I'm writing this as I sit in San Jose airport waiting to board our flight back to JFK. There is no internet here though, so this will be posted after I've already returned home.
I slept poorly last night as I was awoken at 2:30am by my ankles burning. Apparently, I got attacked by mosquitoes last night, probably while at La Luna or on the walk back from La Luna. Either way, I blame La Luna. Luckily I had some Benadryl and After Bite with me which helped relieve some of the itchiness and I fell back asleep.
We slept late today, waking up at 8am. Mike ventured to the bank to get some cash, since we had run out and needed to pay our taxi drivers to the airports. We thought we had planned how much cash to bring perfectly but we did not anticipate that the zip line tour from the fourth day would be a cash only experience. That set us back a bit.
We packed, read in the shade, and generally lazed about, enjoying the last few hours of our vacation. We had lunch at Beach Dog Cafe again and I finally got that steak sandwich (for the record, it was not as good as the chicken sandwich). We stopped by Surfing Nosara to check out our surfing action shots. There were some great captures so we bought a DVD of our 202 photos. A handful of them are definitely frame worthy!
We took showers to get off all the residual sun block and dust, settled our bill, and took a taxi to Nosara airport. The flight again offered great views of the country and we were smart enough to sit in the exit row this time for extra leg room. And that brings us up to this point, as I sit in San JoseInternationalAirport writing this.
When we get home I can finally upload some videos to youtube to share with you here.
Today was our last full day in Costa Rica. Sad face. We woke up even earlier today for our lessons, which was awesome!
Surfers Log: Quinto Dia
We arrived for our last lesson with Oscar at 7:30am (bad vacationers, up so early). We had new surfboards again today, smaller ones. I'm now on a 7'10" board. We paddled out right away. Ugh, paddling is tiring! But completely necessary (unless your getting towed by a jet ski like that girl in Blue Crush). Mike did not do so well today. He didn't have any great rides, quite a bit of wipe outs, and got stuck in the impact zone quick a few times for quite a while (ouch). I on the other hand, did really well. I caught one gorgeous wave early on. I paddled out, dropped in, and turned left (because I like to be difficult) and rode the wave halfway to the beach before I realized I'd have to paddle all the way out again. I caught two more waves and wiped out on both pretty quickly, but I am definitely improving which is the important thing. I'm sad that our lessons are over. I don't usually enjoy waking up early... OK let's be real, I am not a nice person in the morning, but for this vacation waking up early was a lot easier because I had something completely awesome to look forwards to.. SURFING. The next time we are in Nosara we will definitely be calling Coconut Harry's and Oscar!
Getting up...
Dropping in...
Riding the wave...
The other highlight of our day today was getting massages, much needed massages. We went to SpaCio down the road from Casa Romantica. I don't know if it was because I was so sore from all the surfing or that the masseuse was really fabulous, but this was one of the top four massages of my life. The downside was that there were some really loud kids playing the pool right outside the window of my massage room. Oh well. I still feel a lot better after the rub down.
Then we headed to dinner at La Luna in neighboring Playa Palada. We walked there via the beach and arrived just in time for sunset which was gorgeous. The food was OK, but I must say that the best dinner we've had has been at the hotel! Because we were right on the beach and sitting outside on the yard, it got buggy very quickly. Mosquitoes love me but it's definitely a one sided relationship. We started the walk home but now it was dark, and even with our flashlights we were turned around and lost. After trying to find out way back on the beach and stumbling across tons of creepy crawly hermit crabs, we then found ourselves in an abandoned hotel being attacked by no less than four guard dogs. Luckily the caretaker rescued us and we conversed in broken Spanish until we figured out how to get back to Playa Guiones. Ahhhh adventure.
On the way to Playa Palada on Playa Guiones
The end of Playa Guiones
The beginning of Playa Palada
Our bed/table at La Luna
The view from La Luna
Adios Sol!
Twilight
And now here we are, enjoying an Imperial by the pool on our last night in Costa Rica. Tomorrow it's back to NYC.
Our Qinto Dia in Costa Rica and our schedule remains the same. Eat, surf, sun, eat some more, sun some more, eat some more, sleep. Nice. I'll spare you the boring details from today, as it's more of the same. But, I did take a lot of nice pictures of the beach and of our hotel. I also have some awesome surf pictures that I stole from Nosara Shack and Surfing Nosara on facebook.
Ok I lied, there will be some details. Last night's dinner at Harbor Reef was pretty good. We got a salad that had hearts of palm in it, mi favorito, and got a half Hawaiian half meat lover's pizza. The food was good and somehow our bill ended up being only $25, which was a welcome surprise. There were a couple of starving stray cats lurking in the restaurant and I felt incredibly sorry for them as I was missing my own sweet Whsitler Kitten so I fed them some meat off the meat lover's pizza. That made them very happy.
