Beautifully simple day. Gabe and I left home at 6:30 this morning for a snowboarding meet in Waterville New Hampshire. Gabe is riding with the Mount Mansfield Snowboard team from Stowe.. It was about a two and a half hour drive.. . It was cool watching the sun rise… I generally only see that If I’ve stayed up .. Gabe and I talked about music, physics and snowboarding the whole way there..

Despite a late start, we got there in plenty of time for Gabe ot sign up for the competition.   Waterville is cmall ski and boarding place a little bigger than Bolton.

It was a perfect day.. and the place was packed..

The competition today was mostly about fun. It was sponsored by Transworld Snowboarding magazine, a bunch of gear makers and High cascade.. the snowboarding camp that Gabe and Sam have gone to. Today they even had a s’more stove in the shape of High Cascade’s mascot.. a giant marshmallow.

Gabe, Dylan and the gang spent some time checking out the terrain park.. here they are at the top of the hump rail. basically a set of concrete stairs out in the snow…

I stuck a samstone in the rail near a picture of Sean White.. I once gave Sean a Samstone.

Gabe had a good day out there.. he’s gotten some serious skills in the last year..   Here he is on one of the down rails..

Soem of the older kids were doing some extreme stuff. her’s Gabe’s friend Dylan on his way to being upside down.. (I shut my eyes)

Gabe managed to badly jam his middle finger on his first run today.. After the competition I watched him make a splint out of two plastic forks and a plastic bag..

Later on, he replaced the plastic bag with a sticker.. Here he is showing it to me.. or at least, that’s what I think he’s doing here.

Around four Gabe went off with the other 8 kids in the team. they’re spending the night in a hotel in Concord  so they cna go to another event tomorrow. Sounds like a party tonight !

The drive home by myself was very peaceful I took the route thorough Franconia  notch.. so beautiful.. sorry the pictures suck. as I took them while driving. but it’s really spectacular..

I got home around 7 to a peaceful house.. We all  curled up on the couch after Dinner…

Now it’s not even 10 and I’m going up to sleep.. .. .

I have few days that are this quiet and peceful.. so I savor them when

they come..

Nite folks.. nite Sam !

-me