But What Do I Know: Banner Elk

Cold
Cold
Cold

Carly and I had been saying for a long time that would were going to the mountains to let the kids ski and play in the snow. This year we finally did it. We rented a nice condo at Echota on the Ridge. The condo was laid out nice and had wonderful views of the mountain and the valley below. There was even a TV in the master bathroom.

Friday was an early release day from school so we got on the road by 3pm. It is a nice easy drive from Raleigh to Banner Elk right outside of Boone. We hit a little traffic on the other side of Winston Salem. It was 60 degrees and sunny when we left Raleigh. By the time we got to Boone is was 30 degrees and a winter mix was falling. Echota on the Ridge is a new community so it was not in the car's GPS so we had to use my phone(good ole android) for the directions. Well it got us there but it took the scenic route up the mountain. I would find out later that going down the back side of the was less than a mile opposed to almost 3 miles on the front side. I must tell you driving up a mountain at night is no fun.

The gas light came on as we were going up the mountain so after unpacking the car i headed to get gas. Found a gas station not too far from the condo. Walked around about 5 minutes before i finally asked the cashier where the beer was. Come to find out they were dry because they just outside the city limits. Luckily there was a grocery store about 4 miles up the road and I was able to get beer and wine for the night.

The rain from Friday night did finally turn to snow and the temperature dropped. The high was about 20 degrees. So we bundled up and headed to Beech Mountain for some sledding. The Banner Elk Chamber of Commerce maintains a sledding hill on top of Beech Mountain. I must say it was pretty fun. We sledded for over two hours and no one complained about being cold even though the temperture was in the low 20s.

After sledding on we went back to the condo to relax and thaw out. With plans of getting up early on Sunday morning to take Christopher to ski school for the day

We got up early on Sunday morning and had breakfast and headed out. Well it would seem the plows did not get up early because coming down the mountain was interesting to say the least.

We made it down the mountain without any issues. However when we started going up Beech Mountain (elv 5000 ft) There were flashing signs saying if you don' shave 4x4 or snow chains don't think about it. We did not drive my car because if the roads were bad enough to need a chains and all wheel drive I wanted no part of slidding down a mountain. So we turned around and headed to Sugar Mountain. Getting to Sugar was much easier. We made it in time to get Christopher checked and and ready to ski school. Christopher said he wanted to snowboard and I thought I signed him up for snowboarding. Well I did not. I signed him up for ski lessons. When we came back to check on him around lunch he did not look happy. And it had nothing to do with the fact that it was 11 degrees on Sunday. Yes 11.....

So we left Christopher to his lessons and the 11 degree temps and got lunch at the Ski Lodge. Now from what I had always heard there was suppose to be this big fireplace with couches. I saw none of that. It was a big dinning hall with terrible food and lots of rude people. After lunch we went back to the car to let the girls take a nap(and us too). We were really expecting a call saying to come pick Christopher up because he had had enough.

I headed back to the ski school around 230 to watch the last couple of minutes of ski school. When I got there I was looking all around the bunny slopes but he was no where to be found. Finally around 3 I walk up to the chair lift and here comes Christopher and he two(female) ski instructors off the mountain. He is smiling ear to ear. His ski instructor tells me they moved him up a level or two and they went down the mountain a few times. He started the day a beginner 1 and ended a beginner 3. He was able to get on and off the chair lift and ski down the mountain. So I took him over to the bunny slopes so I could see for myself. There have not been many more times in his life that I have been more impressed with him. He looked so in control and confident going down the bunnies on his own. The bunny slopes were pretty crowded and he was able to maneuver threw the falling people with ease. The night before we made reservations at Hawksnest to tube at 4pm. So even though we had the ski rentals until 430 another hour and half we had to go. What I did not know was Hawknest called and cancelled the reservation. My phone was dieing and I left it in the car. So I said that Christopher had to ski on Monday. That in itself is huge. I never plan activities for the day we are headed home. But after seeing him on the sloped I knew we had to bring him back.

On Monday morning we got up had breakfast and packed up the car and headed to Beech Mountain so Christopher and Carly could ski before we headed back.