Friend from Chicago

S call out of the blue and mentioned she is in town! She is literally one of the first person I met when I came to this country almost 15 years ago. She was like a big sister to me, sending me cookie while I was in college and welcoming my visit during Thanksgiving.

We had not seen each other after I left Midwest and came here to work.

We met up at B44 for dinner with her friends, then stop by Jade bar for after dinner drinks. It was really cool catching up with her.

Ski

Went for ski movie night at Sports Basement in Sunnyvale. Won free ski lift ticket to Bear Valley. Then found out Mel Cotton's offers bus ride to Bear Valley. It all worked!

Woke up at 5am after chatting with A till 3am:( Slept most of the way to the resort.

I had rented skis and boots from elsewhere, and was able to get on the ski lift immediately. After not skiing for the last 2 season, I was eager to get on the snow. I went up a ski lift and from the top notice there was no green path down hill. Puzzled, I checked with a ski guide.

"Ahh...common mistake, there is no green downhill. Just take any of the blue and ski slowly", was the answer. No really the answer I was looking, but what could I do? I ski slowly, falling on purpose several times to stop myself and finally made it to the bottom.

I did a few more green run and got my parallel ski technique somewhat down. I still need to make big turns, but felt more confident in my runs. My friend T was patient enough to ski with me on several runs and really helped with my technique. I went up the blue run again and was able to come down, falling only once or twice.

The snow was a little packed and in the afternoon started melting a little. Then at about 3-4pm, it froze up and the snow felt icy. I decided to call it a day and not risk injury.

I was happy to get back into some snow sports after the 2 year hiatus.