We landed at the Ljubljana airport just as the sun was setting. Flurries were falling. A friend of Ma’s met us at the airport. He helped us get our car and gave us some general direction to get to our hotel. By then it was dark, and the flurries had stopped. We hopped in the car and drove into the night, not able to appreciate the views all around us.

Our first destination on my first European journey was a small ski town in the Julian Alps: Kranjska Gora. This is a ski town for Slovenians and Northern Italians. It felt like you could go out your back door and hop on the lift and head right up to the mountain.

After a good night’s sleep and a hearty breakfast, we headed to the most iconic site in Slovenia: Lake Bled. What makes this place so special is the monastery sitting on an island in the middle of the lake that is surrounded by mountains. The only way to access the island is by rowboat. It was a very chilly day, so we bypassed the boat ride. Instead, we took a nice stroll along the path that circles the lake.

Next, off to Bohinj. This is another beautiful lake set below mountains. It was perfectly calm that day. The water was still. It was a perfect mirror. So quiet. So peaceful.  Off the edge of the lake was a gondola that took us up the mountain. Up top, there were a ton a people skiing. The views were just amazing. 360-degrees of snow-capped mountains. Ma was in Heaven.

The next day we decided to explore around Kranjska Gora. There was a great lake that was frozen over just outside of town. It was a beautiful morning, so we decided to do a lap around the lake. Again, it was so quiet and peaceful. I could get used to this place.

After lunch, we headed back to the hotel. Since we didn’t get to make a snowman on our trip to Canada, Ma had promised me that we would try again here. The snow was not perfect, but we did it. We gave him arms, and he borrowed my shark hat. He looked good!

After the snowman, we headed back into town. Ma said there was a ski jump that would be cool to see. And oh boy, was it ever. There was a ski jump competition going on. These guys were literally flying through the air. Wow!

Our final day in the mountains, we decided to head across the border to Austria. Pa wanted to take a drive up some road outside of Villach. But first, the road to Austria was crazy windy. We climbed and dropped what seemed to be thousands of feet. I may have gotten a bit car sick. Maybe. But Pa’s driving was crazy. I can’t take all the blame. We stopped for a bit. I got some fresh air. We were off again.

We finally made it to Pa’s road, the Alpenstrasse. Pa stopped fairly often as we made our way up. Beautiful viewpoints overlooking Villach. We played in the snow, had a good snowball fight, and just enjoyed the mountain air. But what made this trip so epic (besides me getting sick) was what awaited us at the top.

Pa knew there was a restaurant at the top but just assumed it would be closed at that time of year. Well, it wasn’t. The place was packed. There were a few people out cross-country skiing, but off to the side, there were some sleds. We found out that the restaurant rented the sleds. So, we grabbed one, and Pa and I ran up the hill to slide down. This was my first time to go sledding and, as it turned out, Pa’s too. We hopped on and zoomed down the hill. It was exhilarating. We kept going down, over and over again. This was too much fun. I love the mountains and snow. Let me rephrase that: I love to visit the mountains and snow. I am a Texas boy after all.