Much fun to be had

Today I'm thankful for ...

... hardly falling at all while snowboarding! Yay! While I did eat powder a few times, I generally managed to cruise down that mountain at a fairly fast clip! I'm really starting to have a lot of fun snowboarding now that I'm getting much more used to how the board feels and how to train my reflexes.
     I woke up at 3:00a so I could meet friends for a 4:30a ski bus pickup. Oy, that's way too early. And the driver drove in such a jerky manner that at least one passenger got ill. But we did make it there about 8:30a and with lift tickets in hand we zipped onto the slopes. A friend, S, I haven't seen in quite a while showed me some of her favorite runs and also the sequence of lifts to get to the back side. The snow was fantastic on the back side and in the upper altitudes. I can now actually say I've been to the top of Kirkwood!

... my knee not giving out. Today's experiment was rather dangerous, IMO. I had twisted my knee a bit back in the middle of December while boarding. Since then it has felt a bit weak, a bit funny. I really ought to have it looked at. But I went up today nonetheless and it felt as solid as ever.

... strangers that become fast friends. This trip was a little different from other trips since no one in this group knew each other before today, except for knowing me. The original trip organizer had to bow out of the trip and I had invited a couple other friends. Through some luck of coordination all 4 of us were able to get to the ski bus and trade phone numbers. Things went off pretty much without a hitch and we all had a great time. I hope everyone keeps in contact!