Lutsen - Time to fly

Ok, I think I will take a stab at telling this story. The one that, if picked, wins me a week at Caribou Highlands. Worth a shot, right? :P

The highlight for both Stephen and I after your Super Bowl visit was our upcoming ski trip to Lutsen. Being God only knows how many years since either of us had skied, Stephen and I were psyched at the opportunity to fly down the mountains; especially since both of our definitions of "flying" seemed to be so similar. Yeah, right. Friday afternoon as we crossed into Duluth, however, individual visions of us sloleming down the mountain remained the foder of our own daydreams.


We stopped at Betty's Pie's, a prominent pie shoppe that I had noticed on our previous trip to Lutsen. It did not disappoint. We induldged in a couple of their most unique burgers - one had cream cheese and olives. Sort of like pickles on a pizza, unexpected but really good. Seeing as we were at a pie place, we naturally had to get pie. I had a 5-layer chocolate cream pie. Ummmm, chocolate buzz much? More like a chocolate coma. Stephen enjoyed his berry pie while waiting for me to come out of my coma. :)


Right up the road from Betty's Pies are these amazing falls. Perfect place to start outdoor adventure weekend. We threw on our hiking boots and headed toward the frozen falls. So you know how they say something is in the water? Well, I think I know where that phrase developed. As we made our way past the visitor center, Stephen pointed out a very chatty squirrel at the top of a tree. He was chattering like crazy so we snapped a couple of photos. When we passed, we realized he was chattering at a second squirrel. As we reached the frozen and barren falls, something caught Stephen's eye. He squinted his eyes and recognition hit him. Almost fractically he cried, "Beth, give me the camera!"


I fumbled to get the camera out of the case and turned on, meanwhile a large grin formed on Stephen's face. While handing him the camera, my eyes followed his line of sight and I start to crack up. This mother and daughter were both topless, posing for a picture on the far side of the falls on a teir below us. Stephen got a couple of shots but no great ones. We set out to explore the frozen falls and eventually ended up on a scenic ledge with a small natural bridge. As I instructed Stephen on where to pose for a picture, a family of a father and mother, their daughter and her husband offered to take a picture of us. :) It was the same two women we had snapped topless. Haha! I just grinned and grinned and grinned.


We were on our way out of the park, and as we passed the tree where the squirrel had been, we noticed he was still in the same spot chattering away. Except this time he had started humping the tree branch while continuing his rant! Women with their tops off in the winter, squirrels humping tree branches... Seems like there is a good arguement that Gooseberry falls having "something in the water".


We hit Lutsen around 4:30, checked into our room, and prepared to take a late afternoon walk around Grand Marais. Ofcourse, Stephen has a buddy of a buddy in Grand Marais, because really, does he not know someone everywhere? We end up finding this guy, Craig, and then spending about 45 minutes just hanging out chatting. Craig asks us if we would like to meet up for dinner at Caribou Highlands, and we are pumped to get to hang out with him and see who we meet. And meet people did we ever! Craig's golf partner ended up being are server/bartender at Moguls (in Caribou). Not only did we get to meet a bunch of people who work at the resort, but we ate some of the most amazing food I have ever had. We parted ways with Craig and then decided to keep the night going up at Papa Charleys.


So Papa Charley's by day is a sweet spot to grab lunch with some stunning views, good food, too. By night, Papa Charley's turns into a sausage factory. For every one female there are easily 6 dudes all looking for action. Mind you, not all the women who enter are single, so the ratio of horny males to available singles goes up to like 30 to 1, seriously. Stephen and I found our happy place in a nook upstairs playing Big Buck Hunter.


Saturday morning dawned earlier and fuzzier than I would have liked it to, but Stephen urged me out of bed and downstairs for some hearty breakfast. We filled our bellies, rented skis, and we slapping on our skis by 10:30 a.m. Time to fly.


Remember how I said Stephen and my visions of "flying" merged harmoniously? Well, it did for about the first 20 seconds we were on the hill. We had selected a blue trail and I contentedly, though a little wobbily, made my way down the mountain. I looked to my left and to my right for Stephen, and then up the hill, only to realize that my husband was the motionless pinpoint halfway down the mountain. No big deal, I'll get my ski legs.


Next ride up the lift we hop off and start searching out our next trail. Another exciting but slightly challenging blue trail? That was what I was looking for as Stephen lead me to the top of a very steep black diamond. "How about this one?" he asked. At that moment, my stomach made a running jump out of my throat, trying to escape the horror of plumeting down this trail.


"No, absoltuley not. Are you crazy?! This is only our second trip down the mountain, can't you give me a couple of passes at this to get my ski legs?" Begrudgingly Stephen agreed and lead us to a fun and safe looking blue trail. Making my way down this 6 ft. wide trail, I narrowly missed running into one of the hundreds of trees that line both sides. I began thinking about what a long day this could turn out to be. I wasn't going to go down without my best shot, but I was going to approach it my way.


First item on the agenda was to find a black diamond that looked managable. We made our way to the furthest mountain by way of ski lift and snow trail. There we found a fabulous learning ground for me. This hill was filled with a variety of blues that could have been black and black that could have been blue. It provided the perfect place for me to experiment with my techniques and to work through some challeneges, like my stammering heart at the top of even a slightly steep grade at the top of a hill. In no time I was feeling like a much improved skier and I was ready to take my chances on the challenging mountain on which we had started.


We made our way back to the top of the first mountain. Once at the top, Stephen lead us to the place we had been before, where I refused to consider going down the mountain. Again, I was nearly paralyzed by fear. I was convinced that the sign was pointing us towards two options - both DOUBLE black diamonds. Upon Stephen's relentless insistance that that direction would provide a less dramatic black diamond trip down the mountain, I made my way slowly toward him. And then he was off.


Before I knew it or wanted to know it, Stephen was again a motionless dot waiting for me to join him. With a deep breath and a little temporary insantity, I pushed off over the edge. Wind whipping past my ears accentuated the feeling of my heart soaring as my mind relinquished and let my body take control. I pulled up next to Stephen with a gigantic grin on my face - I could do this! I continued toward the trail that would continue my journey to the bottom of the mountain. As I looked around for Stephen, I again realized that he was not in my immediate vicinty. Crap. He was headed like a madman toward the sharp drop off of the double black diamond. Seriously?!?!


I whip a u-turn and head toward what will surely end in an ambulance ride. When I reached the point where the grade of the trail noticeab;y sharpened, I stopped. Standing there was like looking off of the edge of the world to me. Tears sprang into my eyes and I began to figure out how I would dope with failing to go down this trail. I just couldn't. I looked up the mountain and a girl zipping by me. She was headed straight for the double black diamond and was trying to gain speed. I thought, "Well, if she can do it, why can't I?" So I did.


Again, my mind gave way to motion, and each foot down the mountain carved confidence in me that I have never before known in myself. Stephen was waiting for me at the bottom of the double black with a huge grin on his face. "How was it?" he grinned.


That day, I challenged myself and conquered time and again. I found myself pondering the impact of my new found confidence on the other areas of my life. How many things had feared held me back from accomplishing?


We wrapped up skiing around 2:30, so that we could beat the hot tub rush. Between that, the sauna, and a couple of beers, we were pretty much done for. We grabbed a bite to eat, selected a movie, and headed to our room to watch it. Fifteen minutes later, both Stephen and I were fast asleep.


------------------------


There it is, my story. Any thoughts? Please feel free to help me proof this and make it more entertaining. Love you!


Bethie