Snowmobiling

Today was my fourth time ever snowmobiling. 1st time: I was so little I can only just barely remember it. We went riding around on a snowmobile and then my dad, uncle, cousin and some other people cut a hole in the ice at some lake and caught fish. That's all I can remember. 2nd time: We went while our family was visiting family friends up in central BC on their property. I think we took two or three snowmobiles with sleds attached behind them and the kids sat in the sleds while their dad and older brother and my dad drove them. I remember we saw an elk or moose or that type of animal during our travels. 3rd time: Bryn and I went with a whole group of our guy friends. We took three of four snowmobiles and some of them had sleds too that Bryn and I and some of the guys sat in. By the time we made it to a cabin at the top of the mountain, Bryn was so cold she thought she almost got frostbite or hypothermia (which, to my understanding, are vastly different, but I'm not a medical professional so what do I know). So she basically spent the rest of the time in that cabin warming up by a fire the guys got right to work making. I was pretty cold too, but I warmed up faster than Bryn and went out with the guys for a bit as they snowmobiled around in some deep powder. Some of them had brought their ski/snowboarding equipment in the sleds and they drove each other up the mountain and then skiied/snowboarded back down. They all took turns doing this and I rode along behind, but it wasn't the most fun because the powder was so deep that we kept on tipping over and me and the driver usually fell off. I was pretty cold again by that time too so I probably wasn't much help to lean the right direction and help make it easier to steer either. By the time we got back down the mountain and back to the cars Bryn and I had made up our minds that we weren't ever going to really like snowmobiling too much.

So today we went up into the mountains to an area that our city's snowmobiling club maintains. They make sure the roads and trails are groomed and well kept. We got to the parking lot a bit after 10 a.m. We were planning to go with three guys my dad works with. When we got to the parking lot two of them were already there and one wasn't there yet. My dad and the other guys, my cousin Ward, and a fellow church member Duane, got their snowmobiles unloaded. Then the other guy, Durwin, got there with his wife and four-year-old son. When his snowmobiles were unloaded he showed me how to use the big one that Bryn and I were planning on sharing and then told me to go test it out by driving it around the parking lot. I took it for a spin and it was fine, but kind of powerful. I asked Ty if he and our friend Sarah would like to use it at first and so they did that and I used one of Ward's snowmobiles. Finally we were all ready and started on the trail. By the time we made our first stop at a chalet, I was just about boiling to death. The hand warmers (on the handles) and thumb warmer (on the gas throttle) were on at almost full blast and my thumb was nearly burning up. As soon as we stopped I pulled off my helmet and goggles, took off my jacket and also my top sweatshirt. (To ward off the cold I had worn four layers under my jacket and three layers under my snow pants. I also had two pairs of socks on in my new -100 C rated boots.) I even took off my gloves and just stood there in the nice fresh coldness for a bit while other people ate some lunch and socialized. Finally I got back to a normal temperature and put my jacket and gloves back on, but I didn't wear my sweatshirt again the rest of the day. My dad put it in a compartment under the seat of the snowmobile Bryn was riding. Then we started out again and I rode the small snowmobile that Bryn had been riding while she rode my dad's and he rode the one of Ward's that I'd started out using. (The whole day turned into snowmobile-trading between us Q.'s and Sarah.) It was a little colder, but then we got into some trails and it kept the wind down a bit. When we got to a frozen over lake, Bryn said she was freezing so we made more switches and Sarah drove her own snowmobile while I rode along behind my dad on the machine with a long enough seat for two people. It was actually kind of scary riding with my dad. He went pretty fast and I couldn't really see around him to learn to one side or the other as we went around corners. And we were using our quadding helmets which have pointy chins so the chin of my helmet kept bumping my dad's back whenever we went over bumps in the trail. Then we came to another lake and stopped to take some pictures, eat more of our lunches, and have some fun in the powder. I ended up getting stuck once but Duane and Durwin's wife helped me get out. Then Ty got stuck in a deep hole and most of the men went to help him get out. After that we stayed away from the area with all the deceptively deep snow and it was fun to race across the other side of the lake and not have to worry about getting stuck. It was also fun to watch Durwin's son play in the snow. He was adorable in a little red snowsuit and helmet and I couldn't believe how happy he was to be out there in the cold. Whenever we stopped, he'd get off the snowmobile he was riding on in front of his dad and go sit in the snow. When he was ready to keep going he's ask Durwin, "Dad, when can we leave? I want to keep going." He was a pretty good-natured kid to be along with adults all day and in the snow and wind. Then we continued on and Bryn went behind my dad while I drove again. I did switch sleds with Ty once after that because the windshield on Ward's snowmobile was right in my line of vision. I had to try and either see overtop of it or else crouch down to see through it and it wasn't very comfortable for me. A few kilometres before we got back to the parking lot I switched with Bryn again because my right (driving) had was getting cold and I wanted to warm it up. Around that time Durwin told Ty that his son had fallen asleep. I bet that would feel pretty comfortable to be small enough to fall asleep while riding on a snowmobile. Anyway my hand warmed up pretty fast riding along behind my dad again.

