Across Country: On New Year's Day...

I don't quite remember how the day started, but if I had to guess, I'd say with eggs and veggie maple sausage, as that's how we like to start most days around here. After a most likely lazy morning, Tim and I loaded up the car with snacks, puppies, and our warmest of clothes. To celebrate the first day of the year 2012, we were taking a trip about an hour away. Away from the city and the rain, away from civilization. We were heading to the mountains. The snow filled mountains.

We didn't know where we'd stop for our snow picnic. We hoped that we wouldn't need chains and get stuck on some mountain, our Virginia license plates still on our car, looking like assholes. We like to think that we are prepared for and can handle just about anything, but to tell you the truth, half of the time our phones aren't charged and we're driving with the gas on E. That day was one of those days, but for once, we didn't break down or get stuck. We arrived just as we set out, excited and in high spirits to play in the snow with the pups.

Newton's first taste of snow was not as curious as I had expected. He tromped through the parking lot of the Ski Bowl (this is where we found parking for our hike in the woods), and barely licked or ate anything. Persie walked swiftly hoping it would soon end and she would be carried. I obliged. We found a short path right off of the main "bowl for skiing" area. The snow was amazingly deep, considering 500 feet closer to sea level, there was absolutely no snow to be seen. At points it was up to our waists. In our quiet alcove, we were alone, despite the hoards of patrons a few hundred yards away. We set Persie down, and she RAN. She ran so hard and so long. Newton was on a leash, since we didn't trust him. He would probably go home with another family if we weren't so watchful. But after going a bit deeper into the woods, we felt that if he started to run away, it would be so far to run that he would get tired and decide to stay with us. Once in the deep snow, he, like Persie, turned into a snow dog, running and turning and leaping and diving into the deep snow. Tim played leap into the snow, where he would jump to see how far he would sink. I watched the trees shake and drop snow on everyone. Big, comical drops of snow would fall on Tim. It was perfectly winter.

After a little while, we retreated to the car. Although a picnic in the snow sounds nice, it was very cold, and the car had a heater and was not wet. Unfortunately, during the car picnic, Tim ate a wee piece of chocolate with some sort of nuts in it, resulting in some swelling of the face. And of course, this would be the one time I forgot the emergency Benedryl at home. Our trip was cut short. Well, something had to go wrong, at least we didn't get snowed in up on the mountain. We drove home arriving just before sunset. The pups wore themselves out. We got a long play in, and stopped just before we got cold and tired of it. Our short little trip left us wanting to go back again, and luckily, it's only an hour away. It is very nice to be able to drive away and be done with the snow when you are tired of it. It's how I like my snows, at my convenience.