Going Downhill Fast

Between Saturday night and Sunday morning, we were blessed with about 4 inches of light fluffy snow...easy to plow and shovel and sweep.

And that gave me a little extra time late in the morning to take the girls out sledding.

The eldest Placid one was so excited about being out sledding, that I had no sooner laced my boots, then she was out on the gentle slope behind our back yard.

She was soon joined by younger Placid one, MODA and me. We had spent about 30 minutes on the gentle slope (with the big hill looming large behind us) when MODA announced she was going in to make lunch.

It was our chance to make our move. We trekked up the big hill (we call it Ski Hill, because there used to be a ski slope with a tow rope up one side), and passed the first slope, which is great sledding. We past the 2nd slope, which is also good sledding, but has a nasty patch of briars at the bottom, and made it all the way to the 3rd slope. Daredevil Hill, we dubbed it.

Eldest went first, after some instructions from Dad on how to bail when the trees got too close at the end. Youngest and I went together next. It all happened so fast, it's hard to tell how it happened, but I can tell you that a boogie board goes REALLY fast down that slope.

We caught an edge and were quickly airborne. My arms and legs flailing, knowing that youngest was out there somewhere, and I wanted to make sure she was safe. Was that a tree? Ouch, that's going to hurt tomorr...why am I still falling? Whump!

It was a great ride, but youngest was headfirst in a pile of snow, with her legs sticking out. The snow didn't muffle her screams very well.

Took her home, and we warmed up. I went out later with the snow tube and a video camera. It was another great run, but I popped the tube on something about halfway down...and came to a sudden and snowy stop. I was laughing pretty hard. My face was encrusted with snow, but the camera was safe.

Now I had to buy another snow tube, and was able to find a big selection of snow tubes online. We settled for a 3-person tube for $30, but there are commercial tubes out there for $60-90...and many of them are made in the USA!

We searched "Snow Tube made in USA" and found a large selection. Have fun going downhill!