Guest Post: Baby It’s Cold Outside!

It’s cold in Montreal today. -18 to be exact, but warming up to -10. Yes, that’s Fahrenheit! So what’s a Texan like me doing in Montreal anyway?

My husband Chris is a coffee taster – a coffee quality control expert. He has a golden tongue, a gift when it comes to the taste of the nature’s sweet extract of the coffee seed. His job has brought us living in many cool cities these last several years…Chicago, Toronto, Philadelphia and now Montreal. When Chris got the chance to work at a coffee roaster here we of course jumped at the opportunity!

Since we lived in Vermont, we are experienced with the cold. We use to snowboard, snowshoe up mountains and play in the snow like kids. We even rolled around naked in it one night in our back yard after we over served ourselves on wine! Something I had never done and always wanted to do though was dog sledding. I have always had a fascination for what I call winter dogs, any solid, strong dog that thrives in cold weather like Malamutes, Huskies and Bernese Mountain dogs.

Now living in Montreal, where do we go now to celebrate New Years? Why further North to Mont Tremblant, one of the best ski resorts in North America. We assumed we would snowboard, but actually I ended up being pretty sick. I was willing to give up a day on the slopes, but I was not going to forfeit my day with the dogs, even after having no voice for two days!

So on a mere 2-degree day we geared up and headed out into the wilderness. The sun was shining making it a crisp blue sky, which can always make it seem about 10 degrees warmer.

The dogs were incredible. Thankfully someone had warned me that the dogs go crazy before they start running. Once they know they are about to go on a ride, they all start barking, howling, and jumping around with excitement. They feed off the energy of each other. There’s also a bit of competition as to which dogs will get chosen this time around. Let’s just say there’s more than one alpha male in the bunch. The moment they start running you are immediately transported to a place of peace and serenity. The swooshing of the snow, the blue sky, and the trees flocked heavy with powder… it looks like a winter wonderland!

After an hour or so we stopped off at a little cabin along the way for a warm up complete with a log fire and hot cocoa. It was a good thing as I could barely feel my toes and fingers. I was starting to wonder if I was getting frostbite! Before we knew it we were back on our sleds,  and the dogs were going crazy again. It was time to head home. I was still in awe of the forest, the contrast to the sky and the overall scene, but I was ready. I was cold, but would have never traded this experience of a lifetime!

Bio: Carri Uranga is a Yoga & Pilates instructor who’s passion for Yoga began as an outdoor enthusiast seeking flexibility and cross training after hiking the entire Appalachian Trail with her husband Chris in 1999. In 2006 Carri and Chris sold their house in Vermont, most of their possessions, and traveled in Central & South America for 1 year, hiking, biking, surfing, eating and drinking. It was during this journey Carri decided to get certified to teach Yoga.

Her passion for Yoga and travel has led her around the world teaching in Peru, Italy, South Africa and working as a volunteer at Ibiza Yoga. She now leads her own Yoga Teacher Training courses with Drishti Yoga International in Mexico, India, Peru and Italy. Carri was honored to be a 2012 Sponsored Athlete by the women’s clothing company Athleta!