traveldiary.stracke.us

On Saturday, January 2nd, we are up at 5:30 AM. The Alamo shuttle bus is right there and drops us off in front of the United curbside check-in desk at the Denver airport. Great service! My back is happy for not having to carry our skis through the terminal. We wish Carsten a good flight. He is on American to Dallas and Newark, we fly United to Chicago and Albany. We make record time through security, and 30 minutes later are at our gate. Now we have 2 hours left: United 910 is delayed, waiting for our crew to come from another flight. We have breakfast at “Vive La France”, but the Eggs Benedict at home are much better. We fly to Chicago, while Carsten is on his way to Dallas. In Chicago we have another delay. Our Airbus A319 is leaving for Albany, but on the taxiway returns to the gate: one of the on-board computers is not working properly! Back in the terminal, we call Carsten. He is stuck in the Dallas airport: a security breach closed down Newark airport. We get a different plane in Chicago and arrive in Albany at 7:30 PM, about 4 hours late.
We celebrate our return home with a good dinner at “Shane’s Rib Shack”. One more vacation day at home, before we have to go back to work!

On Monday, December 28, we wake up with sunny blue skies and a view of the slopes of Beaver Creek. I check in with my CME meeting at the Creekside Resort, and then Gabi, Carsten and I hit the slopes. It is packed powder and we ski Beaver Creek, Bachelor Gulch and Arrowhead. Lunch is at the “Broken Arrow” Restaurant. In the afternoon, our legs need a break and we take the “Leav the Beav” trail back to “The Landing”, where the shuttle bus picks us up. The hot tub feels good after a day on the “hill”!
The next days are a repeat performance, because it is so good!
We ski on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday at Beaver Creek, Friday at Vail. On Wednesday, we get 13 inches of new snow. Thursday is a great powder day on the slopes. Gabi spoils us with dinners in the condo and we only go out to dinner twice this week. On the 30th, we celebrate New Year’s Eve one day early and drive through the snow to “The Gashouse” in Edwards. There are many animal heads on the restaurant walls, and now I can tell once again the difference between an elk and a moose. We just don’t see them that often in Upstate New York.
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