September and October Turns

I'm just going to roll this into one trip-report. All zero of you who read this better not complain!!!
Went to Mt. Hood on Sunday the 30th of September. How's that for cutting it close? Saturday was a great day of paddling on the Middle White Salmon and going out to listen to Tony Furtado. I did not kayak but rafted. Just not ready to kayak on the MWS. I'm a better paddler than i was when I broke my neck there, but I haven't dedicated the time to it that I should... and I still have some mental issues about whitewater. ~sigh~ well, that's a different story. Anyhoo, it was a beautiful day with some great folks.
The next day I met CornDog up at Mt. Hood. It was pissing down rain. Warm. Sticky snow. In sum, it sucked. Well, in as much as skiing could ever suck, that's how much it sucked. It was better than a day on the couch. CornDog's a good-natured guy, and brought his dog, Annie. Oh man is she a cute dog. She's got this crazy wire hair like a terrier, and a whiskery face.
Anyway, so he seemed pretty knowledgeable and he led us up the hill and we skied back down a ditch. The snow was sticky and stiff and bleah. Rocks were visible and it was actually a bit scary, especially since i didnt' have a helmet or kneepads. duh.
We then went to the lodge and had a hot cuppa cocoa. Decadent. It really was a great day.
Then this last weekend (the 6th?) I went up and did it again. This time i met Jamie and we had our dogs. We met CornDog and another guy (justin) in the parking lot and did the same run that CD and I did the week before. No rain. Decent snow. Much better coverage than the prior week. It was really a lot of fun with a great group and the dogs had an absolute blast. Of course we had hot cocoa and beers in the lodge afterwards.
September and October turns are in the bank.
Oh, and i got some good news -- i think my ski buddy is coming back to town. That'll be good for me, i might learn to ski! :)