjoying the spring skiing day that it was! I had several good runs but would love to come back to ski some powder trees. By about 1pm the snow was sticky and I wasn't sliding anymore, so called it a day.  We hung out a b...

Today was another early morning, but so worth it! We got up around 5:30 to get to Snowbird early for our first day of skiing on the trip! I wasn't sure about parking and it's a big rig, so I wanted to get there early. We arrived by about 8am and then got ready in the camper before lifts open. It was so nice to have a relaxing morning. We made coffee, breakfast, and lunches while we got ready.  It was a beautiful spring skiing day! It was a beautiful calm bluebird day. It was a little icy at first, so we followed the sun. Letting the runs soften up as the day went on. The best skiing was definitely the powder bowl on the backside. But once that got a lot of sun, the front side was prime. By the end of the day, it was a little slushy, but not too bad. I definitely want to come back here for some powder bowl skiing.  We also got pretty sunburnt despite wearing sunscreen. I have a lovely mask/helmet chin strap tan line.  Afterwa...

Today was an especially long day. We woke up at 6am at the small RV and motel in Baker City, OR to fix the battery. We raised the camper off the truck using the AC. Then, pulled forward and filed the connection to ensure it was good. Backed the truck back under the camper and lowered the camper on. We checked the battery, and it was charging!  After getting diesel, we were on our way by 8:30! We took turns driving and went down through Oregon and into Idaho. On the way, we stopped at Sheshone Falls, which were gorgeous! I can't imagine this flowing at full peak. It was the perfect lunch break and spot for a beautiful view.  Then, for a total of 450 miles later, we arrived in Salt Lake City! A gracious friend of mine let us stay at their house while they were away. It was so nice to have a known destination without a reservation or obligation and safe place to park for the night. A shower was an added bonus. After a late night settling in and...