Snowboarding

This is the first sport I have actively pursued. I pushed myself on the slopes today to get in as much as I could. And when next season rolls around I'm gonna be out there doing it again. It's fun. It doesn't afford me anything special, doesn't win me awards or pay me money. It is self-gratifying though. I get a sense of accomplishment, especially when I figure something out myself. I found it easy to pick up, this sliding on a four-foot plank. This doesn't mean I didn't fall on my ass. I did. More than once. The worst was transitioning from heel edge skating to toe edge skating. I kept stoping half way through the move and catching my leading edge. It would send me flying and roll me down the hill. Those were the wost falls. I would land on my face then my momentum would flip me over so I would land on my ass. One of the falls I instinctively covered my stomach. The result felt like I had been punched. That took a little bit to recover from. Knocked the air out of me and hurt like hell. So, sitting here five hours later, I am sore and stiff and it hurts to sit. But I'm glad I did it. Thanks Megs for the advice and inspiring me, in a way, to take lessons.

So, on my last full day in Canada, I got punched in the stomach by a mountain, learned to snowboard backwards, and made a new friend. I am happy. I'm also looking forward to home. I can go back now a start training up for next year!

Tonight, I am packing sleeping. Might roll down to the bar if the mood strikes right! Tomorrow I have a two to three hour car ride followed by customs and security, then a lovely plane ride back home.

I don't expect to be making any posts tomorrow except to relay news of our safe return. Thank you for reading about my travels in Canada, it's been a pleasure writing. For those of you who stuck with me the entire way, I'm glad you were there for every story, every bump and bruise and I hope you had fun reading about some guy falling down a lot in Canada. I'll keep posting travel blurbs, updates on my plans and maybe my training.

Thank you!
Kevin