Ski Trip

Last Thursday, our company took a trip up to Sälen! It was actually only 75% of the company because several people were unable to make it, including The Swede, who was busy terrorizing perch at the ice-fishing national championship. Aside from the major bummer of that very bad timing, though, it was an amazing weekend.

 

Despite growing up in the Rockies, I'd only put on skis one other time in my life, when I was in grade school. It was not a hit, but this time I was determined to give it a shot. I was not good, you guys. In fact, I won a prize for how terrible I was after I crashed into and did a somersault over a snowman-shaped slalom obstacle on the kiddie slope. After a few hours, though, I had gotten it down enough that I started to actually enjoy myself, and I'm kinda itching to try it again. Hopefully the feeling won't wear off during the eight months until skiiing will even be possible again.

We spent a lot of time partying it up and also taking it easy in cozy cabins. We all ate breakfast together, grilled hot dogs for lunch, went swimming at the indoor water park, had a beer tasting, danced, chillaxed, and even snuck in some business development brainstorming sessions.

On the last night, a bus came to pick us up about an hour before sundown and drove us to a snowmobile safari. We rode deep into the moutains (well, hills... remember the Rockies?) to a cabin without electricity and running water where we were served fondue by candlelight. Afterwards we all hopped into a big sleigh and a snowmobile pulled us back down to civilization. Because we were so far from anything, it was pitch black and the sky sparkled with stars. It was all pretty magical.

Nothing compared to the hug I got when I went to pick up Jamie from Mama Swede's on Sunday afternoon, though. The Swede came home from the championship late Sunday night having achieved a solid result during the first competition and fifth place during the second. Oh, and you can call me aunt of Sweden's Bronz Medalist in the young ladies category: Elin! Julia also competed and came in sixth and I'm so impressed that both girls even competed. This family is making waves in the ice-fishing community, guys.

Now: back to our well-loved routines for a while!