Back before Christmas, Chase and I had planned to meet our friends Jenn and Houston up in Spokane to do some XC skiing. We ended up not being able to make it because the weather between here and Spokane got too bad. It really doesn't snow that much between here and Spokane (until you get half way up the mountain), but because of that there aren't a lot of plows or salt trucks treating the roads. To make it worse, the temperature is typically right around freezing and the roads end up being really icy. Needless to say, it was a good thing we didn't go because there were a lot of wrecks on the road we needed to take.
We had already had a hotel reservation, but we were able to reschedule it for a weekend in January. It actually worked out better because we just work up early and drove up early Saturday morning and then we were able to stay the night after our rigorous day of skiing.
I was really nervous for the trip. Last time I went XC skiing with Chase in Minnesota, I didn't do very well. I had a lot of trouble keeping up with Chase even though he was slowing down for me. I couldn't quite get the motion down. I am happy to report this trip was SO much better. I caught on pretty quickly. The trails helped me out a lot because they were pretty slick and propelling yourself forward was easier. It was such a fun trip. I almost even bought skis after so we could go easier (Chase has skis but I don't), but they aren't cheap. I'm going to keep my eye out for an after season sale. Here are some of the pictures of our trip!
In spokane it was really really foggy. You could barely see 20 feet in front of you. As we drove up the mountain side we escaped the fog into the sunshine! In the pictures above if you look closely out into the horizon you can see the cloud of fog on the valley below. This was our first time XC skiing in the mountains. Pretty cool!
I was actually smiling!
Above is the summit of Mt Spokane. The downhill ski area is over there.
This is about half way through our trip. I was in good spirits, but I was having a lot of pain in my feet. Specifically around my big toes....I was trying to adjust my shoes so they wouldn't hurt as bad. I found out later that it was because my shoes were a little too big. I had to rent equipment and it was old and clunky...I really want to buy some!
The photo credit for the photo above goes to Chase. It is one of my favorites too!
The pictures of Chase skiing didn't turn out quite as well. At this point we had finished our 12 mile loop. Yes....we skied around 12 MILES. Not too shabby for only my second time skiing. But after the loop we stopped by the lodge and my toes were killing me. I could barely walk. We had a snack and then Chase decided to take one last quick loop without me before we left. I was in too much pain to go back up to the start of the trails so I took the pictures above from the parking lot. I think they turned out pretty good, but I feel bad I didn't get some better pictures of Chase actually skiing. Next time.
Once we finished up, we drove back down to Spokane and got cleaned up at our hotel. Chase and I love to explore new breweries when we go to new cities. This trip we checked out No-Li Brewery. We really enjoyed the brewery! The food was just ok. I was craving fish and chips....I really have to learn it is never as good as I want it to be. The beer was great though. We bought a few 22 oz bottles to take to a football watch party the next day! Delicious!
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