Spring Break 2008

We did a short spring break trip to the Northeastern part of Iowa. We left on Saturday morning and drove 3 hours to Dubuque, IA which is on the Mississippi river. Once there, we went night skiing at Sundown Mtn. It is a cool little area with a good selection of beginner and intermediate runs. The snow was soft as it was close to 45 degrees outside. We had a great time and did see the sun going down over the horizon.
We actually based ourselves at Galena, IL which is another 15miles to the east. Galena is a very historic town with a lot of old homes. President Grant lived here and the town takes pride in the architecture. Here is a picture of the girls on main street. We had a good lunch (ask Holly about her $7 grilled cheese) and then went skiing at Mount Chestnut which is 10miles from Galena.
This picture of Hannah in the terrain park is actually from Saturday night at Sundown Mtn. Both mountains have some good terrain parks. No real big jumps, but a lot of rails and boxes. This was in the beginner park.

At Mount Chestnut, Maddie wanted to ski the black diamond named Warpath. She did a really good job and didn't get scared at all. It was really much steeper and longer than it appears in the photo. It was probably similar in steepness to skiing down the bowl near the top of chair 1 at the Big Mtn (Toni Matt?). Of course, it wasn't near as long. She sure was proud of her accomplishment.

On Monday, we went to the Mississippi River Museum in Dubuque. It was very interesting and we probably spent a good 4 hours there. Of course, the girls played in the swimming pool at least once (or twice) a day. Dad was even a good sport and joined in the fun. Holly seems to always forget her swimsuit on these vacations.....