No new sled

[johnridley]

K came over for an overnighter with T, and I went out with them for a couple of hours of sledding, including I opened up one of the long slopes that people don't tend to hit because it's a quarter-mile walk. I also, from the looks of the tracks, hit a new distance record on the long/fast/bumpy slope back in the woods, and had the interesting sensation of breathing snow powder as I hit the fluff at the end going headfirst. Very fun.

I never remember until about this time of year that we really need some new sleds. We have ONE decent sled, and also a junky $3 plastic thing that we bought at K-mart about 20 years ago, and that's it. There are some runner sleds in the attic of the garage, but I've never had any luck with runner sleds, and besides I don't think they'd like it if I hit the Waterloo slopes; a 180 pound guy catching 5 feet of air on 3 successive moguls and coming down sideways on the last one would be the final run for them, I'm pretty darn sure.

A trip to Meijers and checking the toy department reminded me that in US retailing today, you have to buy things 2 months before you need them. The only sledding device of any sort they had left was one cheap snowboard and a half dozen toddler sleds. The guy I was talking to at the store said "Yeah, sorry, that's the way it is. It's about time to go buy a swim suit, BTW."

I'm going to check some lesser-volume places like hardware stores, or maybe Pamida.

I'm going to set a calendar reminder to buy a new sled next Thanksgiving.

Comments

[jennlk]

Well, with one big snowstorm before Christmas, and then snow over Christmas break, and yet another weekend of good sledding, one would expect that most stores would be out of sleds. There were plenty of sleds when L and I were out before Christmas, but we didn't know you wanted a new one.

[rmeidaking.livejournal.com]

If I had realized that, I'd have sent the boogie boards.

We have an old sled with runners, but I'm thinking that I should turn it into interior artwork, as it's too small, and I don't intend to pull any child on it for at least a decade.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

Yeah, we have a very pretty wood sled with a curved back and waxed wood slat runners. It's great for pulling toddlers in. That is, I guess it would be like if you were in town with snow-covered, packed sidewalks. In any depth of snow, it just tends to dump over to one side or another. And it fits kids for about one winter.

[kevinnickerson.livejournal.com]

More like 6 months before you need them. I need a new pair of snow boots, but I know it summer clothes season.

[mbcrui.livejournal.com]

Walmart had some (up here) in the back garden section. They weren't in the regular place... you might check in the hidden corners.

[johnridley.livejournal.com]

I'll check around. The nearest Wal*Mart to here is fairly far away. I do get over there occasionally but on average probably only once a month. Mainly I'm heading to Harbor Freight to buy some tool or another, and Wal*Mart happens to be right there.

[jennlk]

FWIW, Meijer is not the place to buy sleds. They rarely have anything decent, and considering that there's not been more than one or two decent sledding weekends per winter the last few years, they don't get very many of them in. KMart is where I usually see a lot, but I suspect that they're probably sold down as well....