First Freshies in PA

Lake affect snow came to PA and blanketed us in freshies. At least where I live in south eastern PA. We woke up to a winter wonderland, but that's where the fun ended.

Getting to work Friday morning was a pain in the butt. The roads were icy and people were getting stuck going up hills and there were a lot of accidents. All roads leading from my house to the main highway that use to get to work were backed up. For some reason they didn't delay school either, so the school buses were also trapped in the traffic. One school bus actually slid of the road while going down a hill that also had a curve in the road. So, for parents who complain that schools call cancellations or delays too easily - take heed.

I knew I should have stayed home for an extra hour and just be late getting in, but there's something in my brain that tells not to late if I can help it, so off I went to fight the traffic. I creeped and crawled my way along with everyone else, had to go around one stuck expensive sports car whose tires were just spinning. Since it was taking me so long to go a couple of miles I decided to get gas and coffee. Apparently, I wasn't the only one thinking that since three cars in a row turned into the Wawa when I did. Once inside we all talked about the roads, being late, etc.

When I got back into my car I thought if it continues to take me this long to get the bypass, I should just get off and go to the Barnes and Noble, drink my coffee and wait for traffic to die down because all me and all of the other drivers are really doing is using up all of our gas idling on the highway creating a lot of concentrated pollution. I thought that, but like a lemming, I just stayed in place and got on the bypass. Finally, I arrived at the highway entrance and to my amazement, no one was on the highway going northbound, yeah! Southbound was actually closed, all lanes and traffic was backed up for miles, poor suckers. In all it took me an hour and twently minutes for my normally 25 -30 minute commute. Next time, I'm sleeping in and then heading out to fight the elements.

On the bright side -Big Boulder Ski resort in the Poconos had it's opening day on Thursday night. Free skiing too.

Skiing in July

July is the perfect time to be thinking about your next ski trip. For us, there has been some talk of going back to Canada, but to the Canadian Rockies.

Banff, Lake Louise and hybrid buses.

http://www.banff.ca/home.htm

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Stowe, VT

Copperhead and Racer went with their children on the Donegal Ski Club's trip to Stowe, VT. It was minus 10 degrees when we arrived, but that didn't stop us from skiing. We had a hearty breakfast and then after climbing the oddles of stairs we were off on our first run of the day. We started off with green trails to warm up our legs then ventured to blues. We found the Chapel which was interesting.

We took the cross gondola to Spruce Mountain which has more green and blue trails and we had planned to have lunch over there. They are contructing a big hotel & lodge over there that will be beautiful when it's finished.

On the second day, we found they were serving lots of free food and drink on Spruce Mountain. We had hot chocolate & s'mores around the outdoor fire pit and Adirondack chairs. Maple cotton candy in the big tent and participated in the Chef demo, which had all kinds of gourmet delights.

Trip Home

This morning it was time to pack the SUV and head home. We stopped at Mrs. Murphy's Donuts and got breakfast to go, so we could make good time on the road.

We stopped for a Starbuck's coffee at a rest stop and the kid behind the counter was hiding and jumped up as I approached him and yelled boo! Me and Racer who was right behind me just had to laugh, he got us. He said that he had to do something to make the day interesting.

For lunch we stopped at Crackle Barrel and then it was straight home from there. We all made it home safe and sound.

Rained Out

Today was intended to be our Bromley day. They were offering a lift ticket and lunch (and not just a hot dog) for approxiately $39 http://www.bromley.com/ . However, we awoke to rain even though it was snowing when we went to bed, so today turned into our shopping day.

We started our day with a good breakfast at a local place called "Up for Breakfast" in Manchester Center, VT. We quickly found out why it's called that: we had to climb up a flight of stairs to get to the quaint restaurant. The stairs were covered by a canopy which shielded us from the rain and kept the stairs free from snow and slush.

We drove to Westin to check out the Country Store there a few other stores and then stopped at a local farm called Taylor Farm for some cheese. They specialized in Gouda and we each bought some. So I guess you could say the Cobras stimulated the local economy.

Today is also Fat Tuesday so we got apple cider doughnuts to celebrate fasnacht day!

For dinner we went to Laney's which has an interesting laid back atmostsphere, reasonable prices and really good service. Three of us had personal gormet pizzas and Viper tried the chicken and ribs. All of which was great!

Okemo -Monday

Our second day of skiing led us to Okemo. We lucked out again with the weather. It was mildly cold and no wind. We tackled a majority of the blues and greens and a few black diamonds.

