Willow - Winter Solstice

Cory booked a night stay at the Winter Park Cabins in Willow for Saturday Dec 21. We were super excited to find a warm place to sleep and take our snowmachines out. Every cabin we searched for online owned by the state was booked every weekend through winter, so those were out of the equation. These cabin rentals were from a private vendor and owned by a very nice and hospitable married couple. We stayed in a cabin that sleeps 6 comfortably. The cabin included two full beds on the lower level and 1 queen bed in the loft. There was also a full kitchen and a fire pit. It could of slept 8 with the futon, but that would have been too crowded. We even had a little portable toilet inside for tinkling. Otherwise, there were full bathrooms down a trail near the cabin.

We brought 3 sleds on this trip so our friends that don't own any may use them. We had two 800s and one 600. So thankful we are able to have the luxury to provide recreation for our friends. Growing up, my parents never had these big toys, but my friends were generous enough to let me use their toys with their parents' supervision.  

On this trip we invited 2 couples, Banan & Crystal an Jody & Bri. Both couples also brought their dogs. We arrived at the cabin around 10:30am meeting with Bill, the owner, to greet  us and collect fees. He gave us a map of the trail system, which was super helpful. The nice thing about this place is that we all had cell reception. So if we really got lost, Google maps would help. Jody cooked us some burgers for lunch while we all unpacked and got the innertubes blown up. After we got our bellies full we were ready to hit the trails and lakes around noon.

We were so fortunate there was an air compressor on site to blow up our two inner tubes. Cory and Bri were using lung power at first until I found an air compressor.  Unfortunately, one of the tubes had two holes in it. Patching didn't help too much. What a bust, but at least one tube was pumped and ready for fun.

Each couple had a snow machine to ride. It was so fun adventuring out on the trails and spitting out onto lakes. I liked riding on the lakes a lot because you can go as fast as you like. I loved the variety of terrain we encountered. On one of the lakes we tied the ski rope to the snow machine and took turns getting pulled while sitting on the inner tube. The inner tube was made out of this slippery material. I found that I cannot go at high speeds being pulled because I just fly right off. I was laughing so hard every time I wiped out. Each of us definitely had a few good wipe out moments that provided good laughs.

After screwing around with the inner tube, we kept on trekking on the trail system. We definitely had to stop a couple times to figure where we were on the map. I was dubbed The Navigator since I held onto the map and kept referring to it.  I was not about to get lost in the cold.  After about 2.5 hours in, mine and Cory's snow machine died. It was acting funny in the beginning of our trip, but it didn't seem too serious. We had to take a few minutes for the men to figure out how to get it started again. Let's just say thank goodness Cory had his tools on hand and Banan had a good idea of unplugging the sensor. After that, the machine was good to go and we continued on!

On our way back, Cory wanted to race the other two couples on one of the lakes. I don't know how fast we were going, but I was clenching on so tight we were zooming. We went so fast, we didn't even see this little mound on the lake. All of the sudden I see Banan & Crystal zoom pass us. Simultaneously, I felt like we were so light and I realized we were airborne. We landed soft and we weren't very high. Jody&Bri caught up next to us and as we slowed down, Jody was laughing so hard at us. He witnessed Cory and I fly about 3 feet in the air. We stopped our race and everyone was laughing at what just happened. Seconds later, a couple intersected with us and the man was asking for directions to a visitor center we had no clue about.

While this couple was with us, I asked if they could take our group photo and the man told me his wife can take it. As I was walking over to his wife, I tripped on his sled skis and I went down. Everyone was laughing and so was I at my glamorous fall. At least I saved my phone. So, we got our photo taken and then we were off to head back to the cabin. We were out sledding for about 4 hours, which was awesome.

As we were all warming up in the cabin, the power went out at about 4:20 pm, twentyish minutes after returning. The sun was just about to go down, so it was going to get real dark and cold. Come to find out most of Willow had a power outage. Cory got the fire started in the fire pit right outside the cabin. Once our cabin got cold, we all went to the fire to chit chat, tell stories, and enjoy our libations.

The propane stove was working and thank goodness that didn't need electricity. Crystal and I were able to heat the spaghetti they made for us the night before on the stove. We used Jody's grill to warm up the garlic bread. Once we all had amazing spaghetti and partially burnt garlic bread, we realized we were out of drinks. Bill stopped by to check on us. He brought a portable generator and hooked up the Toyo heater to get our cabin warmed up again. For light we used our cell phones and Banan's very powerful illuminating flashlight.

Banan talked Bill into bringing us a handle of tequila, margarita mix, ice, triple sec, and fire wood. Banan and his persuasion works very well on people. People will do anything for money. I thought it was comical of Banan. He really knows how to use his resources. Bill's house is connected to the shower, bathroom, and laundry facilities, only 80 yards away. Bill took a few trips from his house to us bringing the goodies riding his snow tracked ATV. That thing was bad ass. Once our cabin reached 72 degrees, we called Bill to take the generator back.  He needed to share the generator with the folks at the other cabin.

Late into night, about 9pm., Crystal wanted to go to the little market on the highway about 3 miles from the cabin. I came with her for navigation and to get a few things. She bought an oil lamp we spotted in the little store. Lucky to have found that in such a tiny town. While we were gone, the electricity came on for about 1 minute, then blacked out again. That gave us so much hope. However, we were ready to accept that the power wasn't going to come back on. I am actually glad the power was out so we could all bond and just enjoy each other at the fire.

At around 10:30pm, the power came back on to stay. We were so happy that we can go back inside and start a poker game. Poker was super fun, as always, but sometimes gets competitive. Banan was too tired to stay in so he was first out and decided sleep was better. I stayed in as much as I could, but the bed seemed better. I stayed in the game until 1:45am and just thought, screw it, I am going to bed. Cory followed me shortly.  In the end, Crystal won the $60 pot against Jody. Nicely done.

The next morning, Cory and I made breakfast burritos and French pressed coffee for everyone. When I turned on the oven, there was a horrible gas-like smell coming from the oven area. Everyone was coughing and we had to open the door. We thought the propane was leaking from the oven. We switched to using the stove after I had put bacon and tator tots to bake inside the oven. We fried the eggs, bacon, tator tots, and mushrooms for burritos. Yummy in our tummies.

We all cleaned up and packed up most things. Dishes took awhile because there was no running water and we had to use the water jugs for rinsing. Crystal and I made a team effort of getting those done.

Cory, Jody, Bri and I decided to take the sleds out one more time before we had to check out. Crystal and Banan decided to rest and slowly pack up. We only went for about an hour. I was so stoaked to have a sled to myself. We decided to go off course on one of the lakes. Come to find out real quick, we were in super deep snow. It was hard to turn and you have to go fast to avoid sinking. Well, we all got stuck. Thankfully we were not too far from the main trail. After about 15 mins of getting each other out, we were on our way again. If we had powder skis, maybe we could of managed. We learned to just stay on the trails and ride on the lakes.

When we got back, Crystal discovered why the place smelled of gas while I was using the oven. She had placed the oil bottle for the oil lamp into the bottom drawer of the oven. Come to find out, that wasn't a storage area, but the broiler! Yikes! The plastic melted while the oven was on and the oil was seeping everywhere inside the broiler. Thank goodness we were safe and the place didn't catch on fire or make a huge explosion. We would of been doomed.

All in all, what a great trip. It snowed all weekend and everyone was safe.  I loved the cabin stay and cannot wait to do it again with friends. I wanted to stay there in solitude and adventure forever.