Red Lodge, MT

We returned from 3 days in Red Lodge, MT, yesterday afternoon. We went to ski and to celebrate the upcoming marriage of my cousin and her fiance. It was a good time. Red Lodge is a small town with a long main street lined with restaurants and bars and is a great place to go skiing if you want some night life as well. We skied for three days. The first morning, being the flatlander that I am, I suffered altitude sickness for about an hour. I spent the hour trying to ski to the base area without fainting or puking and then sitting at a table drinking water and sweating through my clothes even though my hands and feet were frozen and tingling. I wasn't the only one this happened to and one guy with us even vomited from it (and NO of course he didn't drink the night before!! Just kidding, he did, but not that much). It is quite a strange feeling and it usually doesn't happen to me or anyone else I've been with in Montana. A few years ago my family went skiing in Colorado and everyone had issues with it right away. I still laugh about my sister and the incident on that trip where she suddenly got light headed our first night and laid on the hood of a stranger's car when we were walking home from the hot tub! If this all sounds unpleasant, you should read "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer. It contains a description of the acclimation process for climbers planning on climbing Mount Everest, which takes weeks and involves alot of puking and diarrhea and general misery! At least it was short lived on this trip.

Fortunately, it didn't take long to acclimate. The skiing was fun even though it is early in the season and the mountain needed alot more snow. Skiing is so exhilarating and it was fun to be with so many friends and relatives for the weekend and to celebrate the beginning of 2010!

I posted a few pictures. The blogger program is acting up and making it difficult to arrange the photos, so they are in no specific order. I think I intended the ones at the bottom to show up first.

This was taken during the bach. party. This bartender was really bored apparently, because she allowed these antics and even took photos with several of our cameras!

Notice the interesting rock formations in the background. They were amazing from every angle and height.

This snowman was located on the street where we always went out at night. I became obsessed with it. It is a complete wreck but I thought it was really cute and fat. I don't know what those lights are supposed to be adding to it! They were just globbed on there! And that wreath! Who knows??

We were trying to pose with the rocks in the background but they don't show as well as they could.