Cloud 9

So Ive had my week away from the store, i managed to spend it very well. Nina hosts curry night once a month or so and i decided id help her with the prep.I can say i now know the secrets to curry, indian food. I put my hands together for her- i didntrealize how much work it was! We were cooking for a good 6 hours.That is to feed alot of people but still.

On Sunday i made my way to Nelson with a fellow die hard rider (well, Tylers a skiier) and we arrived late at the whitehouse backpackers lodge(totally cool hostel)after a really fun drive. I have never been to the Kootneys but now i know im determined to spend alot more time out there. Everything about the place is cool. Its a calm, slower paced type place, from what i saw,going to yoga class and all,people are who they are. Outdoorsy, happy, relaxed natural type. I know i cant really speak for absolutely everyone who lives there. Maybe its just because i felt more like myself there. I was surprised to see how big nelson is, walmart and all but still seem to fake the small town thing just right.

At the hostel it was only me and one other girl and the rest were guys (which is fine by me;)) I guess not as many girls would travel to ride.I actually was quite surprised even on the hill how many more men than women there were.And how many skiiers! especially at red mountain.I was a total lamo! Skiiers still managed to rule out boarders but in the afternoon i noticed more riders that managed to get their asses out of bed.

It was great to get out and ride a new mountain! Went to whitewater and i really wasnt all that impressed. It is about the same size as manning.I did have quite a few good runs and we were very fortunate to have good days every day for riding. At red where we were the next few days it was like spring skiing!!!! love it! i enjoy that slushy loose snow feel.One thing im not use to is how vertical alotof the runs were- i sure got some butterflies before going down. I didnt managed to injure myself at all though which is nice.

After boarding each day i would go to yoga at this wonderful, beautiful studio.It was really cool to take lessons with other styles, teachers. One of the nights the teacher had us working real hard- she would get us into warrior 1, then 2 then get us to hold our hands in prayer off the the side twisting out bodies for a good 2 minutes.downward dog,push up plank, upward dog and repeat.bah. love it.sweat was dripping onto the matte!haha. It was really cool and interesting to be taking a class in a completely full room, knowing no one, and all seem to be peacefully dead silent at the same time during shavasana and it feels completely comfortable.really cool. also cool to have so many men in class.ive never seen that before. on my side of the room there were more men than women.

Really cool to spend time with Erin and Kevin (abacus beads) they took us out to a really cool pub called mikes. Also great to spend some time with Joanne.She came down from Kaslo and spent the night with me at the hostel,went out for amazing indian food, drank lots of wine.She showed me a really cool coffee shop called oso, lots of interesting people walking in and out of that place.

had some really cool people staying at the hostel, one guy from field-there to get away from his menopausing wife-sucks to be him.it was cool to hear everyones stories- think thats half the fun of staying at a hostel.new zealand, aussies, belgium,france, spain. one guys from new zealand was driving just out of town, stopped, and a moose hit him,no, he didnt hit a moose, the moose hit him.what a story to go home with.I guess the moose lost control on the ice and slid into his front hood leaving moose drool and a small dent.bahaha.then it fell onto the pavement and couldnt get back up.bahaha.man, why dont i get to see that type of cool shit.

So Ive come to conclusion that im in love with rossland.what a cool little place.Its a small town, but you dont need to go out of town to get the basics. the views up there are amazing, people seem to be very interesting and friendly,all the buildings are very beautiful and old,and its a very artistic community.Im planning on heading back out there april to absorb it all again.Hopefully ill still feel the same about it. Next time im going to make sure to check out kaslo and ainsworth.

Really glad it didnt kick in until the drive home, but i managed to pick up a bug somwhere, lossed my voice for the day, nasty head cold-just in time to get back to work.hehe.

'Carla is god on a snowboard' -intoxicated Tyler.