The meal was a success with good food and good company. We took the free bus to Vail and resisted telling the numerous young ladies, who were done up to the nines and wearing short skirts, open toed shoes etc., that they would be wise to take a coat as it was very cold. Getting old – us?
The fairy-light salesman had been doing his stuff and Vail was alight with lights everywhere which made it look very festive, and the crowds and Police (both real and Community) were out in force and in good spirits. A curfew for people under 17 and not with their parents was in force, and those over 21 had to carry ID in order to buy drinks, which is a bit big brotherish but the effect was that there was no vomiting in waste bins or worse. This would have been quite untenable as Vail is obviously an extremely monied place. In one shop we gawped at three full-length fur coats, a White Mink, a Black Persian Lamb and a Sable. One was a snip at $14,000. What fur embargo we asked ourselves while admitting that they were exquisitely beautiful. The other clue as to the level of income of the residents, or at least those who can afford to buy or build Chalets in ski-in ski-out locations, is that they are able to pay the cost of between $3m - $7m.
We had the meal and waited in a bar with some huge Cointreaus until 12.00 came around, then watched a pretty desultory firework display (or maybe we only caught the last of it), then got the bus back to Avon. Our guests experienced a refreshing burst of adolescent mischief and insisted on climbing onto the stampeding stallion statues in the middle of one of the roundabouts and having photos taken for their face-book. How childish, but what fun. So 2010 starts, it seems like only yesterday that we were celebrating the Millennium. Ah well – tempus fidget.
Sue finally went to the Doc’s and has been diagnosed with torn shoulder ligaments and badly bruised deltoids (I think those are the ones that run to the shoulder blade and operate UP on the arm). Still painful but with regular anti-inflammatories and regular exercises the prognosis is good.
We have had another example of the problems of America’s Tipiquette. Our guests have been trying different resorts and went to Aspen where they stopped on the outskirts for a coffee and a bun (cookie probably). Anyway when they paid and left, they left a fairly standard 15% tip. The owner thanked them and added very politely that he would like to save them embarrassment by telling them that in Aspen the expected tip is 80%! I asked the guests if they would have been embarrassed and was assured that that was NOT a possibility. I know there is a legal minimum wage and also that in the service industry it’s less than in other industries because they are assumed to get tips, but this really does seem crazy when the bill is expected to nearly double from that shown / advertised.
With Sue hors de combat I have been skiing solo and set off just after Christmas. I had trouble finding a carparking space and had to drive around to three different car parks before finding a space. Then a 100m walk / stump in my ski boots to the bus which took me to Beaver Creek and the bottom of the slopes. After tacking up (tightening boots, putting on balaclava and helmet, doing up inner and outer jacket, removing and stashing glasses, putting on skis, gloves and snow goggles) I was set and moved up to the ski lift anticipating a good day’s skiing. Not so young (?) man – ‘your pass is invalid’.
We have a season pass which allows access to all the slopes in the valley so I was less than pleased. However after a radio call to the ticket office, it was confirmed – the passes we have are not valid for Dec 27 – Jan 2 and Feb 13 – 14 (President’s weekend). After a certain amount of teeth grinding I then un-tacked (see above) and stumped back for the bus and thence the car park and so home. Rats! I attacked the ice in the drive instead.
While we have been here Hannah has been living in our Flat. Unfortunately this has coincided with the Aga dying and the coldest snap in recent memory. Poor girl has been freezing and to cap it all, she had been organizing a meal for the children and several friends for New Year’s Eve. A potential disaster but I’m proud to say that they overcame the problems by hiving out the leg of lamb to be cooked by one neighbour and the vegetables with another etc etc, and eventually had a super meal. Thanks neighbours and well done kids.
We have gone techno and installed Skype which is wonderful as we can now chat with the kids for hours so long as we get the time difference (+7 hours) right. It is pretty uncanny speaking and seeing them in real-time but bittersweet at the same time as it is after all only an electronic contact.
We are bemused by the TV programmes. Adverts every 10 mins and such an array of rubbish spread over 69 channels! There are channels for every taste and some tastes are pretty strange. There is a ‘Mock the Week’ equivalent and the penny dropped that all the presenters and celebrity guests are real people pretending to be cartoon characters. They seem to take a characteristic and extrapolate it to the extreme in order to stand out from the others who are also desperately trying to be noticeable. Wild or huge hair, loud makeup and voices, it’s quite exhausting watching. It would seem that nearly every woman over 40 has been under the knife and Sue has coined a phrase for them as we play ‘spot the Frankinette’. They seem a world away from the kind, genuine people who have been unfailingly polite and courteous we meet every day in shops or on the slopes. I think there are two populations living here, separated by a thin layer of glass.
One thing that I approve of is the local radio station. Apart from local weather and local news, the music seems to feature wall to wall medium heavy rock and in particular Bob Segar who, as those who are familiar with him will know, is a relatively local boy hailing from Denver.
We went to see the film Invictus and were very impressed. Morgan Freeman should win an Oscar for his portrayal of Nelson Mandela while Matt Damon was an excellent Francois Pienaar who captained the South African Rugby team to its World Cup Success in 1995. As it was at a time of rebirth for the Nation, it took on, with President Mandela’s intervention, a highly significant Political element as it united the different factions in a way that nothing else could have done. Very good support acting, good rugby scenes and Damon managing to show Pienaar’s realization of the significance of what was happening on the field and its effects off it, in a very convincing way. My only reservation was a wandering cut t hat Damon sustained during the final which moved from his right to his left cheek. But a very good and illuminating film nevertheless.
We took a trip to Eagle to have a nose around and found a twin town within a town. There was a genuinely old (est, 1904) Main Street with shops and houses with filmic-looking fronts, all made of wood, and a new-build housing complex of condominiums(ae?) built within the last ten years and looking brand new, clean and still with sharp edges. Fortunately there was a separation zone of about ½ mile between the two but it highlighted the two halves. There has been a further potential split with a proposal to build a mega shopping Mall with extra houses, Hotels and Restaurants in the area between the two and a vigorous debate has be promulgated through the media. Voting was on Jan 5th and I think I am relieved that the idea was bombed out.
In the old town we stopped at 'The Nearly Everything Shop'. In a small town (pop.1200) there is a niche for the everything shop and this was it. Snacks, souvenirs, children’s toys and games, books and magazines, maps and tourist guides, 9mm handguns and ammunition, and a stuffed mountain lion. All human life is here although not quite as we know it -Jim.
We went out of town cruising the highway and turned up what was an inviting side-road covered in snow. We drove for about an hour at a gingerly pace of about 20mph and wound our way up what we discovered later was called Hardscrabble Mountain. Magnificent views and thickening snow were our rewards. I wonder if this was one of the westward routes through / over the mountains hereabouts, because it was tricky enough with four-wheel drive, and it must have been even worse with four-hoof drive - hence the name.
The local builder was in measuring up for a new kitchen and various other jobs and I mentioned the animal tracks in the garden wondering what there was in the was of local wildlife. He said that I may be interested to know that one of the piles of debris currently frozen and buried by snow in the garden is a pile of bear poo!. Apparently this bear (or Bayah) broke into a shed down the road, lifted a 56 lb bag of feed, carried it down the road to our garden and proceeded to eat it – all! He understandably felt full and left a deposit which is still there. I await the spring with interest.
Sue is still careful about eating cheese and I thought it might be nice to show how to go about making joint meals, in this case a Pizza.
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