Surfers Log: Cuarto Dia
Today, Oscar took us out to catch REAL WAVES! Yup, no more white water for us intermediate surfers! Of course, it took us 45 minutes just to paddle past the breaking waves (we are scared wimps I tell ya) and then another 15 minutes for Oscar to convince us to catch waves, that we wouldn't fall, and that we wouldn't break any bones like I was convinced we were going to. I usually hate when I am wrong but this time I am so happy that I was! Oscar told me to paddle for a wave. I did. I felt it catch the board. I felt the drop. I stood up. I rode the wave! I RODE THE WAVE! OMG I RODE THE WAVE! Words cannot adequately describe that feeling, when you know you've caught the wave all by yourself and you managed not to fall and break any bones. I eventually did fall (inevitable) but when I came up I saw Mike had caught a wave too! The look on his face was priceless. I was so glad to see him having such a fantastic time. We were ready to paddle out for more but we had been such nervous ninnies for so long that we were out of time! Tomorrow my friends, tomorrow. Tomorrow I will catch multiple awesome waves and I will not be a big baby about it.
Oscar at the shop this morning, getting the boards ready. He looks so cool in his shades.
For lunch we went to Rosi's Soda Tica again and it was still delicious and cheap. We stopped by Cafe de Paris for breakfast tomorrow, since we are having a supermegaearly lesson tomorrow that starts before the hotel breakfast is served. We spent the rest of the afternoon on the beach soaking up the sun and reading books. We are good vacationers.
We decided on dinner at Casa Romantica tonight since the forecast called for rain, and we didn't want to get stuck in it walking to or from a restaurant. The food was excellent! I don't know why we waited so long to eat here. We stayed at our table for almost two hours enjoying each others company over good food and a glass of wine. Mary Lou and JC, our courteous hosts took good care of us, as always.
Tomorrow is our last day of surfing lessons. To reward ourselves afterwards we are getting massages and going out for a nice dinner in Playa Palada.
Until then...
Catching a baby wave on my beginner foam board
"Styling" according to Oscar... "Concentrating" according to me
Mike catching a baby wave on his foam board
Heading out for some waves on real surfboards! We are gnarly.
We found a scorpion in our shower! It was dead, but still...
The gorgeous jungle path from the hotel to the beach.
The water from the jungle path.
Playa Guiones in the morning.
A really awesome tree on Playa Guiones
The cemetery at Playa Guiones, not a bad place to spend eternity.
A photographer catching the surfers.
Casa Romantica!
See the iguana?
Surfboards at the entrance to the jungle walk at the hotel.
Lounging at the beach, covered in sunscreen, with our rented chairs from Coconut Harry's.
Today we started the day in our typical way, breakfast at the hotel and our surf lesson.
Surfers Log - Tercer Dia
When we were arriving at Coconut Harry's from the jungle path we heard and saw a howler monkey! He was hanging on a tree branch over the road. We were literally only ten feet away from him. It was totally awesome. Today we got real surfboards! And by real, I mean the kind that don't have a foam top. Score! Double score that I could actually carry the board all by myself (those foam boards are HEAVY). Oscar took us out into some rough water so that we could get comfortable in various conditions. He taught us how to turtle roll, which is my new favorite maneuver. You grab the board with your feet and forearms and roll over so the bottom of the board faces up, perpendicular to the wave so it washes right over you. This is much easier for me than pushing up on the board, but that's my weak upper body strength at work (or not). We practiced everything we've been working on; popping up, catching our own white water, and turning with the "real" surfboard which was so fun. At the end of the lesson Oscar told us we were good students. I told him he was a good teacher. We agreed to compromise that we were both good in our respective roles. Only two more surf lessons left. :(
After the surf lesson we came back to the hotel and went to the beach via the jungle path for an hour of relaxing. Then it was off to lunch at Beach Dog Cafe, right next to Coconut Harry's. The prices here were a bit high for lunch ($30 for two sandwiches and two smoothies) but their location is right off a beach path and the food is really ridiculously delicious. I ordered the chili lime steak sandwich and Mike ordered the sweet chili chicken sandwich with slaw, so that we could both have a half of each sandwich. Unfortunately, our waitress got the order wrong and brought two chicken sandwiches. Though they were delicious, we were disappointed that we didn't get to the the steak sandwich.
To vary up our routine, we decided to do an adventure activity today! We signed up for the the afternoon zip line with Miss Sky. We did a zip line last year in Monteverde which was super fun, but it was raining when we went so we got very muddy and lots of rain pelts in the face, no so pleasant. This time our zip line was sunny and hot. The participants and guides ride in the back of a truck (like a hayride) up to the location of the first zip line from the office. We then took 13 zip lines over valleys and a river. The guides were jokesters and pranksters but they did make sure we were safe and having a good time. On the drive back down to the office we saw two howler monkey families! SO COOL! This would be the third time we saw monkeys on our trip (the first was on our first day walking to Coconut Harry's).
