Hello from Avon, Colorado! It is cold. COLD. Cold. In my life I have had very limited experience dealing with temperatures below freezing, and it shows. I am cold.
It was not a good day for travel. Jose’s name is on the watch list, so he can never print out his boarding pass ahead of time. Jen and Gavin and I all had boarding passes, but Jose was given some kind of standby ticket and told he’d have to get his seat assignment at the gate. Well, as it turned out, United oversold our flight to Denver by an absurd amount — something like 40 seats. With Gavin and Jen already on the plane, and after much hassle, Jose got a seat and finally we flew away.
The weather was gorgeously sunny today (though, as previously mentioned, cold) and the drive was beautiful. We had more than enough time to enjoy the mountain views because traffic on I-70 from Denver all the way to Vail moved at an average of about 35 mph. Things picked up after the Eisenhower tunnel, but the expected two-hour drive turned into almost four.
Finally we arrived at the lodge, but the front desk could only find the reservation for one of our two condos, not both. More stressing, but thankfully it was resolved quickly — somehow they found Gavin’s name and we made it in.
Jose and I picked up our skis, we hit the grocery store (only to discover later that our condo has no stove or burner), and had dinner in Vail Village. Tomorrow we’ll be hitting the slopes of Beaver Creek, which should be fun because they have lots of green runs. I hope the feeling of being on skis comes back to me quickly and I don’t have to spend all day on the bunny hill!