We're off to the Cabin for Christmas
We're heading to Montana this afternoon. Thanks God United now flies directly to Missoula from Denver. It used to be a real fiasco - Denver to Salt Lake (1 hour), two hour layover and then another hour to Missoula. Now it's an easy 1 1/2 hour flight.
It's been a long time since I visited the cabin during the Winter (1996) and even longer since I spent Christmas there (more than 10 years ago). I can't fricken wait. We might have to hike in because my parent's Subaru won't be able to make it all the way (they left it at the airport for us). Julie is terrified. I talked to my parents last night and my Dad broke trail in his '65 Ford, so at least they made it all the way up the road. When we were kids, we had a '73 Toyota Landcruiser that would go through almost any amount of snow. We rarely had enough money to get our 3 mile road plowed out, so it was always a gamble on whether we could drive in or not. The road was usually drivable until about mid-December, and then the snow accumulated too much for the poor ol' Landcruiser.
Up until we could no longer drive, my Dad used to wind that thing up like you wouldn't believe. The Landcruiser, as we affectionately called it, would easily get up around 9000 RPM. All four tires would have chains on them and snow would be flying 10 feet high off all four tires. My sister would be sitting in the middle of the front seats, and I'd be sitting on my Mom's lap. The Landcruiser was a soft top, so it was pretty damn cold and the heater sucked, but that used to be the best carnival ride there was. We were all terrified we wouldn't make it and my Dad was determined to get home, even if it killed the Landcruiser. He wasn't gonna let some piddly little 2 feet of snow keep him from driving home.
We all hated the 1 1/2 mile walk to "the Bus Stop," but when the snow got to be too much, we had walk or ski it. This lasted most of the Winter. This was a real pain when we'd just returned from Missoula and we had to pack all the groceries in on backpacks. But there were times when this walk was truly majestic. When there was a full moon and enough snow to ski. It is truly one of the most beautiful sites - snow everywhere and beautiful fields and trees basked in the warm brilliant light of the moon. All you can hear is the swish-swish of your cross-country skis. It is then that all your worries subside and the world become a perfect place - even if only for the 30 minutes you're on the trail.
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