"I Don't Like It"

Last month I got a deal from Living Social for two tickets to the the AppleFest at Wachusett Mountain, including a ride on the chair lift to the top of the mountain.  It sounded like a good way to spend an afternoon, so I bought the tickets and hoped it would be a beautiful day.

Well, yesterday was gorgeous, although windy, and it really was quite lovely to spend sometime outside.  Much of the AppleFest is vendors, crafters and local artisans, but there were some interesting displays, music and the like.  We watched a chainsaw artist work on a bench for the ski lodge.

We also had a chance to check out the Bengal tigers.  Although we were in between shows, it was clear the tigers were pretty stressed out.  Except for the one that decided to lay in the sun and take a nap, they were all pacing and never settled.  It actually made me a little sad, wondering what they must be going through.

They had a German buffet but we ended up passing on it because Dave is afraid of sauerkraut.  Instead we saw the giant pumpkins brought in for the Great Pumpkin Weigh-in.  Imagine how many pies, breads and cookies I could make with this thing!

We also saw a father and son juggling act.  They were pretty good (better than I would be) and the one trick that the father messed up on, he insisted on doing right, so it was nice to see someone admit their mistakes.  He's on a balance board with a cup of water on his head juggling knives in the wind. 

Eventually we wandered over to the ski lift and got on.  And that's when I remembered, I don't like heights and prefer to have my feet safely planted on the ground.  I don't ski, so I've never had a reason to be on a ski lift before.  Dave skis this mountain pretty often and clearly had no issues.  The video pretty much says it all.

We got off a the top to check out the view.  We've hiked up here before and there were an awful lot of hikers there already. 

It was a gorgeous day, despite the wind on top whipping pretty good.  The view was relatively clear, and although we were 50 miles away from Boston, we could still make out the skyline on the horizon.  That is if I had been able to see the screen on my camera when I took this shot.  It's still a beautiful day though.

Then came the fun part.  Taking the chair lift back down the mountain.  At least going up I felt like the ground was getting closer to me.  Going down wasn't as nice (and I think it's pretty clear that going up wasn't pleasant either).  It occurred to Dave that he'd never gone down a ski lift either, but he certainly didn't seem to mind.

Despite being in sheer terror for part of the day, it was a nice event and we had a pretty good time.  We shared a homemade raspberry turnover that was delicious and I was even able to pick up some maple sugar for some cookies I want to make.

But no, even if I had the coordination and desire to ski or snowboard, I don't think I'll be getting on a ski lift anytime soon.