Glen Plake IS Downhome!

What a thrill we were blessed with on Friday night, Dec 21st. It was an ugly dreary, foggy, dizzly day. It ended on a huge highlight as Glen and Kimberly Plake dropped in to ski and entertain the locals in what truly was a once in a lifetime experience. Below is an excerpt from the Plake's Downhome tour blog.

Glen Plake - On The Road


3:22am Wednesday Dec 19 - leaving town heading east - I wanna make it to
Wyoming before the storm that has arrived in Tahoe gets there and leaves
us stranded against a hwy closed gate on I-80.

2 weeks ago I felt the compression begin, not anticipation of the trip
but the compression of time before it (big snows in the midwest and east
coast fueled the fire).

The “DownHome Tour” is on the road. *I met a skier in Chamonix 20 years
ago from North Carolina - I had no idea there was skiing there and when
I returned to the states I went to Beach Mountain NC to ski the place.
Soon after Kimberly and I were married and we decided that for our
honeymoon a ski trip across America - skiing the local hills and meeting
the people who ski ‘em. The “DownHome Tour” was born!

9:30am Thursday Dec 20, Laramie, WY gonna ski Snowy Range ski area. I’ve
seen the sign on I-80 many times - anybody thats crossed 80 has one of
those I wanna stop there someday = is today! Light snow is falling and
we spend the day skiing with some Thursday morning skiers a few patrol
and some college students from Laramie along with about 30 others
enjoying our favorite past-time. Great hill a thousand feet of vertical
and greatly placed chairs - in the trees protected us from the WY wind.
We plan on skiing Iowa/Illinois tomorrow. It’s 16 hrs away.

Friday Dec 21, 2007 7pm Snowstar, Illinois
The drive has taken longer than we thought due to fog/holiday traffic -
the thought of skiing in the heartland doesn’t make sense - but sure
enough 20 miles south of the I-80 truckstop (“The Largest in the world”)
is Snowstar. There’s only 2 hrs of skiing left, “Do we ski or not?” We
quickly go to ski mode and end up with a stop on the tour I will never
forget. I’ll ski 30-40 areas on this trip, but some will always shine
brighter for some reason - like my stop at Timber Ridge, Illinois on our
first trip. The 200 vertical ft of Snowstar was beautiful - quickly
hooking up with a crew of locals ( who had been skiing there since 8am).
Snowstar’s natural features kept us busy. Rails/slopes and a natural
pipe/bowl - gives Snowstar skiers plenty of things to be creative with.
*While prepping the truck (between skiing the face last week) Dad and me
installed a tv in the ski room -( back of motorhome) - so I could show
films while signing posters - It was midnite when we left. Snowstar open
- you’ll be hard to beat. Thanks.

Kimberly and I enjoy the heritage/culture of the heartland, crossing the Mississippi there’s just something significant about it, and seeing established towns is a welcome sight compared to the pop up stucco/shopping mall villas of the west coast. Happy Holidays from the Plakes….on the road!

Dan Fogelberg

We lost a good one earlier this month. Dan Fogelberg was one of our better songwriters from the 70's and 80's(if I recall correctly). I related to him from several angles. I truly enjoyed his music. He also hailed from Illinois. In Peoria, specifically, a town that in the words of Charles Kurault, is in the middle of the state, in the middle of the country, in the middle of the world.

Perhaps you remember his song "The Leader of the Band" which was a touching tribute to his father. And, if you are a weather "nut" you may remember one of his other songs...."Same Old Lang Syne." Being a big fan of snowy weather I vividly remember the last line of that song.....it is one of the saddest lines in any song ever written............"And as I turned to make my way back home, the snow turned to rain"

Oh my.....if you love snow, that kind of says it all, does it not??????????