We talked our friend Stephanie Long into skiing with us up at Bogus. She is the glamorous curvaceous brunette with the peach jacket. I am the dorky one standing next to her. Poor Steph!!! After working for 19 days straight in her residency she accepted the offer to try nordic skiing with us on Sunday. Steph did laps while Gabe and I tried to make do without a ski sled and no snow suit for Alice. Swaddling Alice was no big deal but trying to ski with her in the Ergo Carrier was not working. Luckily we farted around long enough that Steph taught herself how to ski and the rented sled had returned so we could use it. Steph was practicing with grace after very little instruction from two novices. Gabe suggested the Lower loop which has a lot of ups and downs and is pretty long. I was so excited to get going that it did not occur to me that this route might bring us back in the cold and dark. Again poor Steph she was wearing pants that were not waterproof and thin gloves recommended by Gabe and I because it was so warm at the start. Did I mention this was her second day off after working 19 days in a row. The scenery was spectacular but Steph fell a couple of times which is actually pretty good considering she had never done this before. She had cold and wet hands and I have a feeling if her hands were not carrying her skis and poles up the hills she would have knocked me out. I felt really bad and kept apologizing which was probably even more annoying. Finally we decided to climb the steep hill up to the lodge and forgo the switchback on skis. We arrived as it was getting dark and the lodge was about to close. Oh yeah, Alice cried most of the way home. But for some reason I still had fun. I don't think Stephanie did though.

Stephanie Long