Ski Week Part 1

I have another few minutes as the kids just finished lunch and are watching Curious George. This has become a daily tradition. However, it's a short show so...

I wanted to write a little story about our recent ski week as I think it was the best one we've ever had. We've been going every February for the last 11 years to Avon, CO at the foot of Beaver Creek Mountain. We purchased a timeshare there and have used it every year since...

This trip started off a little rocky. First, it seemed I was a little more stressed than normal getting everything packed and loaded. We got out earlier than usual - about 4:30pm. We made it to Denver to stop for gas and when we tried to leave the gas station we couldn't get the van into gear. We played with it for about 30 minutes then started calling AAA and tow companies and any auto place that would be open on a Sunday. No luck.

Vance got the idea to call our neighbor Randy. Randy got on the computer and looked up the make and model of our van along with the issue and found out that if your turn the key in the ignition to just before the lights come on you can pass the fail-safe mechanism and put the van into gear. You have to put it into neutral and then you can start the van. IT WORKED! You should have heard Vance thanking Randy. Randy said to thank Bing (a search engine - for all you non-computer types :).

We would have arrived at our "vacation house" before 8pm if all had gone well, but we arrived just before 10pm. Everyone was really tired, but really excited. The first thing all the "littles" did was take of all their clothes and hop in one of the jacuzzi tubs. The first thing Glen and Ryan did was turn on the TV because there was cable. We finally got off to bed and it was a good night sleep. Everyone slept well - even Tristan.

The next morning we decided that Glen and Ryan should try skiing by themselves. They have the 5th and 6th grade school of shred which allows them to ski for free. So, they took the Gondola and were gone all day. They said they had a great time. This was the first time they've ever done anything like that. I was amazed.

I had decided that instead of packing up our whole house that the previous week at home I would try to use up as much food as possible so I could do our "regular" grocery shopping up in Avon instead of having to pack it and take it with us. So, I spent Monday shopping at the local Kroger store then went to Burger King to brought it "home". I also had some other errands: post office and Sports Authority. I felt like a regular local.

When I got back to the condo I put all the groceries away, unpacked all the clothes and got everything prepared for the week.

I think that enough for part one...look above for some pictures from our ski week.