Monday, September 15, 2008

New Hobby???

I thought I would post a little about our vacation to Mammoth Lakes, CA. First of all, it was so great that my mom was able to drive over and watch the kids for 5 days. I can't even tell you how fabulous it was to not worry one single minute about my kids. The whole vacation I was so relaxed and at ease knowing they were in good hands.

We left on a Wednesday and flew in to Reno. When we got the directions to Mammoth the night before I thought the drive would only be about 1 1/2-2 hours. Well, turns out it actually takes about 3 hours because of the highway and going through small towns with the slower speed limits. Ugh. Actually, I can't complain at all because it was so nice to just drive and not have to worry about the kids in the back screaming. We just listened to music and talked and enjoyed the peace and quiet.

The next day our friends weren't getting in until later that afternoon, so Scott and I decided to go mountain biking. Mammoth Lakes is a ski resort in the winter and a big mountain biking resort in the summer. We rented some bikes and got our gondola passes. The gondola ride was only about 10 minutes, and when we got to the top we were at 11,000 feet. We had a map and we were prepared to go down an easy trail, considering we are both novice mountain bikers.

Here is a picture of us at the top, ready to take on the mountain!!


So, remember that "easy" trail we thought we would go down? Unexpectedly, we happened to get on another trail which ended up being a more difficult one. It was frustrating because none of the trails were marked that well, so we just had to guess which one we were on from the map. Scott and I had a great time going down the mountain. I was braking practically the whole time down. It was so steep and really rocky. I felt this great rush though and I feel like I can truly appreciate the passion true mountain bikers have.
At one point as we were going down the mountain and there was a lot of loose gravel type rocks. Well, I totally bit the dust and went flying over my handlebars and skidded on the rocks for a few feet. Luckily I didn't get hurt, only a few scratches. I just felt stupid. Scott of course was instantly frantic and rushed to my side! Actually, he just laughed and took a picture.


We had such a great time mountain biking. I can't wait to go again! Maybe next time I will be a little more prepared for the steep trails and wear protective padding.

2 comments:

Leah and Mike said...

How fun!! That is so great you guys got to go on vacation without the kids - a much needed break, right?! Sorry you fell, but what a fun activity to do. Mike and I love to ride bikes, maybe we should try a mountain :)

Cory said...

we had such a fun trip with every one. thanks for coming to support our family.