About half a kilometre, or maybe even less, we came around a corner and saw a huge group of snowmobiles stopped on the side of the trail. I saw that some of them were ones that people in our group were using and I hoped nothing bad at happened. Some of the men were down the bank. When we stopped my dad jumped off and ran to help and I went to stand to the side and watch with Bryn and Sarah. It was a guy from a different group who was heading back to the parking lot and was going too fast around the corner and went off the edge and into the trees. He was just being helped up the bank when we got there. Apparently Sarah (who's in SAU's nursing program) had already asked him some nursing questions to make sure he was alright and hadn't hit his head or anything. He said his arm hurt, but nothing much else. Once he was up the bank he sat on his friend's sled while the men all worked to get his snowmobile back up the bank. It had stopped when it hit a tree, so he was lucky he hadn't slid farther down the bank. He was also lucky one of his friends was right there with him and that he wasn't at the back of his group and also that Durwin had seen the snowmobile tracks going off the trail and then looked down to see the machine down the bank and stopped to help. The men found some ropes and finally got the sled up the bank. More of his friends had come back to help (someone from our group had gone to the parking lot to tell them) get the snowmobile up the bank and then they towed it slowly back to the parking lot. Then another couple friends helped the guy on another snowmobile and carefully drove him back too. Then we all left, loaded up our machines and piled into the trucks for the drive back down into the valley. All in all, it was a really fun day and a great new experience, but I still think I enjoy boating and quadding more. They're less cold - even though I hardly froze at all because of my many layers, new awesome boots and great new gloves (thanks to Santa for putting those in my stocking) - and less icy. They also seem more stable for some reason, but maybe that's just cause most of the machines I drove today were a bit too big for me to control too well. Anyway, it was still a lot of fun and a great time.

Christmas tree

This morning we woke up really early (6:30 a.m., which is early for me at least), bundled up in warm winter gear, and drove about 15 minutes up into the mountains to get our Christmas tree. I know it's only two days before Christmas, but we've been busy doing a bunch of other stuff, so this was the first time that we really had to all go get one together. When I got out of the truck I thought about not even wearing a toque, but about 20 seconds later I rethought that and was glad I had brought it along with me anyway. It was freezing up there. Surprising how 15 minutes and about a 2,000 foot increase in altitude can make so much difference. Dad had checked the temperature when we piled out of the truck and it was -16 C. That's pretty chilly, especially when we've been experiencing weather between 5 and 0 C since we've been home. We traipsed through the woods for about five minutes before I pointed out a tree I thought might be OK. My dad started to knock some of the snow and ice off the branches to see what he thought and Bryn came along, looked at the tree, and grimaced in disgust. "That one's ugly. What about the one right back there?" She pointed beyond my choice to a tree standing alone in a circle of much taller trees. "Hmm, yeah, that could work," Dad said and walked over to check it out. We both agreed with Bryn that it was better. Then we had to call Ty and my mum over from examining the hide of a dead animal. Ty was trying to identify it while my mum was trying to take pictures of it. When they finally made their way to the chosen tree they agreed that it was good. My dad started cutting it down and then each of us kids took a turn with the saw while my mum got pictures of that, too. Then the three of us followed my dad out of the forest. He cut a wider path for us so we could get the tree back to the logging road and our truck. About halfway back Ty got tired of sharing the carrying load with Bryn and me and hoisted it up to carry back all by himself. Then we posed for some pictures near the road before jumping back into the truck to warm up. My feet were completely frozen and my hands were getting cold as well. The temperature had gone down to -17 C as we started driving home. When we pulled up to our driveway I was surprised to see that it was still cold down in the city at -11 C. We put our tree in the garage to let it thaw (notice my appropriate use of the word "thaw" as opposed to the non-word "unthaw") so we could put it up and decorate it later this evening.

