I'm Dreaming of a White Thanksgiving

Oh yes, I finally headed out to Little Cottonwood. After a week in Orlando wearing sundresses and shorts and tracking Disney Princesses, I arrived back in SLC and head first into a storm. The forecasters didn't lie or even get it wrong this time. Today was epic. Think April 2010 but with less terrain open. I made the bonehead move to blow off changing out my tires and was forced to leave the Blizzaks in the garage and grab the Thule snow chains to get out of my driveway. At least a foot of powder stood between me and I-215. Did I mention that I have never once put on snow chains? In my entire life of weekend roadtrips to Mammoth Mountain, Calif., my guy friends always did the honors.

I watched a quick YouTube Thule installation video and had those puppies harnessed around my rear tires in 10 minutes. (They recommend placing chains on rear tires of 4WD/AWD cars.) I rolled up to Chickadee at the crack of noon. The drive up the Canyon was a slow crawl with many a vehicle doing the fishtail boogie. Alta probably would have been the better call because they have more terrain open, a singles line at Collins and the trees make whiteouts manageable; but I parked at Chickadee. I'm a wuss in the cold and the Tram's like a womb- warm, safe and rockin' the good vibes.

It's still early season despite the reported 14" this morning so I clicked into my rock skis and cruised to the tram dock. The line was insane. Full maze inside then out the door around the back of the building and out toward the plaza, ending at the ski school office. What could you do? The Peruvian Lift won't open until Friday. Gadzoom was running but I wanted the top not the middle. I wanted untracked powder not Big Emma. I stood in line. Like going back to school after summer break, there were all the familiar Bird faces.

I ran into Alta Lodge's Joni Dykstra on the dock and we hooked up for the first run. I hate skiing alone especially when the visibility sucks and my fingers are cold. The temp meter at Hidden Peak was pointing to 15 degrees. We took the Cirque Traverse for the Sign Line. We dropped in to the most forgiving snow you could have ever dreamed of on the weekend before Thanksgiving. Usually we're getting this kind of fluff the day after Turkey Day. Not this early. Every turn was creamy and if we were guys we'd be high-fiving each other at the bottom. Instead, we snapped iPhone photos. Back in the tram line others echoed our amazement. How could it be this awesome, this early? One guy went so far as to say, "Global warming my ass."

Joni's friend Larry Burch joined our unit and filled us in on the La Nina/El Nino banter. Those little siblings love to take annual turns toying with Utah ski conditions. Larry is the deputy director at the NOAA Salt Lake aviation weather center so he knows a little something about weather. Supposedly, we're in a La Nina season. COLD COLD storm systems that will dump copious amounts on winter crack. He says we've got another 2-3 feet coming by Wednesday, then an arctic front that will push in to deliver a few clear, brutally cold days for Thanksgiving.

The tram line had mellowed a bit now that the morning hardcores had left. We did another run in mid cirque. It was 3:25 p.m. when we boarded for our third and final lap. That's three runs in three hours. Not a record but seeing as how my legs burned after the first run, I wasn't complaining. Larry cut across Reg to the traverse and mentioned something about dropping down the backside; i.e. Nirvana. Sure why not? He'd been spot on so far. OMG! Not only were we the only ones in the whole area but we laid down the only tracks. I got my first face shot of the season. Up until now I had been tentative. No one wants to wreck and hurt themselves before March let alone before Thanksgiving. But here I was faced with a couloir with bottomless blowage. I had to attack. Sorry, Ryan, this was better than sex. The turns happened when they were supposed to, the legs extended when they were supposed to the hoots came out when they were supposed to. I was in the zone. I was in the zone? Already?

By the time I got my SUV unstuck from the parking spot it was 4 p.m. and the line down the Canyon was moving 2 mph. I heard those trying to leave earlier in the day had it worse- an hour and half to get to the mouth. But the traffic was worth it. I was able to make three phone calls spraying about my day to those who decided to sit it out. NEENERS.

Most people don't plan Thanksgiving ski trips. There's usually no snow. This year, Utah couldn't have wished for a better marketing campaign to get the tourism phones ringing. Where will you ski this Thursday?

P.S. The Canyons really ought to figure out a way to make their passholders happy. Announcing a Dec. 10th opening in the midst of these big dumps is not going over well. Just look at all of the comments their Facebook "fans" are leaving:http://www.facebook.com/TheCanyonsResort

Orlando Day 2- We Made It Through Epcot

Ok, I really should be sleeping at this very moment. Everyone else is passed out. But I can't let the thoughts pile up. I wouldn't be able to sort them out later. What a day. We had at least three tantrums from Sage - and this is after she spent over an hour screaming like Linda Blair last night. She didn't want to sleep and she made sure no one else could. SIGH. My dad has started calling her The Thing again.

