Our Response To A Challenge: Our (1st) Annual Skiing (and Snowboarding) Trip!

So who was the idiot who suggested taking everyone skiing (and snowboarding)?

Hey, let's not point fingers or anything back at me, even though I did suggest it.

Actually, the blame lies with another family who tried this and suggested it to us. We won't mention any names.

The most daunting part of our journey was getting the chains on the van. Would we be able to untangle them? Would we be able to get them on? Would it all end in tears and swearing? Bungee cords? Really?

Much to our relief, Juan got the chains on the wheels fairly quickly, and in spite of the horrible noises, they did not destroy the car.

Glacier Point Road, just a few miles to Badger Pass, but it was a slow drive.

We arrive at Badger Pass! The high for the day at Badger in Yosemite was 37 degrees.

After much confusion, running back and forth, and trying to figure out how to put on ski boots, we got the kids to their classes. In the time honoured tradition of having nicknames, the kids will now present some of their own comments under their Extreme Sports names!

And now, here is Badger X!:

"you are probably wondering why I am not using poles! Because young children do not use poles!"

And now Ski Bunny!

"Ski Bunny goes down the hill! Ski Bunny loses control and regains control!"

A view of Badger Pass looking Southwest.

Coolest snow boarding helmet we saw that day.

And now a comment by Terminal Velocity!

"Hi! The first thing we had to do was learn how to strap in our main foot. Apparently I am goofy. I was the only one in my class. Goofy is leaning on your right foot. "

"Wheeeeee!"

"Yay! I managed to stop without wiping out!"

And now, here is Bram Stoker's Dracula!

"Hey, I am doing something I couldn't do this morning!"

Skiing was lots of fun, and I enjoyed it. I hope to do this again pretty soon."

This guy looked pretty good. He looked like he was coming down at about 30 MPH.

Ski Bunny!: "Ski Bunny finds her way down the hill."

The Ski and Board equipment for the day as we ate lunch.

All the Mendoza kids on the same slope at once with a little girl who got in the way. Get out of the way, little girl! You're ruining a family moment!

"Ski Bunny goes wild while racing with her brother."

"Here is Badger X is racing Ski Bunny. It looks like I am tied with her."

Terminal Velocity: "Aww, the board was flat. You're not supposed to do that!"
It was all fun and games, until Terminal Velocity wiped out, and mentioned how she was going to break her ankle doing this.

So a great time was had by the kids, especially at the end when they got to the gift shop and choose their stickers. The staff at Badger Pass was awesome. they were friendly and professional, and showed the kids a really good time learning how to ski (and snowboard).

And now back to Mariposa for some delicious and well-deserved Pizza!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

Happy Birthday, Daniel!

We wish we could be with you on your birthday building Legos and eating cake.

Looks like you have plenty of snow over there. We just came back from snow, and it was lots fun. Now we can ski and snowboard with you over at Gunstock, near Laconia, home to FunSpot!, the world's largest arcade!

It would be fun to throw snowballs, and just have some fun in the snow.

So enjoy this virtual birthday cake that looks like a Lego pyramid.

May God bless you, and grant you many more years. We love you very much!

The Mendozas go on vacation!

Let us go back in time just a bit, to the beginning of this year, when we went on vacation.

Where to go on vacation? We figured we had about a week or maybe a bit less. I figured that would be maximum we would last with each other before felony charges would be filed. Probably against Nicholas. Oh man, if only we knew what was coming in June!

Well we chose to go to the Grand Canyon. Not the new one, but Grand Canyon Classic, the original one in Arizona.

So the day is coming when we were to leave, and we find out that there is a Snow Storm just behind us, and will hit Williams, AZ right as we are getting there. We had chains, and practiced putting them on, but if things got really hairy, our alternate plan was to head south once the snow stopped us, and to go to San Diego.

So off we go!

Just outside of Bakersfield, up in the hills, we already encountered snow. A foreshadow of all the snowballs thrown. Usually by Monica at Nicholas.

See what I mean.

So there is gambling in this town? Why don't they advertise this? There might be money to be made in this....

Many a time we wish they had this here in Monterey County to handle those nights with Eddie and Ulysses.

So apparently there is a Dam right outside of Las Vegas. Dam!

Dam! That's a big Dam!

Route 66 used to run form Chicago to Los Angeles. Seligman, AZ used to be on this route, and just like in Cars, it got bypassed by the Interstate system. It has managed to live on, and there a cafe called the RoadKill Cafe. We had just eaten in Kingman, AZ otherwise we should have eaten here. Maybe next time. Been a while since my last Fried Squirrel.

The snow not too bad, even though we had severe doubts. However, it seems like it all would have worth it even if we just stayed at the Hotel playing in the snow in the parking lot. I think we might have been one family of ten guests they had. Manager says that it would have been impossible to get the room we had at even triple the price in Spring and Summer.

Playing with the snow late into the night. GO TO BED! We need to leave early tomorrow and scrape the snow off the car!

Thank God we at least had Internet Access!

Starting to snow some more.

And in the morning, this is what it looked like. Or what they call in Nebraska in winter, Tuesday.

Route 66 in the middle of Williams, AZ.

One hour later, the Grand Canyon! From Mather Point.

The Family at Mather Point, close up.

From aways now.

Just absolutely spectacular.

More snow to play havoc with the lighting!

We could just play in the parking lot snow!

On our way to Desert View.

The Mendozas at Grapevine Canyon, I think.

Can I take this home?

Desert View.

Colorado River at Desert View.

Looking East from Desert View.

Looking West down river.

The family at Moran Point.

We had all bought boots to keep warm, and to trudge around in the snow. We went down one of the trails, Bright Angel Trail, although it was listed as being slippery with all the ice. Two in our party slipped and fell. A couple of people helped them up, and looked at them. They were Japanese tourists, but one of them was dressed as a Japanese Superhero from a current Manga, and this character apparently is a guy who gets his powers from snow. I guess he decided to fly to Arizona, and dress up as this superhero, and get pictures of himself in the snow.

At one of the gift shops at the Village.

A bit of a weather system about 20 miles away.

A California Condor, seemingly just posing there for everybody. There were about half a dozen around Mather Point our last day there.

California Condor.

Bright Angel Canyon. This would have been a nice hike, even just a bit.

Arizona still calls one road Route 66.

The Fountains at Bellagio. Probably the only thing for us worth seeing in Las Vegas.

Lots of Neon.

A great time was had by all. Ready to do it again, and would like to visit the North Rim of the Grand Canyon, too.