22 Things -- check off Snow Tubing

So after a rough week (maybe that should read RAW week), I surprised Dr. J by giving him an early birthday present from his mother-in-law. His birthday is not until the end of February, but my Mom already had told me she wanted to pay for us to go snow tubing, since it's something we have been talking about wanting to do. Thus, I decided that THIS was the weekend to go do it, and check off something else on our "24 Things" list.

We drove up to Seven Springs, planning on tubing during the 6-8 p.m. session. OF COURSE it was sold out (grrrr!). So we bought tickets for the 8-10 p.m. session and decided to regroup by throwing back some crappy drinks in the crappy bar. Seven Springs is fun, don't get me wrong, but it's in baaaaaaad need of a complete makeover. Still, it serves it's purpose.

Back to the tubing . . . WE . . . HAD . . . A . . . BLAST!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I did a lot of sled-riding as a child, whereas Mr. Country Club (Dr. J) did things like skiing in Switzerland and New Mexico (cue up your best Long Island stereotype, lol). But of course I am afraid of heights so I do need Dr. J when it comes to things like getting to the top of a mountain. Thank goodness he calms my fears in this regard. I am even more thankful that I did NOT have to get on a ski lift in order to go sno-tubing. Thank you, Lord. Instead, they had a "magic carpet" conveyor belt you could stand on, or sit in your tube and hook onto the tow line which pulls you uphill. Each had it's own benefits (the tow line was more fun, whereas the magic carpet was much faster).

We started out by doing two runs in which we held onto each others tube and sped downhill (called "doubles"). Then we did a couple runs as "singles". We then went over to the higher, faster, steeper lanes and went down those, too. A little tough for me, as we stood there -- I kept thinking back to those super-high "banana slides" you encounter at a water park. But I conquered the fear and did it anyway, and was glad I did! I then shocked by Dr. J and went down headfirst before he had even tried it! (Seriously, I now know why they make you sign release forms -- these lanes are icy, fast, and you COULD be killed if your head hit something!)

Like I said, we had sooooo much fun, and it was something we desperately needed. I am now hoping we can gather all of my awesome second cousins together for a future group outing.