Red River Ski/Snowboard Trip

Several months ago our friends from high school called and asked if we wanted to go to Red River, NM for a little vacation. We couldn't say yes fast enough...and, with Jason being the official vacation planner for us all; it was nice to just be able to let him do his thing and follow along. Grandma Sheryl came up from Longview to stay with the kids at our place in McKinney. This was the longest we'd ever been away from the kids. We left early Friday morning with Aaron and Brittany, and with all our gear strapped to the top. Neither Shawn, nor myself have EVER been skiing or snowboarding, so we were excited for the journey ahead. We arrived in Red River after a quick, eleven-hour drive. Shawn's my little, Chevy Chase/Clark Griswold, so he drove the whole way. We had a lot of catching up to do with Aaron (one of Shawn's former athletes from Community), and we finally met his fiance, Brittany Horton. Becca and Jason drove from Longview, so they were in the car a couple of hours longer, but we stayed neck and neck with each other most of the way. The other couple that was supposed to come from high school had to back out last minute. Jason picked out a beautiful townhouse that was in walking distance to the ski lift--he did a great job!

Here's how our days panned out:

Day 1: Snowboarding school with Shawn and Jason. That's right, Aaron, Brittany and Becca were the skiers that day. We had two lessons, 9:30 and 1:30. Our morning session began with us getting used to our board and the mastering of our heel edge. All three of us did great! After that, we took the ski lift and practice some more down the bunny slopes. I thought I was ready for the greens. For lunch everyday, we had sandwiches and chips that the boys went grocery shopping for when we first got there. After lunch, I was totally pumped up about the afternoon session...things were going great. Our task at hand for the afternoon session was for us to master our toe edge (we all passed with flying colors), and then to master TURNS. WHAT? I was completely fine with making my way down the bunny slopes going from left to right, left to right, left to right. Seriously, it was so much fun to me. The turns were extremely difficult and there I met the BIG challenge of snowboarding. It was so much of a challenge for me that I actually busted it so hard that I injured my butt cheeks and tail bone. Did I mention that 85% of the snow was man-made? Red River has been extremely dry this winter. NOT FUN to fall on compared to the packed and powdery stuff, I hear. I was bound and determined that this was not going to keep me from having fun. Later, we all followed Becca on her skis to a green. Here's what a learned...greens are fun when there are slopes, but when you hit flat spots; you won't move at all. Totally not what I pictured in my mind as the slopes got progressively harder. It was then that I realized that as long as we were snowboarding; we'd be on the bunny slopes the following day. From there, I called it a day, hoping for the best the following day. Praise the Lord for Tylenol and heating pads. That evening we ate at Texas Red's Steakhouse. The steaks and appetizers were great, but everything else was not very appetizing. At least we were with great company, though, and we ended our evening with tons of laughs while we played, The Game of Things.

Day 2: We were both super sore when we woke up, but I had convinced myself that if I did not hurt my rear end and tail bone like I did yesterday; that things would be just fine. To make a long story short, Shawn and I took the ski lift three more times the entire vacation and were totally DONE. Sure enough, I busted it again on an inadvertent turn, and Shawn just wasn't having any fun. We went back our townhouse, ate lunch, and both took a much-needed nap. Meanwhile, Jason switched over the skis so that he could ski with Becca that morning, and Aaron and Brittany also stuck with skiing. They all did great! I think next time, if there is a next time, we'll try skiing instead. We've heard from some people that snowboarding is not as difficult as skiing, but we've also heard the complete opposite. That evening, we had reservations to eat at Sundance. The food was okay, but the hot sauce was the worst I've EVER had. It seriously tasted like watered-down, Pace Picante sauce...no exaggeration, people. I wanted to "get a rope," like the old commericials used to say. The Queso and Guacamole was fabulous, though.

Day 3: We spent the morning lounging around with Aaron and Brittany, while Becca and Jason went for another round of skiing. We walked the quaint, little town of Red River and shopped at several stores. I bought the kids shirts, my mother-in-law a sweatshirt, candle, and lotion, and of course; I got myself a purple, Red River shirt. After lunch and being lazy, we headed out around 3 P.M. for our snowmobile reservations. We were so excited about going snowmobiling! We actually got to go inside a real gold mine and observed a few, sleeping bats, as well.

The views were absolutely breath-taking. It's hard to deny our Creator from the views I gazed upon. Prior to our trip, I memorized some verses that I recited over and over again while I was on the back of the snow mobile with Shawn. The one that I loved came from Psalm 3:4, and it reads, I cried out to the Lord, and he answered me from his holy mountain. I began praying for answers that Shawn and I have been seeking for the past several months, and asked the Lord to right then and there answer me from His Holy Mountain. His answer came within seconds as He sent... SNOW. This was huge, because if you remember what I typed above, Red River had been pretty dry this winter. I felt Him saying, "Lisa, look around you, look what I've made for you, I am bigger than all that is on your mind, yet I'll be small enough to hear you now."

After we watched the sun set, it started getting dark. Even with the high beam on , it was hard to tell road from ditch-filled snow. Needless to say, Shawn and I tipped over, and we thought it was the most hilarious thing. Even after we got back on the snow mobile; we were still laughing back and forth. That evening, we ordered pizza from Capo's Pizzeria. We decided to pack our things and leave that evening so that we could make it into McKinney early that morning. We took the kids to school and enjoyed the day off to recoup, unpack, and do laundry. A special thanks goes to Grandma Sheryl for watching the kids, and to Jason for planning the entire trip. Can't wait to see what our next, group trip has in store for all of us.