Pat: Social???? Don't even worry, just let me know if you want me to bring anything to the rink for you besides, smiles, hugs, cheers and maybe a teddy bear.
And I missed out on practice and a lesson today since the rink cancelled the ice with no notice. No ice on Sunday, either. Stupid hockey camp; like they didn't know this months ago? Fortunately, we have another option on Sunday evening, so I'll get some practice in and a lesson too, and our off-ice stretching, but still... Good thing I'm pretty comfortable with my program!
Pat: I doubt you'd want to make the hour plus drive, but Wintersport arena here in Willow Grove has Sunday ice from 8:30 - 10:00 AM through September 5th, and its highly likely the only two people who'll be on it tomorrow will be hubby and me. Just a thought. Here's the website:
Its a small place tucked behind an Irish pub, but very well maintained, excellent ice (they just came off summer maintenance yesterday) and their sound system is great.
Thanks anyway, Yaz, but we'll be fine Sunday evening. Although it would be nice to skate with you some time! But not at 8:30 am tomorrow! Have fun, though!
Cold as ice: The ice itself. Pat, I'm glad you didn't waste your time coming up today. The ice was bloody AWFUL. The rink was closed for three weeks for summer maintenance, and I believe they do melt down the rink for re-painting during that time. Unfortunately, the weather here has been rainy and miserable for the most part for two weeks, very humid and often hot, not great conditions for prepping fresh ice. The ice was rutty and pockmarked and seemed to have a coating of frost after the Zamboni cut the previous evening. Hubby joked that we were on Disney's "Test Track" going over the belgian block and other rough road conditions!!!
We would stroke around and feel it CRACKING under our feet. At one point, I was doing a one foot spin and had a good one going, and then the ice cracked and my skating foot slid into the crack and I stopped dead. Luckily, I didn't fall. We still put an hour in, but neither of us skated great. That's the only problem with the first few skating sessions after a melt down and re-ice, especially if the weather is off. It takes a while to get the ice right.