Anna's Awesome Adventures!!!: Northwest Ski Trip -- Day 3

We spent the final day of 2017 doing something we all love and enjoy -- skiing! The day started just before 7:00 a.m. with breakfast (a banana and lots of milk), getting ready, and an approximately-two-hour drive to Stevens Pass Ski Area, nestled in Mt. Baker-Snoqualmie and Wenatchee National Forests. We were on the slopes by 10:30, enjoying lots of fluffy snow. There was over four feet of the lovely white stuff on rocks! For the most part, we circuited blacks and double blacks, charging hard on seriously steep and bumpy terrain, which grants us an excellent workout and makes for better skiing abilities. I love being able to enjoy runs like these -- and not just an occasional one, pretty much for an entire day. Temperatures ranged from the upper teens to about 30 degrees, and we dealt with quite a bit of clouds/fog. Fortunately, there wasn't any blowing wind or bitter cold, and there were quite a few clear sections. We're grateful for what we had!

Lunch at Outer Limits Grill was a black bean veggie burger, homemade chips, chili (split with my dad), and hot cocoa. Stevens Pass offers night skiing on part of their mountain, so we enjoyed skiing for a bit longer than we normally would, ending right as the last bit of daylight left the sky. By 5:00 p.m., we were packed up and heading down out of the mountains. We decided to detour to Bellevue, Washington, for dinner at the Mediterranean Kitchen. A word of advice in case you ever happen to visit -- we could easily have ordered ONE entree and had more than enough for the three of us! I have never seen such huge portions of food. The meal started with fresh pita bread, a lemon-garlic dipping sauce, and green lentil soup, then I ordered a seafood couscous. If you didn't know better, you'd think I took every bit of it home in a takeout box! The plate was brimming with lots of seafood (shrimp, clams, calamari, scallops), vegetables (carrots, peppers, onions, olives, and zucchini), a homemade tomato basil sauce, and tender couscous. Our final night before we check out will definitely be a dine-in-on-leftovers supper, and I'm thinking we should invite everyone else staying in our motel to join us!

It was a 30-minute drive back to our motel after the dinner experience, where I quickly pulled up a live video of the NYC New Year's Eve celebration -- the festivities were in full swing, and I enjoyed seeing the ball drop. The best part? It was only 9:00 p.m. our time, so I can get a full night of rest and still be happy that I "celebrated" the new year. Happy 2018!