In the early afternoon, when my mum, Ty and I were out shopping, I saw the cutest sight. We were in Lululemon, a yoga apparel store (no, I'm not into yoga, but the clothes are super comfy) and I was putting something back on a hook when I turned and saw a baby sitting on the floor of the store. He was probably around five or six months old and wearing a dark brown snowsuit that covered his entire body except for his adorably chubby face. His mum was standing beside him looking at a table of sweatshirts. She was in between me and the baby. How she was standing was exactly perfect for her son to peek through her legs to watch the customers in the store. As soon as I saw him I couldn't look away. I grinned down at him. He stared back at me for about three seconds and then broke out in an infectious baby smile. I kept grinning at him and he kept smiling back. It was the absolute happiest I have ever seen a baby look. We just stood there happily gazing upon each others faces. Then my mum walked up behind me and I half-turned to tell her to look at the baby. She looked down and gasped. "Oh, that would make the most gorgeous picture!" she exclaimed. "Why don't I have a camera with me." I looked back at the baby. He was so roly-poly-looking in that brown snowsuit that he looked like a cuddly little brown bear cub. I just wanted to walk around his mum and scoop him up and cuddle him. Then he started to kick his legs in glee, all the while still giving my mum and I a toothless grin. Ty came up just then and glanced over to see what had captured mine and my mum's attention. "He looks just like a seal pup," Ty said. It was true. His snowsuited feet looked like the end of a seal's tail. Several seconds later the baby's mum reached down and picked him up off the floor and the moment - and perfect photo opportunity - had passed. But I'll never forget that exuberantly happy little baby's face when he first started smiling at me.

After leaving Lululemon, we walked across the street to Mosaics, "the largest independently owned bookstore in the Okanagan Valley" (according to their motto or tagline or whatever that's called). It used to be my very favouritest bookstore when I was a kid. My mum would drive all the way downtown just to shop there and if we were already downtown for an appointment or other shopping, she'd take us there as a treat if we were good. I like it less now that it's moved to a new location. I especially feel that their kids selection has gone downhill since then, but maybe it's just the quality of kids books as a whole that I'm not as impressed with (what is with all this magic and sorcery in kids books these days anyway?). So, in any case, I still like to stop in there to see what gems I can find. Mosaics usually has quite a good selection of Canadian books so that makes me happy. Today I saw my dream book there. I had actually just read about this new book that is newly released during finals week. I went on CBC.ca to check out some Canadian news (something that I have been extremely delinquent in doing this past semester) and saw a link to a story and soundslide by the editor, Mark Reid, about the book. It's called "Canadian History: 100 Photos That Changed Canada" and I desperately want it. My mum told me she'd had it in her hands to buy for me yesterday but then put it back before getting to the till. I told her that I wouldn't mind having it, despite all that. She reminded me that I also have a birthday coming up soon. So I guess we'll see what becomes of all that.

Later in the afternoon Bryn and I picked up my dad early from work (these days he usually walks to and from work) and then went to look for snowmobiling boots. We tried the place that Ty and I went to yesterday to buy boots for my dad. I was a little scared the guy that helped us yesterday would recognize me and say something about our purchase to my dad but, although he was in the store again today, a different guy helped us, so it was all fine. They ended up not having any women's boots at all and the smallest size they had in men's was a seven, which our feet would be swimming in. So we went to the place the guy suggested we try and they did have women's boots and they fit. They're rated for up to -100 C weather (year, I was shocked to hear that, too) so I'm pretty excited to try them out. I've never not had my feet get cold when participating in a winter sport, so I'm really curious to see if these boots live up to their rating. I do have to say that they were the most comfortable pair of boots I have ever put on in my entire life. It was like putting my feet into their own little quilt-covered beds (bad analogy but if I think of something better I'll come back and change it). I kind of just want to walk all around town in them, but I have a feeling that it's not quite cold enough down here in the valley for my feet to like that too well after a little bit. I really wish that we'd bought the boots yesterday so we could have tried them out this morning as we got our tree. Oh, well. Along with the boots, I also got my first pair of Smartwool socks. I can't wait to try out the socks and boots when we head up to the mountains on Sunday!