Love it. X-Country Skiing.

Here I am trying to explain to Charlie that he isn't quite up to going on a cross country ski adventure.
He sat on the couch and gave me that look.
Sorry Charlie.

My neighbor had emailed me and we'd talked about going skiing together on a trail. Would a day that her youngest was at school work?
I checked my schedule when I got home from CrossFit and texted her that 'Today will work if you are able..."
I received a text back and it looked like it was going to work out as an unplanned quick get away.

I packed a few power bars and some water, an extra pair of gloves, a wind breaker, extra dry socks, and the emergency space blanket. I took the old handwarmer packet out of the plastic zip lock bag and stuck it in next to my pocket camera.
I was ready.

And then we were off! I'm on the right with sweat pants over my warm tights. I have a pair of soft tights on underneath.

And off we went...well. We first did the black trail as shown on the screenshot below. Since it was the first time in a long time since I'd skied, I wanted to get a feel for things.
And I went the wrong way...

So once we did the black loop we headed off on the red trail. I had no idea how long it would take us.
Lauren had to be back to pick up the kids for soccer practice.

The trail had been packed but not groomed yet. So we blazed our own tracks. This is my favorite picture from our adventure...

Yes I edited it to look like a painting. 

When we got to the midway point we stopped and had a discussion. Could we do the whole trail and still have time to get Lauren back on time?

Lauren gave me a thumbs up and off we went. This time I led and set a hard pace.

The scenery was gorgeous.

I wasn't sure we had time to stop at all the overlooks. But I did stop and pose for Lauren.
Always...always we must goof off, right?

This was my imitation of the little person on the X-Country Ski sign.

The temperature was about 19 degrees with a light breeze. I'd started out with a light jacket and gloves but soon warmed up enough to stuff them in my backpack.

We pushed hard and finished up the trails faster than we anticipated.

Lauren and I sat in the Subaru and ate snack bars and drank water before we headed back home.

Next time we'll know how long the trails will take us.
Both of us felt tired yet refreshed.

Cold air and adventure.
It felt so good.

I can't wait to do it again.

And Charlie was so relieved to see me....