Wednesday, January 14, 2009

Sweeeet Skoki (and Leslies 40th birthday....)

For my 40th birthday, I pondered doing a whole lot of things. It felt like a milestone and I thought, maybe I should do something milestone-ish. I thought about doing a special race, maybe travelling to a special place, running for 40 hours, running for 40 kilometres, doing some crazy-ass adventure out in the woods for 40 hours... You know, something special, something memorable, something big!

Instead, I realized that I didn't need to do any of those things because in reality, my life is already one big on going adventure. I actually do a lot of those things daily, weekly, monthly! How exciting is that?! My life and my lifestyle are pretty frickin' fantastic. I'm the fittest I have ever been in my whole life. I get out there and enjoy, like nobody's business. Life is good. No need for an epic adventure for my 40th birthday, because every day these days feels like an adventure! It's exciting. It's fun. It's awesome. I can't wait for whatever lurks around the next corner. And I love being 40. It is pretty darn cool.

That being said, I still wanted to go and have a little adventure in one of my favorite places, with some of my favorite people. A trip to Skoki Lodge was in order, to celebrate. Holly, Anna and Stu joined Keith and I for a couple of fun days of skiing, relaxing and enjoying the backcountry bliss of the Skoki area.

The Birthday Girl on her sunset-birthday-bonus ski loop!

Big Smiles


Big Fun


Big Cookies
Big Ass

Big Birthday!

Big Mountains, Little People


Big Pack, Little Girl


Big Ski

Big Friends


Big Stud


Big Views


Big Mountain Pass


Big Sky


Big Effort!
(pheeeew...we're all done.)

12 comments:

Hone said...

I like how you treat everyday like it is your b-day. You guys really get the most out of life down there in Canada!!!

Once again amazing pictures.

HappyTrails said...

WOW!!!! AWESOME!!!

Lily on the Road said...

And a BIG Happy Birthday to you!

Backofpack said...

Big adventures is your way of life Leslie! Happy 40th!

Dave - Atlanta Trails said...

Happy birthday!

Gary Robbins said...

Happy B.Day Leslie, yet another great adventure for you...and hey, I wouldn't give you a day over...35!
GR

Anonymous said...

Looks like you had a blast!!! :)
Hopefully i find the way over at some point this winter! Can you believe - i was just out skiing ONCE this year!! :(

Oh Dad and I are getting a dog! :) I'll try to get around calling you this weekend for the big bday wishes etc.!
lots of hugs
Anna

goSonja said...

Totally awesome BIG Birthday Bash. Well fitting too! The big pass one is my fav. Your adventurous spirit is contagious, what a gift!

JeffO said...

Hey, you left out BIG QUADS, you quad-demon!
Happy 40th! (I think you might be fibbing about that, but not sure why you're claiming to be older than you are.)
The 40's are the best years of our lives. (Too bad I only have one more year left. Then I'm not allowed to have as much fun. Maybe I can start a new trend..."50's - the new 40's?")
When I turned 49, my friends said I should run 49 miles. I had to respond, "That would mean cutting 13 miles off my race!" So I can relate to not running your age. You don't need it!

Danni said...

OMG HAPPY BIRTHDAY!!!!!!!!! I noticed you didn't include "do 40 shots" in your ideas for momentus things to do. Good move.

Leslie said...

Thanks for all the kind birthday wishes!

Jeffo - We shall bust out the Big Quads come summertime...
These days they are hibernating cozily in a den of fleecy goodness.

Danni - 40 shots would be a little over my head, but it might make for an interesting blog entry. And a trip to the hospital! I am a 2 drink drunk!!

Deanna Stoppler said...

Happy Birthday girl! I love the Randonee bindings. At first I thought you were a free heeler, and I guess in a way you are!