Time for a rest!

On Monday, we celebrated Riley’s 9th birthday here in the mountains. At his request, he and Shawn took a 2-hour snowmobile tour across the continental divide between two mountain peaks at 12,800ft. Although they encountered blizzard conditions and could barely see the sled in front of them, they both had a great time. Riley enjoyed the change to ride a mini snowmobile on the meadow. The rest of the day was pretty low key with a visit to the pool and hot tub and a trip to the movies to see Alice and Wonderland. The kids loved the movie and it was nice to do something familiar and relaxing!

Yesterday, we had our first day that did not go as planned. After taking Monday off, we were all excited to spend another day on the slopes and rose early for our first day at Vail. It was a beautiful drive and since there had been some fresh snow, conditions were lovely. Unfortunately, with the exception of Riley who seems to have limitless energy, the rest of us had legs that just refused to work. After riding a snow machine for two hours with Riley in front, Shawn’s knees were very sore. My feet and ankles, unused to the moguls, had still not recovered from camp and decided to cramp up after only a couple runs and Braedon simply seemed to lack energy. As a result, we called it a day after only a couple hours and headed home to soak in the hot tub, where friendly locals told us that at this altitude, two days of skiing followed by one day of rest is the magical combination. I think we will take that advice from now on!

After our experience yesterday, we decided to take today as a day of rest, and rather than simply hang out, indulged Braedon’s idea to visit the Country Boy Mine.It was a grand adventure! After arriving and signing up for the tour, we were able to walk 1400ft down an add-it into an old gold mine that was in operation from the late 1800s until 1948. The walls were solid rock, the planked floors wet and muddy, and the exceptional tour guide was able to explain to us all about what it must have been like to mine 10 hours a day by the light of a single candle. To our horror, we found out that due to black lung disease, the average life span of a hard rock miner at the turn of the century was only about 5 years! The kids had an amazing time, even getting to play the role of “Blast Monkeys”, and ended the tour by panning for gold. Unfortunately, we didn’t strike it rich, but it was a great day nonetheless.

Tomorrow, we head to Beaver Creek for our first day of skiing. The locals tell us that it is a very family oriented resort, with the reputation of having the best customer service in North America, and a tradition of serving hot fresh-baked cookies to visitors each day at 3pm. It should be a great day!

Tammy