Dev has wrestled me into finally giving my imput on our recent trips. Over Christmas break we only went sledding three times, due to the fact that our truck broke down for the second time over the holiday's. Anyhow Dev had to spend a couple of days fixing the truck so we were kinda stuck. We went to Soapstone in the Unitahs twice and it was fabulous. I soon discovered why this is one of Dev's favorite places to ride. Let's just say their was some great POW (new sledding term that I recently learned).

Lately I am practicing my counter stearing, which, well... is going alright. I can only turn left and I usually get stuck as I try to turn out of it. But I have made some progress due to the great coaching from Casey. I did manage to cut throught my first side hill by turning my skis out. Is there a name for this technique?

On our second trip to Soapstone we made our way over to Lightening Ridge where there is a magnificant view of the Duchesne trailhead to the Grandaddy Lakes area of the High Unitahs. I was very proud of myself as I bestowed my knowledge of the area to Dev and Casey. It is a rare occurence when I have something new to share about the great outdoors with these two gear heads. Anyhow, I pointed out how you can reach the Grandaddy Lakes by backpacking around the mountain, past Heart Lake, and drop down into the basin. (Thanks Mom for taking Heidi, Holly, and I on such a great trip. Casey was truely shocked when I explained that my Amazon mother took the three of us backpacking by herself.)

We also took Sean, our brother-in-law, up to Strawberry. There wasn't much snow and I got very frustrated as I tried to make it up the same hill a hundred times. I made Sean promise not to tell Casey what I did to his snowmobile on the 4th or 5th attempt. Sean was great company and provided a lot of comic relief from my frustrations as he alsmost did a back flip off of snowmobile into the snow. The trip was definately worth it though because we stopped at the lodge and had Summit Burgers and Rootbeer that both Dev and Sean believe is the "Best Root Beer Ever!!!!"

I just have one last blurb to add and it is that I better see Casey where his new coat soon or I won't let Dev go sledding with him anymore.