We skied the day we got there, on Christmas Eve, and after checking out on Christmas Day, we skied again before heading home. There was a beautiful full moon the first night, but it clouded over after that. The snow was great, though, and I'm just sorry that we didn't get some more skiing in -- it was starting to rain pretty quickly after that and has been unseasonably warm even when it wasn't raining! We stopped in to the Hatcher's Pass Lodge up at the top of the mountain, which we'd never done and had soup and/or hot toddies after skiing each day. We skied mostly at Archangel Road.
It's been quiet since then . . . another jigsaw puzzle, a movie - Bridge of Spies - excellent - and a New Year's Eve celebration, as we do every year at Carl Robert's & Diane Schwenker's. Note that the "Eiffel Tower" in the center of this picture is a gingerbread creation - and fantastic. Diane had a very large and impressive writeup in the local newspaper this year about her yearly gingerbread "houses" - unique every year.
Diane has the most exquisite table on New Year's Eve that anyone could hope for! We look forward to the food, the company, and the fireworks every year! The winter season is the season for fireworks here, since it is light most of the night in July!
And it's almost over. A highlight for the season was Brian's bike ride one night this week when he shared the trail with a fox. . . the fox was curious and playful and cooperated with Brian getting a very good picture in the circle of light from his headlamp.
Happy New Year to all of our friends and family. To all of you who are not here in Anchorage with you, we miss you terribly and think of you and speak of you often!
