Thursday, February 24, 2005

Veggie Tales in Vail - Day 4

Feb 17, 2005


Bright and sunny day this morning... woke up from a nice 10 hour nap. I now have 5 blisters on my feet. Temp is 7 degrees Fahrenheit... Sheila is all bundled up.


We took the bus to the slope today (rather than enduring the 4 or so block walk). There was a small German boy on the bus crying endlessly about not wanting to ski... his mother could not placate him. I worry that Sheila may use this tactic. We get off the bus, and stroll to our local breakfast nook of choice, although they had difficulty getting the "two" orders of toast right.


Sheila is complaining that she is hot. We begin by skiing in some of our familiar areas again today, then venture off to new territory after lunch. We finally get to see the beauty of the view from the top.


Mountain View



Sheila decides that she is tired, and would like to rest in the lodge for a while, I hit the 'back bowls'.


Sheila near Lodge


As I make my way to the 'Blue Sky Basin', I accidently do some cliff jumping... gets the heart pumping, that's for sure. The snow is great, I enter the 'Extreme Terrain' areas... turns out that means cliffs and trees. They have trails posted, but I don't think there actually are any. I quickly (within an hour) become 'knackered', so I head back to the lodge to retrieve Sheila. When I get there, I can see her through the window, but the lodge is closed (and locked). I missed it by 5 minutes (likely due to the fact that I was trapped for 20 minutes on a stopped chair lift).


We return to our hotel to be greeted by our still dirty glasses... alas, the vacation is nearly complete. We finish it off at an Asian restaurant (they serve Chinese, Thai, and Japanese food) with a bottle of warm Sake. Fly home tomorrow.

Wednesday, February 16, 2005

Veggie Tales in Vail - Day 3

Feb 16, 2005


Still a blizzard outside this morning. Sheila put on several layers of clothing to avoid getting cold (she then complains of being to hot... it doesn't last, she got cold on the chair lift).


My left arm seems to be non functional today, not sure why. I didn't fall yesterday, and have no real memory of banging it against something. Is it from hockey on Sunday? Perhaps skiing? Maybe work? A mystery for certain, Sheila will likely point the finger at hockey.


Sheila had a meltdown today... claimed she couldn't ski (after which she proceeded to ski like a pro). We took some photos (although the snow made it difficult), here is Sheila at the summit.


Wheelchair Ramp


Returned to the room after skiing to an amazing sight... they actually made up the room... although, they didn't leave any glasses... Sheila called to have some sent up... they were very prompt, and notice below how clean they were.

Wheelchair Ramp


Back to the Nepal restaurant for supper, took the camera with us to get this nice phote of the establishment next door (liquor store)... struck me as a bit funny.

Wheelchair Ramp

Tuesday, February 15, 2005

Veggie Tales in Vail - Day 2

Feb 15, 2005


Well, it was our first day on the slopes, and the word of the day for Sheila is

COLD

The snow on the hill was excellent, it was a blizzard all day as you can see from this picture of me at the top of 'Giant Steps'

Wheelchair Ramp


I ventured to the 'Extreme Terain' area for a while while Sheila warmed up in the lodge... complete white out, couldn't see at all (probably for the best - if you don't see the cliff, it can't hurt you right?)


While Sheila shivered, I found myself getting a bit warm, so I had to shed a few layers.


There were horses parked at our hotel when we returned... they were getting ready for some sort of carriage rides in the village (though I can't understand why anybody would want to ride around behind a horse). Sheila warmed up by (pracically in) the fireplace. The room hasn't been made up yet, though it is still early (5:30pm). We go to a nice Indian restaurant (Nepal actually) for supper. Excellent cuisine.


Return from the restaurant, still no sign of any house-keeping... the response from the desk is surprise though I think they do it on purpose...

Monday, February 14, 2005

Veggie Tales in Vail - Day 1

Valentine's (Vegantine's) Day


Our chauffeur arrived promptly to deliver us to the airport... raining in Pitt of course (I just washed the car yesterday). We actually had a good experience at the airport. We got there, got on the plane, and took off with virtually no waiting.


The longest wait of the day was at the Hertz desk to get our car. Drive to Vail was nice, although poorly signed... 120 miles from Denver to the 'Dump' (a.k.a. Chateau Vail). We parked by the wheelchair ramp (12" deep snow on the ramp, which terminates at a flight of stairs). I then had a nice luke warm bath (that was as hot as the water got).

Wheelchair Ramp
This is a view from our room, the wheelchair ramp is to the left... can you see it?

Sunday, February 13, 2005

Veggie Tales in Vail

Preamble
Okay, well, here we go again. Tomorrow (Mon, Feb 14, 2005) Sheila and I will be going to Vail Colorado for a ski trip. As is typical prior to any vacation, I have now taken ill. Last week I was lucky enough to spend every day locked in meetings with some very ill people, who were kind enough to pass on the virus to me just in time for my vacation...

Anyway, we leave from Pittsburgh airport tomorrow morning... skiing on Tues, Wed, Thu and return on Friday. We'll take photos and log any 'items of interest'.