One day in late January, Tom, Rene, Wendy, Dan and I had decided to drive up to Sierra Nevada mountains and go slalom skiing. Rene and Wendy had been there in late December, and they convinced us that the skiing was very nice, the view gorgeous, and that it definitely was worth the trip.

We had planned on leaving at 0700, but the chauffeur overslept, so not until half an hour later did we get going. We drove up to the motorway north of Almeria, and headed south towards Motril. On the way, we had to stop for gasoline. Tom was fortunate enough to find a pair of gloves, he could buy in the gas station, as his wardrobe wasn't at all prepared for cold weather. Once we reached Motril, we took the exit onto another smaller road that continued over mountain terrain all the way north to Granada. As we got closer to Granada, we started seeing snow covered peaks off to our right, and that's where we were going. The road signs on the highway pointed towards "Sierra Nevada", so soon we took the correct exit and headed north again. Slowly the road started climbing up the mountain side. It was a nice tarred road, but not very wide, enough for two cars to meet. Guardrails were installed where the side of the mountain disappeared almost straight down, and that made me feel a bit more secure. I really don't like sitting on the side of the car that is closest to the outside edge of the road. When we zigged I was safe on the mountain side, but when we zagged I was on the edge and dared only stare straight ahead! Finally we got to the top and the road opened up much wider. Cars were parked along the sides of the road, and we could do that also, but then it would be quite a long hike to get up to the small alpine village, where the hotels, stores, restaurants and lifts were. Instead we opted to drive into the underground parking garage and find a spot close to the stairs that led up to the ground level. All our extra clothing we brought with us from the car, and that was good, as we needed every extra stitch of clothing on. Under my jeans I wore a pair of leggings, and on top I wore a tee shirt, a turtle neck, a sweatshirt and over everything I had my polar fleese jacket. A pair of mittens felt good, but the only thing that was missing was something for my head. At times my ears were so cold, I could not feel I had any, and then I surely wished I had a hat or at least earbands!

As we were getting ready to buy our lift tickets, Rene couldn't find his wallet! He and Wendy returned to the car to look for it, and the rest of us tried to find a somewhat clean bathroom. We kept looking for Rene and Wendy, but didn't see them come back, so eventually Dan walked back to the car to see if they still were there? They were not! Seemed they had come back up straight away, while we were looking for the bathroom, and since they were not able to find us, they had bought their lift tickets and rented their skiing equipment already. Rene went to get our lift tickets, while Dan, Tom and I rented our skiis, and soon all five of us pushed our way, along with everybody else, towards the gondola lift! Not a pleasant experience at all. There was absolutely no order what so ever, people from the back kept pushing forward, so they almost pushed me right off the platform and in front of a moving gondola. I got very angry and started shouting, and the preassure from behind eased up somewhat. When the next gondola came by, both Dan and I squeezed into it. We were packed like sardines in the gondola, and I could not help wondering if we were overloaded? The ride up to the exit building took about ten minutes. The only sound we heard was the wind howling around the gondola, with occasional conversations from Spanish people. The higher we rose, the more beautiful the view became, and we could see all the way down to the smog covered city of Granada!

Finally the exit came into view, and we prepared to get off. That wasn't the easiest either as everybody was hurrying to get off at once. Up until this point we had carried our skiis, and continued to do so until we got out on the snow covered slope. Once the skiis were strapped on and everything seemed to work properly, we all chose the easier slope down aways, to get used to our equipment and to see if we still knew how to skii! Dan and I hadn't skied for at least three years, and Tom hadn't been on a pair of skiis for about 14 years. Skiing is like riding a bike; once you know how, it will stay with you for the rest of your life, I believe! Of course I was cautious, but since it wasn't that many people on the slope, I made it to the next lift quite easily. The lift we waited in line for next was a chairlift, which would take us almost to the top. As always when I sit still for long periods of time, I start to freeze, and no exception here. By the time Dan and I got up to the end, I was so cold, I had a hard time standing up. Once we got skiing down the slope, I warmed up again, and it was so much fun zigzagging down the white mountain. During that run we lost Tom. He took off along a pretty flat stretch, he thought would be easier, but in the end he ended up coming down the most difficult passage. He made it of course, but we didn't catch up with him until in the late afternoon, when we just happened to be at the same lift at the same time!

Rene, Wendy, Dan and I kept together skiing for awhile, but then Dan complained his knees started to give out, so he chose to sit out one run, while the three of us continued. At 1400 we had decided to meet at a restaurant up on the slope and eat lunch. I was starving by then, as I hadn't eaten anything all day. A huge plate of spaghetti with red sause and lots of grated cheese went down easy, and soon I had energy to continue skiing rest of the afternoon. Before Dan and I decided to ski one last run, while Rene and Wendy continued up farther, we met up with Tom. He chose to go down with us, as he also had had enough. We had made plans to meet up with Rene and Wendy at 1700 at the ski rental shop! We enjoyed a nice last run down the different slopes, and before we knew it, we had arrived at the bottom next to the gondola lift building. From there we had to carry our skiis and poles over to the rental shop. How nice it felt to wear my sneakers again; real light and easy to walk! Dan and Tom were ready for some beers, so they walked to an outdoor cafe and sat at a table enjoying the view and the beers. I dragged my film camera and the other cameras with me to the edge of the alpine village, where I took some shots all around and down over the valley. I could not leave Sierra Nevada without some postcards, so before joining up with Dan and Tom, I stopped in at a souvenir shop and bought some. At five o'clock we walked over to the rental shop to meet up with Rene and Wendy, but they were not there yet. Our portable phone rang, and Dan thought it was Rene calling to say they were going to be late! It was not; it was our son calling from the US. How nice to hear his voice and to know that everything was fine with him and our growing daughter-in-law.

Fifteen minutes later Rene and Wendy came walking with their skiis. They were late because Wendy had trouble with her knee, so she could only go so fast and so far, before she had to stop and rest. They returned their rental skiis, and soon we were all down by Tom's car. As soon as we had figured out how much and where to pay for the parking ticket, we left the garage and the alpine village behind and headed back to Almeria. Going back took almost three hours, but then we got in the middle of a tracktor trailer convoy. As the road snaked its way along the Mediterranean coastline, and the road was pretty narrow, it was absolutely no opportunity to pass. Even so, we saw two tracktor trailers pass the ones in front of them farther up in the convoy; where they crazy? Luckily no cars were heading in the other direction at that moment! By 2100 we had arrived back at the port and unloaded the car. We were met by a jubilant Duke, who had stayed onboard locked up in the cockpit all day.

The next day I gathered all our expenses for the trip, and one day skiing cost us about $106.00, which we thought was worth every penny! We had split the gasoline and parking charges with Rene and Wendy, seeing Tom supplied the car. The all day lift ticket cost about $22.00 a person, and rental equipment for the entire day was about 14.00 bucks. Sunglasses for Dan, food and postcards made up for rest of the monies spent. We could not have enjoyed the day any more than we did with our friends, and the beautiful views we saw would forever be remembered through my pictures!