This will be a memorable vacation.
Wow! we arrived in Vermont just before the blizzard hit! We used our time share trade to come to Smuggler's Notch in Vermont. The trip up in a rented SUV was a lot longer than we expected because we got caught in a big traffic jam on the interstate in Virginia. A tanker had turned over and they were rerouting traffic. It took us about 4 hours to get 15 miles further down the interstate because the detour was over small roads that weren't built for that volume of traffic. Because of that delay we didn't arrive here till 3 am Saturday. Even after a few hours sleep, we were too tired to do any skiing on Saturday.
Fiona and I drove into town this morning. The snow picked up and made visibility very limited. It took a long time to drive back because I had to stop twice to de-ice the windshield wipers. I had planned to rent a van for this trip, but I'm grateful they didn't have any vans available. The full sized SUV with 4 wheel drive has made it much easier to get around with all of the snow.
Why, you might ask, did we drive 30 miles into town when a snow storm was kicking up? Ski bibs for DD. I had picked up a pair on sale back in SC, but she said she didn't need them. They weren't as nice as the ones she already had. I wanted to return them, but didn't have time before we left. ARGH! When we got here, she realized that she didn't actually put her bibs in the suitcase. The rental shop wanted $50 to rent a pair; purchasing from the resort was too expensive; skiing without them would be too cold. We headed into town hoping that Walmart would have some reasonably priced bibs. Yes, they did! Yea! And only 50% more expensive than the identical pair that I got on sale at home. Much less than renting or buying here on the mountain, but more expensive than in SC.
Let's see. Another memory. I ditched the Expedition. Fortunately it isn't in the way and it is right here at the condo. We weren't stranded miles away from here. So frustrating to drive all that way with no problems other than the wipers icing and having to stop to clear them. To get so close and misjudge the road. One minute doing great, getting ready to park; the next in snow up to the windows on the driver's side. Hmm. . . Door won't open. Got to get out from under the steering wheel, over the armrest console and out the passenger door. Can I count this as exercise? Climbing out of the car, awkward. Finally climbing out of the car and starting to walk to the condo with a backward glance at the car and realizing I left the headlights on . . . priceless!
We'll also be able to tease DH about going over the fence on the black diamond slope. My DD heard about that incident from her ski instructor: "Marley, are you any kin to S Marley? The guy who fell over the fence!?" Word travels fast. DH never had the chance to keep it a secret.
Everyone had group lessons today, but most of the family had 0-2 other people in their group so today was almost like having private ski lessons at group rates. Everyone, that is, except me. Once I managed to climb out of the Expedition, I hung around the condo today, grateful for heat and hot tea. Seeing the snow falling when the wind died down reminded me of Frost's poem. I enjoyed watching the woods fill up with snow. I especially enjoyed watching knowing there was nowhere I needed to go.
