I think someone did this intentionally

We have been having some nice spring weather out here in Park City.  For us, that tends to mean sunny and highs in the 60s.  We won't see many 70 degree days for a while yet.

This morning we woke to 4 inches of fresh snow.  Jasper was the only one happy.

Why do I say it was done intentionally?

• This was the first day we had movers scheduled.  They weren't taking things to the condo yet, just some things to storage and some to a consignment shop.  They were scheduled to show up first thing in the morning.  Sure would have been nice if it had been an afternoon appointment.
• We didn't want the movers trudging from the house, through the snow, back in the house, over and over again.  That meant that we needed to clear the driveway.  No worries!  My Honda snow blower can clear the driveway in minutes.
• Did I mention that I sold the snow blower on Craigslist a few days ago?  SHIT!  No worries!  Knowing that it was going to snow, all we have to do is turn on the radiant snow melt system.
• Did I mention that our wonderful forecasters said we would get less than an inch?  Therefore, I didn't turn on the snow melt. Doing it after the fact is pretty useless.
• So, me and dog, out with a shovel, clearing out a lot of snow in a short amount of time.
• Did I mention that my shovel broke?  

Well, for all the potentially easy answers, Jasper and I used my spare shovel and cleared the driveway in time for the movers to come.  They did a great job, and life (and moving) goes on.

Did I mention that Jasper was very, very happy about the snow....

Limited blogging

I haven't been blogging as much lately and almost certainly won't for the next few weeks.  One reason was my golf trip.  The much bigger reason is that our house is under contract and we are getting ready to move.

Five years ago we built this house.  We planned on building something smaller, but the price of our lot went way up and we convinced ourselves that building a small house on an expensive lot wasn't a good idea for resale.  Now, we have a house that is way too big and requires a fair amount of upkeep.  Park City's cold, dry, sunny climate is very hard on houses.

In July we put the house on the market. Our plan was to simply move back to our condo next door.  We have been renting it the entire time we have been in the house and our current renters were on a month-to-month contract.

So far, the timing seems almost perfect.  The house went under contract right about the time that our renters were leaving the condo.  They moved into a house they built a few doors down in our same neighborhood.  This allowed us to jump on some repairs, minor remodeling, and painting in the condo.  Now we are two weeks from moving (no truck required) and three weeks from closing.

This is downsizing in a big way.  We have things from our house in Beaufort, the house in Raleigh, and then all the Park City stuff.  You can get away with that in a huge house with tons of storage.  Cut that space in half and you really have to make a lot of decisions.  So, busy weeks ahead.

The annual golf fest

Every year a group of friends makes a journey to Myrtle Beach for some golf.   Most of these are friends from college, but others have joined over the years.  Over the 30 years we have gone, we have changed from January, to February, and now we are out to April.  This year we were blessed with four days of absolutely incredible weather.

We played four nice courses although some treated me a lot better than others. This is Steig about to hit one down the middle.

The sad part of this trip was that we were without our friend Lewis for the first time in 30 years. His mom broke her arm and he had to stay around.  However, when I asked what he was going to miss most, he said that it was the elevator at the new place we were staying. So, for Lewis, I include this picture.  I think he was mistaken thinking that we had a private elevator.  It was just a normal one for the building.

Here I am, winding up to crush a big shot, off to god knows where.

Here's Dave, striking a very important pose, that of Captain Morgan. We had a very smart plan this year, to drink that bottle over two days instead of just one.  Didn't execute the plan though and we have Dave with the empty bottle on the 17th hole.

The funny thing is that on our Captain day, Dave shot a 90 and I shot a 91.  Probably the best round I have ever played.  I have scored a bit lower, but on a much easier course.  Too bad I couldn't keep those Captainly skills on the next two days.

A great trip with a great group of guys.  Wouldn't miss it.

Parade for the Park City Olympians

A local parade is our small town's way of showing how much we appreciate our local Olympians. Julie, Jasper and I went down to Main Street this afternoon to watch the celebration.  It was sunny this morning.  It is sunny now.  During the parade?  Snow. It figures.  Springtime in Park City.

While the parade was to honor our local Olympians, all the Park City kids on winter sports teams got to be in the parade as well.  In a town of 8,000 people, it seems the 7,500 of them are kids who competitively ski, luge, jump, figure skate, or something related.

The first to come by was Stein Eriksen, the namesake of the renowned Stein Eriksen lodge in Deer Valley.  He won gold and silver medals in the 1952 Olympics (giant slalom and slalom).

Stein is 86 now and we don't see him out skiing anymore, but he is still a deeply rooted part of the Park City community.  ... and no, his hair never moves.

Joss Christensen, Freeskiing Gold medalist.

Not sure I caught who is who, but in this group were some bobsledders, a figure skater and a speed skater. Apologies for no names...

Sage Kotsenburg, Snowboarding Slopestyle Gold medal.  You might remember him.  He won his competition by landing a trick (1620 Japan Grab) he had never tried before.  Nice time to give it a shot.

Right after the Olympics were held in Sochi, the Paralympics were held in the same venues.  We have a wonderful facility here called the National Abilities Center, where people with physical and mental disabilities can participate in activities like skiing, wake boarding, cycling and many others.  They have a big program going now with wounded vets.

While a lot of the NAC participants are happy just getting to be a part of these activities, they also have some very serious, Olympic caliber athletes.   I think there were about a dozen NAC athletes competing in Sochi.

It is really amazing to live in a town where you can have a parade with less than half the local Olympians (past and present) show up, and still have a pretty lengthy parade.  It was fun getting to pay honor to their efforts and achievements.

Thank you Snow Gods

Julie and I were supposed to go skiing in Colorado this week with some friends from Raleigh, but we had to back out of that.  Thankfully, the snow gods took mercy on us and brought 24 inches of snow to Deer Valley over the last three days.  Spring can be so weird. The nicest part is that they were only forecasting a few inches, so yesterday when we woke to nine inches and it was still pounding, it is like Christmas come early.

This first photo is from skiing on Monday. Nice and sunny with some wispy clouds.

Tuesday was more of a snow fest.  Visibility came and went as the day went on. The snow just kept on falling.

Julie is ripping it up.

 Tough to see in the low light, but she has a huge grin on her face.  You just can't beat surprise powder days!