Snowboard Dating

Dylan and Brooke at Sunrise Park Resort this morning.

Dylan and his friend Brooke went on a date today. Not to a movie or dinner. Not to a dance or bowling alley. No, they went snowboarding!

At 7:30 this morning, I drove them to Sunrise Park Resort on the Fort Apache Reservation, about 35 miles from our house. We had a small snowstorm last night, which continued into today, so the roads were a bit icy. Snow was flying horizontally across the landscape. The drive took almost an hour each way, rather than the usual 30 minutes.

When I dropped the kids off at 8:30, it was just 22 degrees outside and the snow was getting a bit heavier. The resort is located at an altitude of 9,200 feet, but the highest peak is 11,100 feet. (Our town is at about 7,200 feet.) I reminded them both to be careful not to break any limbs or necks!

These pictures were taken within 6 miles of the ski resort. Dylan took them through the car window, trying to get a good shot of the ski runs on the 3 peaks: Sunrise Peak, Cyclone Peak, and Apache Peak. It seemed like every time he aimed the camera, a bunch of trees jumped in the way!

Brooke and Dylan get their gear out of the back of the car . . .

. . . and they head toward the 2 ski lifts.

A view of the ski lifts (left and center) and a run on the right.

I'd arranged to pick Dylan and Brooke up at 4:30, since the lifts close at 4 pm, but Dylan called at 12:30 and said, "PLEASE come pick us up! We're freezing and it's snowing really hard!" I told him it would be a while, but he said they would wait in the nice, warm lodge.

Ryan and Shera decided to ride to Sunrise with me so they could check out the resort. As a teen in Alaska, Ryan was such a great half-pipe snowboarder that he had sponsors and got his pictures in magazines. He's hoping to find a job soon so he can go snowboarding before the season ends. As he explained, there are no mountains in Missouri (where he's lived for the past 10 or 12 years) fit for snowboarding!

The Sunrise Park Ski Lodge

It was 2:00 when we finally reached the resort, but Dylan and Brooke were nowhere to be found. In true teenage fashion, as soon as they got warmed up and comfortable again, they decided to squeeze in a few more runs before we arrived! Their faces were awfully rosy from the cold when they came off the mountain!

It got so warm in the car on the ride home that everyone fell asleep except Ryan and me (thank goodness, since I was driving!). Ryan actually got cute pictures of all the sleepy heads, but I won't embarrass them by posting those!