There is still time to sign up for a fabulous ski destination! Currently, Winter Park is gearing up to kick off our ski season and followed by Vail in December. While Vail is full, Winter Park may be able to find spaces for a family or a couple.

Check out the slate of trips on the website and support your club by signing up for one. See you on the slopes!

I am sure you have all heard that there is snow falling in Colorado! Yippee! That is welcome news compared to some of the past early seasons. No worries for our Thanksgiving Trip to Winterpark which will kick off the SCSC season with 10 more trips to follow. If you’re still sitting on the fence about a trip you need to make some decisions NOW as we are releasing space as we speak. You don’t want to be left in hot and humid Houston while the rest of us are swishing down the
slopes. Isn’t the snow really what it is all about?

You can sign up for trips online or join us at our November 9th meeting at Dave and Buster’s on Richmond. You can not only sign up for trips and activities at our General Meeting but thanks to Sun & Ski Sports you can check out the latest resort fashions for on and off the slopes. Suzan Miles is putting together a great Fashion Show featuring many familiar faces for our November Program. What would the December General Meeting be without our favorite charity event – Sunshine Kids
Auction? This event is always well attended and is a great way to show some holiday goodwill by both donating and purchasing. Should you have any items or services to donate please contact Peggy Montgomery at peggymont@att.net and don’t forget to join us on December 14th.

We have organized a great Nominating committee to search for our 2010/2011 officers. Our committee is chaired by Ted Widmer, and composed of Gloria Lopez, Larry Edmondson, Christina Anderson, Ann Dorn, Cindi Moore and Don Macken. They have already been putting together some great officer candidates and you just might be one of them. If you feel like you have some time and ideas that would benefit our organization as a leader please contact Ted at tedwidmer1@aol.com for an officer application. I believe some new and fresh faces and ideas are what will ultimately help our group to grow. I hope to see everyone in November at Dave & Buster’s, at our November Gala and Wine Tasting and most of all, I hope to see all of you on the slopes!

and the country certainly offered us all an abundance of experiences on Space City’s Texas Ski Council Summer Expedition to Central America.  The participants were asked to jot down their three most memorable experiences of this trip, which I’ll share throughout this article. 

Most “moving” of all experiences was the earthquake that shook the country in the wee morning hours of July 4.  Registering a 6 on the scale, it was about 200 miles northeast of where we were, but it was certainly “felt.”  Doors rattled and beds shook, which woke up some of us, yet others slept through it all. 

Earthquake at 2:00 a.m. – Bonnie McConnell (She said the earth moved for her.) 

Enjoyed the earthquake.  It was my first and it didn’t cost anything!  – Laura Zavala

Bed was shaking in the middle of the night and it was my first… and best?  – Sandy Wellhausen

Rain greeted us when we arrived on June 28 at the Panama City airport.  This is the rainy season in Panama, which makes it a lush tropical environment, with an abundance of trees, such as palms, bananas, mangos, teak, mahogany, and cashews (strange growth).

Arriving at the Royal Decameron Beach Resort was like entering a paradise.  Beautifully situated on the Pacific Ocean, the resort’s public areas (lobbies, restaurants, bars) are open air, allowing for glorious views to behold and cooling sea breezes to enjoy. 

One almost expected to see monkeys swinging from all the branches and, indeed, an abundance of wildlife was sighted – sloths, crocodiles, iguanas, large moths, and colorful birds – in the wild as well as in the zoo.  Cecelia Newburn was enthralled with the peacocks freely roaming the resort grounds; Barb Tuley saw whales when she went on the dive tour to Iguana Island; Vivian Ezenwa spotted a sting ray while she was kayaking.  Sean O’Brien and Bonnie enjoyed feeding bananas to wild monkeys from the boat while on the “Gatun Lake Expedition.”  Other wildlife sightings included an 8-foot iguana, holler monkeys, spider monkeys, and Stan Kuper.  Oh, wait, he was seen in the bars at the resort, along with Linda Kuper, Sharon Simandl, and Bill Bomberger, sipping on tropical refreshments.  The all-inclusive feature of the resort had quite a few of us testing the fire-waters when the bars opened at 10:00 a.m. 

That prompted us to begin celebrating early for Marianne Pearce’s birthday on July 1.  BD celebrants at that first toast included Mark Monroe, Olga Adair, and Dave Doucette.  Atakan Sobay kept offering to “buy” the next round.

