First Ski This Weekend!

Saturday was a trip to Hatcher's Pass, where we skied early in November two years ago, probably two or three times before the snow was good in Anchorage - last year though snow was early right by our house, and we began November 4th.  Yesterday was the 17th, and we thought we had waited long enough!  There weren't too many people out on Archangel Road at Hatcher's Pass (about an hour from our house), but we passed a few late afternoon, as we began skiing about 2:50 pm.  You can see that it's getting to be late in the pictures, as the sun is dropping behind the mountains, and it was probably relatively dark by 4:30.  We skied out about an hour (slow climb) then back in about 20 minutes!  It was about 13 degrees when we finished, so certainly cold enough!  A good start to the ski season, though they have minimal coverage, and it wasn't tracked.  The sun is setting behind us, and we could watch it skiing back in the cleft of the mountains.

We can drive home through Wasilla or Palmer, and we drove through Palmer to stop at Turkey Red, one of my favorite restaurants around -- I hadn't had dinner there, and when we arrived at 4:45, we were starving!  The baked brie with berries that we had to start with was creamy and delicious, and we ate every drop.  Then I had sesame-seared tuna appetizer and a salad, and Brian had mahi mahi with a cream sauce with shrimp, brown rice, and brussel sprouts!

Sunday was a lazy morning, then errands before a quicker ski - skating this time - at Goose Lake.  We went back and forth on a trail with barely enough snow for about 40 minutes then quit and went home to put groceries away and make dinner - Lance and Mary, our landlords, came home from a vacation in Hawaii tonight, and we picked them up and made dinner for them.  It's good to be out on the skis again - and hopefully there will be skiing at Sheep Mountain when we head up there Wednesday for Thanksgiving!  Taking games and puzzles just in case!