For the last couple years the four of us always head up to Vermont after Christmas. It is a time to just unwind from the intensity of the holiday and just escape from life if only for a moment. Our Vermont trip was also a landmark because it was the first family trip that I could recall that Sa and I were allowed to bring friends along for the experience. Sure, there are many running jokes that have resulted from this and I know I will never forget the night that one of my friends got too drunk and screamed how he hated us all, but that is what vacations are all about… right? Anyways, the convoluted point that I am trying to reach is that this year it was just the four of us, no friends, no internet, and more family time then any of us had been expecting in quite a while.
No story about our trips to Vermont would be complete without mentioning the Monopoly incident. I guess it has already been two years, but Vermont seems to be one of the only times that we actually get together to play board games. Monopoly already has an infamous history as being a game of contention, but we always have to take it to the next level. A few years back we were all playing and the game as predicted started to get heated, yet I don’t think any of us saw it going so far. The climax of the game was when my dad told me to “Eat sh*t and die!” Luckily no such outburst happened this year, but another such blasphemous event occurred, Sa won. I guess I should give credit when it is due; she did play like a true mogul and bought up every property she came upon and then just held with an iron-fist and refused to make any trades or deals.
Beyond our normal game nights we drove up to Vermont with the blizzard of the year nipping at our heels. Reports said that we were due from anywhere up to two feet of snow and winds of over 50mph… exciting right? We did miss all the snow on the drive up and it was nice to just get into the house, start up a fire and watch the snow come down.
This year was a relaxing trip and what better way to kick things off then just sitting around with the fire roaring, a good movie on, and playing with the dogs. I of course was excited to hit the slopes the next day and was having fantasies of getting in a day as close as possible to the fabled powder out west. Well, who would think you could actually get too much snow? I woke up the following day the world covered in two feet of snow, but the real problem was the wind. It was already freezing outside and rumor is with the wind chill the temperature dropped to -15 degrees. Ok, I love skiing, but I guess this would be a little much and to make it worse the winds were closing down many of the lifts. Alright, I concede it wouldn’t have had the best day of skiing, but it is a form of torture to have all this snow and know that I couldn’t yet go out and tackle it. Just to give you an idea about the quantity of snow I brought the dogs out in the morning and through both Bailey and Tibby straight into the powder. 
I’ll admit, snowshoeing was never something I wanted to do, but it was a blast. It doesn’t take much practice and we just did a loop around a golf-course, but it was surprisingly fun.
Traveling to Vermont is a time for all of us to just relax and recharge our batteries. We all take this charge rather seriously and commit to it in our own manners. I like to be active in any possible winter sport, while my mom and sister prefer to be around the house or go into the small villages. Luckily I was able to get out with my dad the following day to Stratton Mountain. 
It was still pretty windy out and I was grateful we didn’t go out the previous day. There was still some powder left, but on the steeper, exposed slopes most of the new snow was already pushed aside. For me the conditions were perfect, but since an injury a few years ago my dad had been struggling. We got in several good runs in the morning, but I headed off on my own that afternoon to really start pouring in the runs and hit the moguls and double diamonds. That night we all came together again and headed out for a sleigh ride. Again, not something I ever really imagined doing, but it was a lot of fun. There is something magical about just heading out into the blackness of the night. It was a one horse sleigh and even had the bells to boot. The ride brought us out to a sugar shack and even a roaring bonfire.
As quickly as our trip started it was already coming to an end. It had been a busy couple days and absolutely perfect. Yet, we still had one more morning at the house and I was able to convince my mom to take me out and finally go cross-country skiing. I figured I can do most other things, so how hard can it be? Well, turns out that cross-country skiing is not like walking and downhill skiing combined. I was dripping sweat and my mom only hung around for the first kilometer. Again, I got ditched by one of my parents and decided to head out alone. For my first time I believe I held my own and I did about 10km. Perhaps the best part of my cross-country experience was that while I was busy playing in the snow the rest of the family was back at the house packing and cleaning.
The trip had come to a close and it was time to head back home. I still had about four days in the United States but that rising sense of dread began to dredge up about going back to Nicaragua. Luckily, I still had plenty of distractions, we were heading to visit my cousins in Glastonbury to keep Christmas going and New Years was just right around the corner.
What a Great lil synopsis of our trip! You forgot to mention I wont... every game we played :)
ReplyDelete