Various excursions were available and we all enjoyed a lot of them.  A favorite outing was the trip to see one of the indigenous Indian communities – the Embera tribe.  Shirley Lang and Tulin Sobay agreed to go along on this one, but had declined another trip called the “jungle boat tour,” since they weren’t so keen on too much wilderness exposure.  Little did Sharon, Bill, Sean, Laura, Linda Licarione, and Allan Simpson know what we were in for.  A tour-guided bus trip took us to the Chagres National Park; a one-hour dugout canoe ride took us upriver to a hike; an hour hike, during which we forded the river at least three times, took us to the waterfall.  Over rocks and mud we hiked back to the river, climbed back into the dugouts, and headed back down river to the Embera community, consisting of thatched roof huts and pavilions.  We were treated to fried plantains and fried tilapia served in banana leaves and fresh cut bananas, papayas, and melons.  The Indians then entertained us with music played on primitive instruments, dancing, their handcrafts, and even by painting tattoos on some of us.  What an adventure! 

Concurring with this extraordinary experience, the following are comments from a group that went on another day:

Enjoyed topless females at Indian Village.  – Jeff Hanrahan

Enjoyed Indian boys in loin cloths navigating our canoes.  – Sandy and Maria Tramontin

Best was the Embera Indian village tour.  – Vivian

My favorite thing was the Embera tour with the Indians and especially the hiking along the river to the waterfall.  – Olga

If the Embera had not been holding my hand I would have slipped many times. Once we got there, it started lightning and the whole way back was a downpour.  – Marianne

Another selected day trip was the Panama City tour which the Kupers enjoyed.  Included was a visit to the Panama Canal Visitor Center, a four-story building next to a major lock.  Linda described the historical exhibits and movie as outstanding.  More memorable experience comments:

Old Panama City tour where restoration was taking place.  – John Hughes

I was the most impressed with the Panama Canal history and construction.  – Billie Nowak

So much to do, so little time.  Beach time was interrupted by an abundant variety of outings.  Barbie Miller and Vivian took a shopping trip to a mall in Panama City where a lot of Colombians and Venezuelans go for bargains.  Billie Nowak took a cultural tour where she was fascinated by the handicrafts of Panama, as well as the processing of cashews, a major export of the country.   Mark Monroe had to, of course, buy a Panama hat and it held up pretty well when a rain storm had us running from the beach… to the bar!  John and DeeAnn Hughes joined 14 family members from North Carolina for a family reunion. 

A bunch of folks took a tour to the Valle de Anton where we hiked more lush tropical jungles.  There was a moth as big as your hand clinging to a tree and wild birds of paradise flowers and rope suspension bridges that looked straight out of an Indiana Jones movie.  Melody Bohlmann listed enjoying the flora and fauna here as one of her favorite experiences.  Some of us had lunch at the wonderful Villa Lourdes, a beautiful restaurant and resort in the mountains.  Millie Jude described it as absolutely breathtaking and thought you could be in Italy.  It was also one of Noreen Walker’s favorite memories.

Probably the most memorable event of the week was our ride on the boat, Fantasia del Mar, for a partial tour of the Panama Canal.  We made that excursion on the Fourth of July and the announcer renamed the vessel the Yankee Doodle for the holiday.  Here are more highlight comments:

One of the wonders of the world; an absolute engineering success for the US.  – Millie

Watching the locks at work. – Melody

As is typical for a TSC trip, there was much partying and singing and dancing the last night.  A group of SCSCers – Marianne, Barb, Bonnie, Jeff, Cecilia, Noreen, Millie – joined other TSC club members at a bar down the beach from the resort to celebrate the 4^th with compatriots.  The bar is actually owned by a Canadian, but there was plenty of red, white, and blue for the rowdy crowd, as attested by:

Enjoyed girls from Dallas dancing on tables.  – Jeff

The most memorable was the 4th at Woody`s.  It was a Texas kind of roadhouse down the beach.  We all stood and sang God Bless America, said the pledge, and sang America the Beautiful.  There was a live performer who was singing roadhouse music with dancing – dancing on the bar!  And best of all – fireworks outside on the beach. – Marianne

Billie summed up the trip with her favorite memory – I loved the resort paradise shared with friends!  Yes, a ski club trip allows one to come home with an abundance of memories and good friends.