Hey, There’s an Outside Here

We actually got out of the house and went cross-country skiing, just as we planned. Amazing! There’s this place that’s not in the house called the “outdoors,” and we were in it for a while.

Conditions weren’t totally ideal (it could have been about 5 or 10 degrees colder, the snow was a bit sticky in the tracks) but it wasn’t bad. We went to the forest preserve/ bike path loop nearest us, and there was just enough snow base to ski on, but not quite enough to make you forget that you were skiing on an asphalt path.

I was a bit nervous about getting out, since we’ve totally stopped working out and lost all the fitness ground we were gaining this time last year (we signed up for a personal training program at Bally’s last year in anticipation of the Britain trip). However, we both did just fine, and no falls! Yayyyyyy.

David remarked that the most relaxing sound in the world is that made by skis in a track. I had to agree to a point – watching the ski tips is very hypnotic and will probably feature in at least one dream tonight, almost like a long-running afterimage. He said that when he’s feeling stressed out or is unable to sleep, he “hears” the sound in his head and relaxes immediately.

For me the most relaxing sound or experience is the sound of my own breathing and the “tchk! tchk! tchk!” munching sound the parrotfish make when snorkeling in Hawaii. When your ears are submerged, your own breathing becomes the loudest sound, followed by the sounds of fish feeding on coral and if you’re lucky, the faint and distant songs of whales a few miles out in the channel.

Snorkeling is like flying over another planet. The sensation of floating gently along on the ocean never fails to make me feel as if I’m being rocked in a hammock on my tummy. Which is pretty funny when you know that I used to be pretty afraid of the water, and even a bit phobic about getting in water over my head. It’s very, very dreamlike, and when I’m having trouble sleeping, thinking about snorkeling is a pretty good bet for “letting go” and falling asleep.

However, cross-country skiing is pretty darn relaxing, and also good for you too. We skied for about 90 minutes, and decided to turn around at about the right time, as we were pleasantly tired but not wiped out when we made it back to the car. I was mighty irked with this woman I met who had stomped up the trail in our ski tracks, ruining my plans for a faster downhill glide on the return trip. She had no idea she’d messed up the trail when she greeted me, either.

So the next walker I met, I greeted and chatted with for a minute and remarked “… and you’ll be all right as long as you stay out of the ski tracks.” Heh.

However, we were never out of earshot of I-90, so it wasn’t beautifully still and quiet, but that kind of winter solitude is hard to find without driving an hour or more. It was better than sitting home all day, at least. And our lungs had that pleasantly “scrubbed clean” feeling that happens after a good workout.

We’ve done some skiing in the mountains near Salt Lake and also a couple of fun trips to Yellowstone in winter. Most of those pictures are not online, but there are a couple on David’s photo album here.

I think we’ll have to plan another Yellowstone winter trip some year, it’s been too long since we were there. And maybe by then they’ll finally ban snowmobiles inside the park, or curtail their use even more.

And yes, I know the local economy in the gateway communities outside the park is dependent on snowmobile users… and I just think that most snowmobiles don’t belong in the National Park.

Nasty smelly noisy things, snowmobiles. And the people that ride them just tear by and never see anything except the road in front of them.

While we, on the other hand, have made it out to see frozen waterfalls, wildlife such as buffalo, elk, and bald eagles, and we’ve heard the awesome silence of the wilderness (punctuated by the occasional “chuff-chuff-chuff” of a geyser or hot spring).

Lodging within the park seems to be handled by Xanterra now, the current concessionaire. Their website for bookings (including the Snow Lodge for winter trips) is here.

Here’s the view from the webcam on the Visitor’s Center looking toward Old Faithful geyser in Yellowstone.

Hmmm, dinner’s ready! Salmon marinated in a mishmosh of Asian sauces and wine. Gotta go.