The Honeymooners, Day Two

I would have been thrilled to spend all three days of our trip skiing, but this was not a good season for snow in Oregon.  I guess Boston got it all?  Before we left Virginia, I'd checked snow reports and weather forecasts, and I was disappointed to learn that not only was the snow really thin, but it would probably be too warm for good skiing anyway.

On the other hand, I hadn't been skiing since I left Bend, and I was due, dammit.  I didn't need good skiing.  I just needed to ski. 

Part of the sign at Chow, renowned for their breakfasts.

I also needed to eat.  Luckily, Chow opens at 6, and our brains were still mostly on East Coast time, so we were ready to go early.  This time, we didn't split one breakfast. I knew we'd want more fuel on our second day.

I don't remember what they called this, but it was some kind of Benedict with pulled pork, and cheesy grits on the side. You might be able to tell that I couldn't wait to take a picture before taking a bite.  My mouth is watering now just typing about it.

I love my skis, but I don't have the means to travel with them, and I wasn't sure when we left Virginia whether I'd be able to ski at all, given the conditions, so we had to hit the rental shop first.  I felt bad that we lost twenty minutes of skiing that way, but I'm a little bit mental about being one of the first people on the lift, and one of the last people off the mountain.  If I'm going to pay for that lift ticket, I want to get every possible second of use wrung out of it.

The Girl on Pine Marten chair.  Trust me, she's in there.

The Girl is not as obsessive as I am about skiing.  She does weird things like getting "cold" and "tired" and "hungry."  To be fair, while I can ski circles around her, I have to train for weeks to put in the distance she considers a "short run."  We each have our strengths.  Mine, apparently, is heavily reliant on gravity.

Looking at the Sisters from just below the base of Summit Chair.

By 2:00 or 2:30, the snow was getting sticky with afternoon sun.  It was difficult for her to ski slowly, and it was probably dangerous for me to ski fast (if your skis hit a sticky spot, they'll slow down.  You won't.  Newtonian physics for the win!).  It was tiring for both of us, so we split up.  She took a long, gentle slope back to the rental center, and I squeezed in five or six more runs.  Just because I shouldn't have gone fast doesn't mean I stopped.  I was careful, yes, but I was also greedy.

The Girl heads toward Olympian.  I'll catch up.

I had a few friends in town who knew I'd be visiting, but many of them were out of town that week, and we really didn't have enough time to see everyone I missed.  Still, I wanted to be sure to visit Nahid, who had come to see us two years ago.  She promised us a Persian meal, and I knew hers would be far more authentic than my best efforts.  Turns out our visit fell during observance of the Persian new year, and we got to see her beautiful table display.  The items all start with an "s" sound in her native tongue.

Happy Persian New Year!

My job was to get the grill going. I was nearly successful.  We managed, eventually, using a combination of briquettes, newsprint, Ponderosa pine cones, and lighter fluid. She set out skewers of tomatoes, chicken drumsticks marinated in beer and garlic, and began forming skewers of seasoned ground beef.  I was thrilled, and we hadn't even eaten anything yet.

Beef: it's what's for dinner.  Also, chicken, tomatoes, eggplant, rice, salad, flatbread, beer, and dessert.

She was leaving town in a couple days, so she demanded that we leave no leftovers.  We did our level best, but we're only three people, and two of us (the two that aren't me) are really small.  There was a LOT of food.  It was amazing.  Plus, I think each of us held back a little because The Girl and I had stopped at La Magie after skiing to pick up three little desserts (which we trisected, so everyone got to try everything), and nobody wanted to miss out on that.

My first of several plates.