Tubing at Soldier Hollow

Over a week ago we were invited to go tubing with Paul's sister and her family. I had my reservations since I hate snow, cold and sliding out of control but I knew the kids would have fun so I agreed to go. We were suppose to go Friday night but that ended up changing. They made a Saturday afternoon reservation for all of us. I was relieved since Saturday was suppose to be sunny and warm. Thanks to all the wonderful sunshine the snow was slushy and the tubing was slow. In the beginning I never felt out of control which is perfect for me. As the day went on and the sun started to drop the hills got faster but it was okay. We only had 30 minutes of "fast snow". We all had a great time. 

Soldier Hallow is an excellent place to tube. You reserve a two hour block and they have a limit on how many people can be on the hill at a time. We were lucky though that it wasn't very crowded at all. They also have a tow rope so you don't even have to walk up the hill! The tubes all have bottoms in them so your rear end doesn't get wet. Snow pants and boots are still a really good idea. 

Here is Emma picking her tube. This was the last we saw of her and her cousin (except from a distance) for over an hour. 

Andrew getting ready for his first run. 

Check out the spectacular view. It was pretty amazing up there. We couldn't have asked for a prettier day.

Ready, set go!

Since it was slushy when we got there we gave each other shoves to get a good start down the hill. Here is Paul sending his brother in law D. down the hill.

Success!

For some reason I love this picture. I think it's because it shows Paul and D's playful side.

Now it's time for him to send his sister down. 

Off she goes.

My turn. I was nervous but it ended up okay. I didn't even make it the whole way down. I had to get off my tube a couple of times to get a running start to make it over the next hill. 

Towards the end I stopped to walk the rest of the way but decided to get a picture of Paul as he was coming down. Right after I snapped this he hit my tube which hit me and took out my legs. Down I went, hard. My side is still sore!

But I survived and was ready for more.

Here is Paul acting silly on the tow rope.

My trusty old boots. They are coming up on 20 years old. Amazing.

There's Emma! 

Andrew strategically placed his tube so he could get a running start.

After several runs we decided to take a time out. We waited at the top (and took pictures) for the kids to all come back up. 

I love this one of us. I need to have it printed. 

Finally, all together again.

Then they left us...

Off they go.

They're back and oh so cute.

Here's the big story of the day. 

We had less than 30 minutes left on our time slot. We decided to make the most of it. As you can tell the sun had dropped behind the mountain. That means that the snow was icing over and was getting faster. We (the four adults) had the bright idea to go down in a big group. (Paul and I had just gone down together and it was perfect. We had just the right amount of speed to make it tons of fun.) 

We started out pretty fast and just kept picking up speed as we went down the hill. The guy at the top warned us to dig in our heels when we got to the cones. Well we were all facing inward so we could hold on to each others tubes. We saw the cones but because of the way we were sitting there wasn't much we could do. We couldn't get our feet down enough to stop us. We just kept going. We were going so fast, we were completely disoriented. The next thing we knew we had stopped, in the middle of the safety fences. We had gone through three of the five fences. On the other side of those fences is a drop and the parking lot! We were laughing so hard but at the same time felt terrible for plowing over the fences. Who would have thought it was the adults that would do something so naughty. 

That was my last run for the day. The boys went one more time before we headed home. We woke up Sunday so sore. I feel like I did after a minor car accident I was in years ago. I truly think we got a little bit of whiplash. Who would have thunk it?!? 

We all had a great time. After we left we drove by the HGTV Dream Home and then went to dinner at Mama Chu's.