Another 5am day for me –I guess I won’t have any trouble returning to Eastern time tomorrow! We had lots of time to relax at the house before our snowmobile tour at 10am. John K wasn’t feeling well and decided not to go on the tour. Dan seemed to be feeling better after another rough night, but the Quiggle’s decided to skip it, as well. I relaxed in the room listening to music, reading, and watching TV until it was time for the van to pick us up at 10am.
The van showed up right on time and we all piled in. We drove about 35 minutes, through the town of Frisco, up toward Chicago Ridge in the mountains. Their base camp consisted of several large temporary buildings (like big tents), a few port-potties (disgusting), and lots of snowmobiles! We checked –in, paid, got our helmets and then went outside to join our group. After a quick briefing, we hopped on and headed off.
There were a LOT of snowmobiles out there. We had ten in our group and we were part of a larger group of 20 that left at the same time. In addition, there were 2 or 3 other groups that head left earlier or later than us. There must have been hundreds of us zooming around the trails! The guide did a good job of keeping us separated as much as possible, but it was a bit too crowded for my tastes. I was near the back of the line as we pulled out and I thought I was going to choke on 2-stroke exhaust fumes!
They led us slowly through a winding, tree-lined trail to a large practice area / track they had setup. We took a few laps there and then we continued on our tour. We soon got above the tree-line as we climbed higher into the mountains. The scenery was BEAUTIFUL! I really enjoyed cruising along and taking in the wonderful mountain vistas. As we neared the summit, there was a few large bowl areas were we could ride high up on the side of a hill and then back down. We did this a bunch of times and it was really fun.
Finally, we reached the top: 12,600 feet. We stopped for a while here and took some photos before hopping on and heading back down to base camp. We stopped on the way back for hot cocoa in another tent tucked in the mountains beside one of the trails. I really enjoyed the tour, but Michele said her hands kept going numb and she didn’t like it so much.
The van dropped us off right on time at 2pm back at the house and Dan had margaritas waiting for us at the door! The plan for the evening was for John K to cook dinner for everyone (steaks on the grill) and celebrate multiple birthdays. After getting cleaned up, John & JJ went to the grocery store to pick up the supplies while some of us headed downtown.
A few of our friends had gone to an Oxygen bar the previous day and said it really helped them feel better overall and get a restful night’s sleep. So, we decided to give it a try. It was Michele & I, the Quiggle’s, Karen J, and Cathy P. The Oxygen bar was relaxing and we all had fun laughing & joking while we breathed in the sweet O2. We did 45 minutes and then walked around downtown for a little while to shop for souvenirs. Cathy & I ducked into Mimi’s and picked up some awesome meat pies to snack on. They are a local specialty referred to as “hand warmers”.
We got back in the car and made one more stop on the way home to pick up cupcakes Susannah had ordered for everyone. Michele volunteered to go in and pick them up and she fell on the icy sidewalk in front of the store on the way in –OUCH!
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