A Slight Thaw

 1/9/26

Finally, the temperatures have risen into the 40's for the next couple of days. This morning, Friday, I woke up before sunrise, looked at the forecast for the day and realized if I was going to get out there, it would have to be now. I went on a nice sunrise walk of 3.4 miles which was pretty and peaceful. The roads were covered with black ice in many places, so I had to tread carefully. 

The lake is still frozen, but with pools of rain on top.

High winds were predicted as well, so I also took the opportunity to do a little maintenance on the hot tub (3 minutes) and then jump in to sooth my sore muscles. What a nice start to a miserable weather day. 

I finished the day with dinner at a Mexican restaurant with my two closest teacher friends and their husbands. We made tentative plans to go to the Connecticut Flower Show in February, as long as the weather cooperates. Weather dependency is a given in winter. 

Saturday 1/10/26
I set out for a walk this afternoon when I remembered that my tire sensor went off last night. I stopped and filled the tire last night, but decided to cut my walk short and check all of them today. They were all low, except the one I filled last night. Since I'm heading up to Lake Placid tomorrow, I figured I'd gas up and wash the car, and... get some more errands done. I also had a nice chat with my neighbor Bill, who was busy taking down all his Christmas decorations. 

Sunday 1/11/26
I set off for Lake Placid to volunteer at the Freestyle Ski Aerials World Cup, when my tire sensor went off again. Geri agreed to drive while I stopped at a gas station and checked the tire pressure - they were all fine, but I'm not about to drive up into the Mts on a questionable tire. 


L.L. Bean Lifetime Return Policy Ends — and Customers Are Furious - Business Insider
Who knew LLBean has a Bootmobile driving around to events?


We ended up having a fabulous day. My assignment was to be a steward, which meant mill about among the spectators answering questions. No one asked a single question. So we went to all the booths and got some free swag - a neck gaitor, chapsticks, bandana, $20 LLBean gift card, and turned down a lot more. The army was there giving away hats, fleece blankets, etc. Our tax dollars at work. 


After watching the ski jumping, I noticed a gondola lift, so I just got in line and with my volunteer badge, they let us get on. We rode to the top of the tallest ski jump, took pictures, and then got back to work. 

This is the view the jumpers have before they take off! Add this to the things
I would never, ever do.

A nice tourist took our picture on the observation deck.


The compettion we were helping with was off these much smaller jumps.
The height the aerialists get is amazing. The announcer was commenting about 60 feet or so.


The weather was fine so we weren't nearly as cold as last Sunday. The volunteer office had a catered meal and plenty of snacks and drinks so we did not go hungry. It did start to snow quite heavily at the end, so I got my free ski lift ticket and we left a bit early. I was home by 6 pm after such a fun day.

Tuesday 1/13/26
I thought I had book club today, but I was wrong - it's next month. So I called my sister yesterday, who had asked if I wanted to ski last week, but I thought I was busy. Anyway, we arranged to meet at Mohawk Mountain this morning and it turned out to be perfect skiing weather and great conditions.  It was my first time skiing this winter so I took it slow and we skiied  for about 3.5 hours. 

My action shot.

We took a short break to enjoy the sun - it got up to 40° F.



Theresa leading the way down.

I switched to a lighter jacket after lunch. 


I got home and hopped into the hot tub, and noticed the salt system is having problems, so calling the service dept. just made it onto the agenda for tomorrow.



Comments

  1. MargaretJanuary 14, 2026 at 12:23 AM

    Tires can be a real pain! The rest of your time sounds fun; the volunteer work would be wonderful. You got lots of cool swag! I do miss skiing although it's expensive here and requires a drive of at least an hour. (if that ski area even has any snow this year) Today it was in the low 60s here!

    ReplyDelete
  2. MargaretJanuary 14, 2026 at 12:23 AM

    Not sure I put in my actual blog address. I keep forgetting to use the pull down. Argghh.

    ReplyDelete
  3. MaureenJanuary 14, 2026 at 8:52 AM

    Skiing is expensive, but I've managed to keep costs low with various strategies. Skiing yesterday cost $20 because my brother-in-law and 2 nephews work/volunteer there and gave me a voucher.
    I can also ski for free at 3 mountains with the vouchers I earn from volunteering. I'm glad I've taken it up again - though much more conservatively than when I was in my youth!

    ReplyDelete

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