Solo Trips Home
It is very rare for us to spend much time apart from each other. We are really great travel and life companions, and we don’t like to miss out on the fun. But sometimes we do have our trips where we end up going alone. Amity recently spent a long weekend in Missouri to celebrate an incoming baby in the Sparks family. On the other side, I was able to take advantage of rare direct flights into the Flathead Valley for a ski trip at Big Mountain.
Mile: 32,950
Quote of the Blog: “Don’t be scared to walk alone. Don’t be afraid to like it.” - John Mayer
Song of the Blog: “Home” - Moontricks
Amity’s Trip:
I had a quick direct flight into Kansas City, where my sister and nieces were waiting to pick me up for a girl’s trip back to Kirksville. I ended up driving, though was made fun of by my sister and nieces due to my slow driving. We arrived on Friday evening and spent the night at my mom’s house to prepare for the big baby shower. The following day, we arrived at Sip to decorate for the “Baby It’s cold out” themed shower. We could not have picked a better theme, as it was very cold outside. We are talking negative temperatures and over a foot of snow in Kirksville. Fortunately, all of my winter clothes are in Missouri, so I was able to stay warm. I helped build a balloon arch for the first time and accidentally overfilled the balloons, so randomly a balloon would pop and cause us to collectively jump out of our seats. It was a very sweet shower though and so fun to shower my sister-in-law and future baby niece/nephew with so much love.
Following the shower, we went to Shawn’s Bridal and Formal Shoppe in Kirksville, so that my oldest niece Briley could try on Prom dresses. My sister and I have very fond memories of dress shopping in Shawn’s shop, so it was very nostalgic accompanying Briley. Briley had quite the audience and I am not sure that she appreciated all of the attention, but I had the most fun watching her model all of the beautiful dresses for over 2 hours. She looked great in all of the dresses, but the one that she chose was absolutely stunning!
After dress shopping, we picked up Paglia’s pizza (a Kirksville staple) and headed to my dad’s house for the evening. On Sunday we made our way back to KC in time to watch the Chiefs at my sister’s house. We arrived with the best surprise of homemade chicken and dumplings with fried apples, made by my brother-in-law Andy. I know that they take a lot of work and it had been many years since I have had the privilege of enjoying them! Thank you Andy! They tasted even better than I had remembered! The Chiefs won the play-off game against the Bills in a typical nail-biter, to top off a great weekend in Missouri!
Billy’s Trip:
Let’s talk about this radical trip to go skiing in Montana. Ever since my massive crash that blew my knee to shreds, I have had a rough relationship with skiing. My mind still sees the mountain in the same way it always has; my personal playground. My body on the other hand, has issues with this. I cannot do what I was able to in the past, and I really have to focus on keeping it chill on the hill.
I had to take an uber to the airport, as Amity was working. It was a little over an hour with a driver who thought the world is coming to an end, or that we are living in an algorithm/hologram. Made for an interesting start to the trip. My flight was really quick and easy, My mom was there at the airport to pick me up. We got some dinner at Last Chair and caught up. I love taking my mom out! We miss her a ton, and spending some quality time with her was a fantastic way to start my time in Whitefish.
I spent the week staying at our friends Craig and Amy’s house. Their dog Wally is my best doggy friend, and it was great to play with him. I also became fantastic friends with Marley the cat, because we shared a room while I was there. Craig hooked up the skiing for the week. The night I flew in Whitefish was getting a rare snowfall for the season. We were able to get on the 8am chair to shoot some photos and media with Glacier World Photography and Whitefish Mountain Resort for an hour and half before the general public hit the slopes along with some old homies; Zak Anderson and ERock. I was so stoked to be back on skis!!! The resort’s content manager looked at me at the top of the first run and said, “I am going to take Billy and follow cam him with the GroPro.” I was a little shocked, as this was going to be my first run in just under a full calendar year, and the last run I took really hurt my knee. I went full Radness and CRUSHED IT! I got to ski in the most beautiful sunrise on a fresh 4” of snow on top of perfectly groomed trails. It was all time! Honestly, I could have not skied after that run, and been quite happy about my trip. That wasn’t the case though. My little brother made his way up to the hill and we continue to ski and shoot all day. We finished the day up with some nachos and beers at the Hellroaring Saloon and then some more beers at the Bierstube. It was like I had never left. The hospitality was on point and the stoke was high. I capped the first night off with a session at a golf simulator with my brother, Craig and Amy. Great day!
The next two days we were a lot more laid back about getting up to the mountain. The second day of skiing my sisters joined up for some laps. Cassie is fast; simply put! I did my best to keep up, but some of the runs were bullet proof ice and she has the right skis for that and I don’t. Tori is also ripping it up these days! Stoked to see her getting after it after all the ankle and knee issues she has delt with in her life. We wrapped up our ski day together with some more nachos at the Hell. By this point my stomach is not stoked with me, but those nachos are sooo bomb!! After that we went down to the weekly meeting for Frabert at the Beirstube. Frabert is the mountain’s “Jackass of the Week” award. My dad is a legend in this world, with nearly twenty Frabert Awards for doing all kinds of dumb stuff. He was later given the first Lifetime Frabert Award. This week’s story was about two ski school instructors struggling on their day off after having too many beer to go skiing. They had to be helped off the mountain. Definitely don’t want them as my ski instructors!
Unfortunately, Amy had to work all week, so I was not able to ski with her. She was able to kick it and enjoy the week with us during the evening. One night we smoked some meet on their big green egg and I was able to whip up some rolls that I had learned to make while working at the bakery in Anacortes. We had to make some small changes, but we nailed them! Another night we had dinner together downtown while my brother was working the bar at The Remington in Downtown Whitefish. Good to get back to some familiar spots with familiar faces! She also joined us for Frabert on the mountain.
The morning of my last day in town, we woke up for another good amount of fresh snow. We were able to get back up on the 8am chair. This time I would get to ski with another old Montana homie; Kyle Taylor. Kyle has inspired and pushed my skiing since we were little kids. The fog was really bad and we really didn’t do much skiing. We poked around the mountain for a bit before the content and marketing team called it. I was really stoked with all the skiing I had already done, and my body was feeling fantastic. It was a good time to exit stage left from skiing. I spent the last of my hours in Whitefish getting ice cream with my nieces, Evie and Cadence, my nephew, Brady, my sister and my mom at Sweet Peaks Ice Cream; another Whitefish staple. I then met up with my childhood buddy Bobby and his wife Fio for some dinner and drinks. I was so stoked we fit in even the smallest time to kick it and catch up. It was like I had never left. As with every great adventure, there is a trip home to be made. My mom swooped me up, took me to the airport and just like that I was out of winter and back in the desert with Amity. With some big days coming up we needed to rest, get to work and prepare for a long couple weeks!