I was excited all week about this amazing adventure.  Got off work at 5pm.  Met Katie and her 12 year old cousin at my place at 6pm.  Packed up some snacky-treats and hit the road to Mount Hood.

It took about an hour to get to Ski Bowl and we only hit a little bit of snow on the road.  My little Malibu Maxx handled like a champ.  We got there a little before 8pm and got tickets to tube and zip line.  They were $55 each. Kinda expensive.  We were in the rental office when one of the cashiers said, “they are doing fireworks.  You better hurry.”  Coincidentally, the speed at which I could exit the rental shop directly correlated with the speed at which the cashier could move us through.  Surprise!  We missed the fireworks.  Also, we asked that same genius to take a picture of us and this is the gem we walked away with.

We finally get ready to hit the slopes and can’t find any tubes.  We decide to wait for them to bring more tubes out by a shed next to a very high strung mother and her impatient kids.  Not a great start to the evening.  We finally get our tubes and struggle through the crowd to go on our first run.  The three of us hold each others’ tubes and the guy at the top of the hill asks us if we want to spin.  Uh, hell yeah, we want to spin?!  We go flying down the hill and forget to plant our feet at the end which sends us straight into the fencing at the bottom.  We get a slight reprimand, and go about our merry way making it back up the airport style conveyor belt to the top again. So many people!

Then, miraculously, we showed up at the zip line station right as they are setting up.  We get suited up with fashionable and wedgie-inducing harnesses and get ready for our zip.  Johno is our guide.  He is a super pumped kid who loves his job.  Really, loves his job.  He takes elaborate measures to ensure each “zipper” is secured and emotionally stable and ready for the journey ahead of them.  We are ready to go and looking tough!

The zip line was super crazy fun.  The second time I went, I flipped upside down and zipped.  Difficult, but awesome.  Super fun and exhilarating.

After the zip line, all the families had dissipated and the slopes were super empty.  We tubed non-stop for another hour and a half and it was so freaking awesome.  I felt like a kid.  I was so stoked and smiling ear to ear.  So freaking cool.