{"id":3959,"date":"2013-10-03T10:15:51","date_gmt":"2013-10-03T15:15:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/?p=3959"},"modified":"2013-09-24T13:07:44","modified_gmt":"2013-09-24T18:07:44","slug":"reflections-on-ski-trips-past","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/2013\/10\/reflections-on-ski-trips-past\/","title":{"rendered":"Reflections on ski trips past"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"OLYMPUS
\nMy last visit to Mount Frontenac, until this trip. Note Y2K bug of sorts.<\/em><\/p>\n

Frontenac, Minnesota, July 18 \u2014<\/strong> So much about this feels wrong.<\/p>\n

I am driving uphill on what used to be the switchbacks of the Easy Mile, at what used to be Mount Frontenac Golf & Ski. It’s 90 degrees outside, which my brain is having difficulty processing after having only been here before in the depths of winter.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUSThe seemingly unused but maybe not quite abandoned Frontenac ski chalet. Rental is to the left. This is the bottom of the Little Pepin slope.<\/em><\/p>\n

This is where I learned to ski. It’s the only place I’ve ever skied. One Saturday every February for about six years, I would wake up when it was still dark outside to go up with my Boy Scout troop for an outing. I never got particularly good at it, usually sticking to the simple or medium-difficulty slopes. While I enjoyed it, I haven’t been skiing since.<\/p>\n

And now, the only remnants of that era are the unused ski lodge and a lift chair beside a map of the ski slopes at what is now a golf course food stand.<\/p>\n

\"OLYMPUS
\nThe incongruity of the palm tree and the ski map are par for the course for me here. The ski slopes closed in 2001.<\/em><\/p>\n

The trips are part of my roadgeeking history \u2014 my first experience on US 63 north of Waterloo and first foray into Minnesota beyond the state line.<\/p>\n

I am only here long enough to reflect and absorb the effects of the changes here on my memories. As I leave, a passing train makes the moment just a little longer. But after that, it’s time to re-enter my vacation mindset and leave Mount Frontenac behind. I have a gap on US 63 to close.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

My last visit to Mount Frontenac, until this trip. Note Y2K bug of sorts. Frontenac, Minnesota, July 18 \u2014 So much about this feels wrong. I am driving uphill on what used to be the switchbacks of the Easy Mile, … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3959","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-trip-reports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3959"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4007,"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3959\/revisions\/4007"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3959"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3959"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/iowahighwayends.net\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3959"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}