Snowboarding Adventure - Finally!

As you know, my laptop is currently on its way to wherever they send laptops to be fixed. And, for some reason my antique laptop won't let me save the snowboarding pics that my friend took with her waterproof camera from Facebook to my hard drive, which is why I've been waiting so long to post about it! But, I had so much fun that I just couldn't wait any longer - I'll just add the mountain photos on later.

Antonio and I started the 3 hour drive up to Deep Creek Lake around 7:00 and got there around 10:15, so we made pretty good time. When we arrived in the small town, we were greeted not only with gorgeous views of the ski slopes at Wisp, lit up by a ton of bright lights but also by a new number on my car's outdoor thermometer: 3. (It dropped even lower after I snapped this photo.) Yes, that's right my friends, this all things summer and beachy lover entered into a climate of 3 degrees Farenheit. A little freaked out, but still excited, we found the gorgeous house my friend Samantha had rented for the week, unpacked our stuff and settled in.

Like I said, we were going to spend the week with a good friend of mine from high school, Sam. Her brother (who I also went to high school with), cousin and a couple of their friends were also there. Each night, a different couple of people were in charge of cooking dinner, which was all absolutely delicious! Antonio and I opted for a few bags of Bertolli pasta meals, since we knew we'd been feeding a hungry army of tired snowboarders! We spent most of our evenings playing drinking games like Baseball (sort of like flip cup but baseball rules? It was wierd...), Beer Pong, Kings and even some that we made up ourselves! There was also a hot tub on the deck, with a little roof overtop, so that we could keep warm and safe from the constant snow fall.

Though absolutely beautiful, the snow fall was almost constant. Now, I'm not a huge lover of snow, cold, or wintertime in general, but it honestly wasn't so bad being in such a lovely environment. The community of Deep Creek is definitely centered around the ski resort and lodge, so new snow was actually exciting each morning! If I had to drive around and get to work and run errands in that weather, though, it might be a different story... but I digress...

My first day on the mountain was a little frustrating and ::ahem:: a bit painful. I am happy to say that I really, really enjoyed snowboarding! I had never tried any type of snow sports before and I must say, I think I caught on fairly quickly!! I took a couple of pretty good spills on my tailbone and am still pretty scared of steep hills, going fast, or changing directions suddenly. Getting up was a bit of a process also, since both of my feet were strapped to this huge board underneath me. However, by the last run on the beginner (NOT BUNNY!!) slope, which in my opinion was still pretty long, narrow and windy, I had only fallen twice! Not to brag or anything but, by the end of the week I was slowly but surely getting down all by myself with no spills, AND I was able to stand up after strapping in, all by my lonesome! Though I was skeptical at first, I loved snowboarding. Antonio and I have already made plans to go again!

New Year's Eve was a particularly cold, rainy day, so the eight of us decided to forgo the mountain for the day. We went to a local pizza place called Smiley's for lunch. The pizza was really delicious, even though I think our eyes were bigger than our bellies. We ended up taking about half back to the house with us! When we got back, we decorated and got ready for 2010 to arrive!

It was, honestly, the most relaxing New Year's I've had in a long time. We didn't have to worry about designated drivers, dressing up, or choosing which party to go to at midnight. Sam asked that everyone wear white, black or silver for New Year's, just to be a little festive. I wore a sparkly white tank with black sweats and Antonio wore his black and white fraternity letters. When the house was decorated and we were all properly attired, we sat down to watch The Hangover. Even though I've seen is before, this time was even more fun because we turned it into a drinking game, drinking everytime certain words were said. (Do you have ANY idea how many times they say the F word??) At midnight, the Times Square ball dropped on TV, 2010 arrived, and we made our way out to the hot tub with some champagne to celebrate!

After packing our things in the car, and cleaning up the large amounts of recycling ::cough:: beer cans ::cough::, our snowboarding adventure was over, and we began the long trip back home through the mountains. But, our first winter trip together was a huge success! I felt very relaxed, but also accomplished when I got home. I had learned something new, didn't give up, and actually liked it! I also had a ton of time to get into reading the first Harry Potter book, which I sped through and am now almost done with number 2! It was also really great to get to spend some time with an old friend, who I don't get to see very often. I think that a NYE snowboarding trip to Deep Creek might just have to become a yearly tradition.