Diamonback attempted to ski over a rail in the terrain park, but unfortunately she caught an edge and fell forward flat on her chest. She was however not hurt by the experience, so Racer took pictures. Tip of the day: Trails not rails!

While skiing through the condos we saw a banner on a sheet spray painted with "Go Pats" and directly across from it another banner spray painted with "Go Giants" along with more "Giants rule" etc, sprayed onto the snow.

For dinner we went to Chandeleros a southewestern restaurant. We was awesome. If you go, make sure to get some sausa to take home and try the dessert sampler. It started snowing after dinner, so we'll have freshies for tomorrow.

Stratton -Sunday

Our first stop in VT was to Stratton Mountain. Last time we were here it was so cold and windy that we only skied for a few hours, had lunch and then decided to shopping.

This time Stratton was perfect. The temperature was just right and the skiing was great on the nicely groomed trails. For a brief time there was gently falling snow. We saw lots of skiers with the fav Super Bowl team shirts on (either Giants or Patriots) We covered as much of the mountain as we could and at the end of the day par took in a suger waffle with chocolate syrup from the Waffle Haus.

We heard that the day before (Sat.) there were 100 mph winds at the top of the mountain and that they closed all of lifts until the afternoon.

Of course we headed straight for the jacuzzi after skiing before going to dinner. For dinner we went to Garlic Johns. It was very nice Italian food. After dinner we got back to suite to catch the last few minutes of the Super Bowl, although we did keep up with the game via the restaurant's TV. What we were really looking forward to was the new episode of House that was coming on after the Super Bowl.

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Giants won --Yeah!!

Off to Vermont

Today the Cobras had an early start (7:30am) on our road trip to VT. Although we had printed out directions from multiple sources, we found that using the Garmin nav system was a much better way to go. Especially when one of the exits was blocked by construction, thankfully the Garmin just navigated us around it and brought us straight to the Palmer House. www.palmerhouse.com

We reserved a two bedroom, two bath suite which turned out to be about the size of a small apartment. The Palmer House complex was much bigger then I thought. We changed into our bathing suits and headed off to check out the indoor heated pool. It was very nice and also had a small workout area. After swimming we went to the jacuzzi (located in another building) which was also very nice after the long ride.

For dinner we went to a local steakhouse called the Sirloin Saloon and ate too much food. Tomorrow (Super Bowl Sunday) we decided to go skiing at Stratton.

Ladies Ski Day

January 15th was Ladies Ski day at Bear Creek hosted by Pinnacle. The Cobras arrived bright and early. We each received a pair of Rossignol gloves and a chance to win a pair of new ski boots or poles. There was a light breakfast to fuel us and then it was off to the ski demos.

Between the three of us we tried the Atomic's, Rossignol, Elan, & Volkl. It is surprizing how differently each ski is and it does make you think twice about buying skis, without trying them out on the mountain first. It's important to buy a ski related to the type of skier that you are. I found that one pair of carving skis were way too heavy and were only good for carving at high speeds, which is not actually my style anymore. I'm more the casual, recreational skier and less the speed demon of my youth. So, I would prefer an all mountain type of ski. Diamonback tried twin tips and didn't really care for them either. Racer and myself tried Atomics and really liked them. I was surprized at how light and fast the Elans were.

Lunch was very nice and then it was back out for a lesson. An instructor from Bear Creek showed us how to flatten out our shaped skis which helps with turning. Then she added how to push in our leading knee to get even better control on the turns with less of the work. It 's tips like these that make the Ladies Day worth it. We're still learning after 20 some years of skiing. It began to snow while were there which really put us in the skiing mood.

We went in for the Apre ski, a glass of wine and to warm up by the fire. We met plently of great ladies who work at Pinnacle and Bear Creek. It was a really great day!

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Bear Creek

On Tuesday Jan.15th Bear Creek/Pinnacle Ski and Sport is hosting a Ladies Ski Day. Three out of the five Cobra's are signed up for the outing. It will be my first day out on the slopes and they have demos to try. The base at Bear Creek is between 10 and 30 inches, but it is now raining instead of snowing as the weatherman had predicted where I live, which is about an hour south of Bear Creek. It is possible they are getting snow flurries.

Go to: www.skibearcreek.com to learn more about the resort.

Happy New Year 2008!!!

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2-0-0-8 wishes for you and yours:

May the snow be deep and your runs long.

May you find fresh powder as you go.

May there be toasty fires to warm your toes,

and hot jacuzzis to sooth your muscles.

Good Luck on the Slopes!!!