We arrived at the mountain on Sunday afternoon to see that many of the lifts were closed due to high winds. They had deals on Sunday Night tickets, so we opted for that. The next day was cold, wicked cold. But the snow was good, wicked good. 
Even Turd Ferguson was cold, and had chinstrap icicles. He said he has worn a neck warmer twice in his life - once when it was -15F at Jiminy Peak, and this day.
Did I mention there was a metric sh!t-ton of snow?
The dart board became our source of entertainment and our release of competitive energy.
Lotsa trash talking, lotsa concentration, lotsa nerves and clammy hands. Nah, we're not competitive people!
15 people and 7 dogs kicked off the New Year's in the Butler cabin.
And by kicked it off, I meant lounging by the woodstove, drinking tasty beverages, telling stories, laughing, and petting dogs. 
Lotsa dogs.
Cute dogs.We had the best day of skiing on the 31st. It was going off, and every run was basically freshies. This turned to heavy, wet snow (Cascade Concrete) overnight. We got a few runs in on the 1st, but it was tricky skiing and the snow was slowly turning to rain. Playing more darts - 15 games from 9pm to 1:30am, we listened to the rain plummeting on the roof. Our hope to ski the next day had diminished. Just 6 hours later we awoke to blue bird skies and champagne powder coating everything.
We quickly shoveled out and chained up and were all smiles to the mountain. The sun was shining, and we really didn't know what to do because our sunglasses were buried at the depths of our bags! Sun? In Oregon?
However, our hopes were quickly shattered as we saw the sign in the parking lot: "Good Morning! Buttercup is the only lift open" Top of the Morning to you too! Buttercup is the beginner lift that takes you about 500m up the slope in about 15minutes. Exhilarating. Evidently the winds were howling and the slopes were a sheet of ice from all the rain.
So we ventured down to Hood River and found a little brew pub.
There was a never-ending flight of stairs which ran beside the pub, so after some good eats we went stair running.
Our legs wouldn't stop shaking after that effort. Guess I have some work to do before my first race!?
Back to Portland for a day before my flight home. We went back to the Coffee God: Ristretto Roasters. Yum Yum, get me some, I miss it already.
We also found a cupcake store, called Saint Cupcake. That was nice too.
I do love Portland, but I think it's a little too rainy and trendy for me at this point in my life.
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