So call me crazy. As I type, the northeast corridor is being pummeled and plummeted by Winter Storm Jonas and I am on a plane to Vail. Life as a pilot's wife is never boring. Yesterday, we were watching all day news reports about the impending storm and the thousands of flight cancellations. I can only be grateful he was at home at the time. As I shared with my mother who called to inquire as to his whereabouts...I told her the only threat he had at the moment was tripping over the cat as he was pouring coffee in the kitchen. Then the famous bling of the cell phone....flights coming into open time. Flights into the northeast were cancelled but MIA was business as usual. The bling led to a phone call from scheduling. He got a flight assignment to Vail, Colorado. So here I am....30,000 feet in the air and headed to snowy Colorado for a short twenty-four hour layover. I jokingly referred to this trip as SnowmaGETTIN!A fellow crew member who rented a car generously offered us a ride and we were on our way to Beaver Creek Ski Village. He was off to ski....we were off to eat. After a short walkabout in the ski village, we stopped for a warm lunch at the Golden Eagle Inn. Now, if I can eat something that I can't eat at home, I will...today was no exception. For lunch we shared a Mountain Game Burger...made with buffalo, venison, wild boar, elk and antelope served with a side of parmesan garlic fries. It was just one of things I needed to try. After stuffing our face, we were back out to the slopes to watch the skiers. I used to ski but thanks to a crash and burn fall in '95, I retired my skis. Now I just enjoy watching all the brave souls hit the slopes while I warm up at on outside fit pit. Sadly, I was on the lookout for celebrity chef Richard Blais (of Top Chef fame). All the tickets for the culinary weekend events were sold out but there was always a chance that I could run into him. No such luck.
I was given some insider information prior to my arrival. At 3PM everyday something special happens here at Beaver Creek....a team of chefs emerge with plates of steaming, hot and gooey chocolate chips cookies for all the skiers. Now the only way to describe this is that it was an onslaught of skiers trying to grab a morsel of homemade deliciousness from a man in a chef hat all at the same time. Like bees to honey. They were that good. So good we went back for seconds.  |
| Score! |
Another travel tip (from the flight crew) that I did not take advantage of this time was to keep my boarding pass. Apparently, if you show your current day boarding pass at the ticket window you can get onto the lifts for free! Who knew?! Now, remember our new friend who was skiing? This was the photo he texted from the top. I should have braved the lift! That's us...comfortably at the bottom of the hill.
 | ||
Photo courtesy of J. Anderson
|
And just like that, the clock ticks down. Twenty four hours goes by quickly and I am already headed back to the airport for my flight home. Beautiful, majestic blue skies, white powdered mountain tops, great food and cozy accommodations...I will be back for sure and a little longer next time.
 |
| #GoodinsOnTheGo |
No comments:
Post a Comment