At the conclusion of the Rossland mini tour, our team dispersed to our relative locales for a short, one week break before resuming the racing season for US Nationals. Christmas snuck up on all of as usual.... We got home on the 22nd, and had one day before Christmas Eve. Factor in a good, solid sleep, unpacking, etc and it's Christmas Eve before you have time to do anything about it. Regardless, it was awesome to sleep in my own bed, pay my bills, and be in Alaska for a couple of days.
En route home I had a great surprise in the airport. Our layover allowed time for a short visit with my family (that lives in Seattle.) My mom surprised me by bringing both of my Grandmas to the airport. My Aunt showed up too! We had a great "Christmas Party" complete with cookies and all! (Unfortunately the pictures from this event are on a different computer, otherwise I would post them.) Thanks mom for making it happen! While not ideal, an airport Christmas visit with my family is better than no Christmas visit at all...
In addition to some well deserved R & R in Alaska I was able to attend the APU Devo "Christmas Ski" to Kincaid. These guys skied 25 kilometers like it was no big thang! (AWESOME!)
I also got to use my FatBack!!! Check out more info on Fatbacks at Greg's site here!
If you've never tried winter biking it's a whole new sensation and way to enjoy the winter months!
Our neighborhood can be quite festive.... that is, when your car isn't being stolen or your house is being broken into (no joke!)
Neighbors hang holiday ornaments from tree branch arch
Fast forwarding to Maine..... The travel from Alaska to Maine is a bit tough. Maine is the furthest you can get from Alaska as far as a ski venue is concerned. We've found ourselves here a lot lately. This past spring I spent almost a month in northern Maine coaching Junior Olympics and then competing in Distance Nationals. US Nationals is on a two year rotation so this time next year, we'll be back.
The actual "travel" door to door took us 24 hours. We flew all night. This was the extent of our sleep during a short layover in Newark. (That's me on the far right underneath the airplane blanket trying to keep the blood from pooling in my legs.)
Finally - at the venue this morning! The new lodge is super nice... and will probably keep us temporarily dry for the 40 degrees and rain that is forecasted for classic sprint race day.
A quick self portrait overlooking the sprint course. The snow conditions look good in this shot but there are some solid patches of rocks, dirt, and bare spots. Tomorrow our team is shoveling snow on the distance courses in hopes that we can use them.
They have BIG trucks transporting snow. It's sweet to see how much they've stock-piled.
The girls on the van ride home.
After our ski we took a short self-tour of Rumford. We've started this tradition as we like to find out a bit more about the towns we visit. On our tour we found this building. Upon first inspection we thought it was the Star Ship Enterprise that had collided with the White House. The second inspection revealed that it's the local hospital. HUH?
Happy New Year! Thanks for reading... I'll try to keep you posted as best I can!
~Holly