It absolutely sucks to have a child who might lose it at any turn. You read all of those books that tell you to head off tantrums before they happen? What do you do when they're always about to happen? We can't just give her everything she wants. Tantrums happen whether she's tired, rested, fed or hungry. She wants a present every day. She doesn't deserve one. Last night she didn't want to sleep. Not going to let her stay up. Today she wanted a princess dress. We told her last night that if she didn't stop, she wouldn't get a dress. She has to go a whole day without being a beeatch (we didn't use those words). She didn't last five minutes today before the monster came out. Stomping, shouting, making pouty faces, and crying were all part of the scene today. At least they didn't last as long or as loud as last night. But it was enough to get us to tell her, no dress tomorrow. And then there's another tantrum. Maybe tomorrow she can be a good girl and get her dress on Wednesday? Doubt it. The good news is then we don't have to spend $60 on a Disney Princess dress. That's the price in these parts.

We kept seeing all of these little girls glittered up, with a tiny tiara tucked in their bunned hair and wearing the latest in princess fashion. I asked one mom how much it cost and where did they go to get their kid all dolled up like that and she said Bibiddy Bobbity Boutique in Downtown Disney, $189!!! OMFG. Good thing Sage will never 'earn' that kind of present. Parents with boys are lucky. They have to buy hotwheels and video games. They don't have to spend $200 on dress up clothes.

In case you couldn't tell, we made it into Epcot. Not a single problem with the tickets. The place was relatively uncrowded and we were able to do just about everything we wanted to - Soarin', Innovations, Sum of All Thrills, Turtle Talk, Test Track, walked twice around the World, drank beer in Germany, ate potstickers in China and watched Illuminations. The parks close at 9 p.m. until Thanksgiving but we still didn't get home until 11 p.m.

I"m really going to bed now. I need my energy to deal with Sage. We're doing Universal Islands of Adventure tomorrow. My rents are big Harry Potter fans. One last mention- Sage went right to bed tonight without fuss. Is there a light at the end of this tunnel?

She looks like a princess but can she act like one??

Orlando Day 1- No Disney Just Dizzy

I now know how a black person feels when they visit Utah. Our first night in Orlando and my dad picks a place called Mama Nem's for dinner. The soul food restaurant in a strip mall about 20 minutes from our hotel (the Marriott Grand Vista) came recommended. By whom I'm not sure but there we were; hesitantly shuffling past a sranding-room-only waiting area of black people all staring at us as if we were lost. Two white seniors, two white parents and a little white girl who kind of looks like the All-American Kid. The only white people in the entire place! We held our heads high and waited to be seated. It was like that scene in Animal House just before the guys come up to Boone and say "Do you mind if we dance wif yo dates?"

Everyone was extremely nice; the hostess grabbed a piece of melt-in-your mouth cornbread for Sage while we waited. After about 5 minutes, however, mom was visibly uncomfortable. Let's go, she said. It was the wait not the company that bothered her. They had caught the redeye from San Diego to Orlando last night with very little sleep. The hostess had said it would be another half hour....until we offered to seat Sage in a high chair at a four-top instead of a bigger table. All of a sudden it was 10. They didn't want us to leave!

The restaurant itself wasn't much. Zero atmosphere. WE were the atmosphere- for tonight anyway. It was hilarious. But when I tried to take a photo of my parents from across the table. Ryan stopped me and said it was rude. HUH? He accused me of trying to take a picture of black people (like when I took a photo of these girls lined up in bikinis outside of my acting class just because I'd never seen anything like it?) OMG could he be serious? I take my camera everywhere and I shoot it everywhere- including dinner. Tonight I told him that he was the rude one for making me act differently just because we were in an all-black restaurant.

Bikinis on Main

The food soon arrived, piled high on the table. Collard greens, fried green tomatoes, mac n cheese, fried chicken, ribs, corn, fried shrimp, mashed red potatoes. All of the usual heavy southern foods. The sides were on the money, the main dishes not so much. The ribs held very little meat and our chicken was dry- Sage took one bite of her drum stick and handed it to Daddy. But I'll tell you- even when Sage got off the high chair and started boogieing in the middle of the room to the hiphop music overhead, they didn't rush us out.

We drove back to the hotel a bit weary from the experience. Tomorrow we test out our Disney World tickets. I got them off eBay and the seller dropped them at the hotel this afternoon. I've read the warnings and posts all over the web. Don't buy tickets on Craigslist or eBay because there's no way to tell if the ticket's already been used but the dude had near 100 percent feedback and I used my credit card. Worst case scenario: the tickets are confiscated, we buy at the gate for the regular price and I dispute the charge on my card. I've always been one of those people who had to "learn the hard way". We'll see what happens tomorrow. Wish me luck!