January brought a devastating ice storm to Portland. I’m grateful we didn’t lose power. Our local park lost a huge number of big Doug Fir trees. Many people sustained damage from downed trees, power outages and frozen pipes. I prepped by getting fuel for the generator and picking up some more firewood for the stove. We all stayed warm and cozy when the city shut down for a few days.

Ski season has been a mixed bag. My brother was here visiting from Alaska in January (he sailed from Oahu in June and he and his wife have been living on their boat in Juneau for the winter). We skied Meadows in the evening, van camped and then skied Timberline the next day. Decent outing and it provided a good sampling of the Hood.

The girls and I have been skiing most weekends at Meadows. So far this season we’ve storm skied, skied in the rain, skied the fresh… and last weekend caught the goods.

We’re in that fine slice of winter where the days are starting to get a bit longer and the Crocuses are starting to pop in Portland. People forget about sliding on snow and the lift lines thin out.

We were able to get some sunshine turns in before the sun went down on Saturday, then a few hours of quiet turns with few crowds and zero wind. Super Bowl Sunday we snacked and watched the pre-game, then decided to roll back up the the mountain. We passed the hordes coming back to Portland for the game and had the mountain to ourselves.

We popped into the lodge to watch Usher before wrapping up the evening on some fresh snow before getting back home early (it was a school night). Only when we were nearly home did we learn that Taylor Swift won the Super Bowl.

I can’t think of another activity where I have my kids undivided attention, they’re trapped on a lift and we’re enjoying chasing each other on skis around the mountain. It’s THE BEST.

I’m not sure how many more ski days we’re going to get this El Niño year. Looking forward to Spring volcano skiing and Summer backpacking trips.

I’m taking a break from the van build, but I did manage to laminate the countertop. I ordered a 4×8 sheet of matte black Formica and replaced the pieced together plywood counter with a single piece of Baltic birch. I template routed the grooves for the bed supports and then laminated the entire countertop using contact cement. Using the bandsaw I cut inserts from the same Birch and laminated them to match. This way with the bed stowed up and away, I have a continuous 60in x 23 in countertop to cook on, do meal prep, or use as a standing desk. It works.

Starting to think about some bigger van projects for later in the year. Boring stuff like suspension upgrades and exterior lights.