All Geared Up!
The view from the drop off point, a little overcast but you can see the water.
Me getting ready to go!
Two of our hilarious guides.
One of the howlers.
A family of howlers.
When we got back to the hotel we had a snack of chips and salsa and enjoyed a refreshing dip by the pool. Now we are showered and clean and ready to go to dinner at Harbor Reef. I will let you know how it is!
Before we head to dinner, in matching and very trendy cobalt blue.
Another lovely day in Costa Rica! Day Three was pretty identical to Day Two, gotta love vacation!
We started the morning with breakfast at the hotel and then walked to Coconut Harry's for our second surf lesson with Oscar!
Surfers Log - Segundo Dia
Today we learned how to turn! There are right hand waves and left hand waves so you need to know how to turn on the wave so you can ride it as far as possible. Mike and I are both regular footed, which means that our left foot is in front while riding. Typically, for regular footed riders, right turns are easier because you can see the wave whereas left turns are more difficult. Of course, I decided that I preferred left turns, hah! This lesson was really tiring and we ended 10 minutes early. Like in skiing, all accidents happen when you are tired! Better safe than sorry.
After the surf lesson we returned to Casa Romantica and sat by the pool until lunch time. For lunch we went to Rosi's Soda Tico for some good casados. This is by far the most economical lunch we have had with two casados and two bottles of water for only $16! The fish I ordered was amazing!
On the way back to the hotel we stopped by a mini super to get some bottles of water and snacks for the hotel room. Then we went to the beach for a couple of hours in the afternoon and lazed about before getting ready for dinner.
For dinner we went to Cafe de Paris. The food here was excellent! We ordered a large green salad, chiptole shrimp, and tagliatelle with shrimp which was by far the best. The menu was a little pricey, but at least the quality of food was reflected in the price. Another bonus to this restaurant was that they served bread with garlic aioli. This is the first restaurant we have been to that offers some sort of bread for the table to start with, and it was much appreciated. By the time we left the restaurant was really busy.
Once again we came back to the hotel and went to sleep to prepare for our next day in paradise.
On our second day in Costa Rica we surfed, ate, lazed about, ate some more, and went to sleep.
We woke up bright and early on Easter Sunday, ate breakfast at our hotel (included in the price), then headed down the beach to Coconut Harry's by the beach to meet our surf instructor for the next week, Oscar.
Surfers Log - Dia Uno
Oscar took us and our soft top beginner boards down to the beach for the start of our lesson. The first 20 minutes or so of the lesson was the three of us sitting in the sand discussing safety rules, waves, and winds. Then we practiced some "pop-ups" on our beached boards before heading out into the water. Once we were in the water all that theory gets put to practice. We were catching the white water and practicing our pop-ups with assists from Oscar just fine. Then we moved onto catching our own white water and listening to Oscar's coaching about when to stop paddling and stand up. This didn't go so well at first, but we did get better as the lesson went on. By the end of the 90 minute lesson we were both catching our own white water and standing up with the coaching of Oscar to tell us when.
After the lesson we went back to Casa Romantica and ate cold leftover pizza because we were starving after all that surfing. We got dressed and headed up to Coconut Harry's main shop to talk to Steve, whom I have been having an email correspondence with for the weeks before we arrived, to set up some other activities like zip lining and snorkeling. Then we walked back down to Coconut Harry's by the beach to get some beach chairs to rent for the week. We stopped by our room and then walked down the jungle pathway to the beach with our chairs, towels, and books in hand where we relaxed for a few hours enjoying the sun and surf.
Playa Guiones is one of the most gorgeous beaches I've ever visited, and I've been to many beaches! The beach is a 5km long crescent with no houses or hotels directly on the beach. 170 acres of land in Nosara is considered a Green Zone and cannot be built on, i.e. is preserve. This makes for a lovely beach environment and awesome jungle trails to the beach and between sections of the town. Our hotel is the closest you can get to the beach and has an awesome jungle pathway leading directly to the beach lined with hibiscus and cacti where butterflies and lizards can often be seen.
People on Nosara Beach
After our relaxing late morning on the beach we walked to KayaSol for lunch. I was jonesing for a salad and theirs hit the spot. Mike ordered the fish tacos and I got the grilled chimichanga, both of which were excellent. So far this is our favorite lunch stop.
For the rest of the afternoon we lazed around the hotel pool reading and drifted in and out of sleep determined to be the best beach vacationers ever. Soon we started to feel like a couple of lazy lugs so we ventured to the beach for a sunset walk (I like long walks on the beach at sunset). We worked our glutes and admired the high tide surfers wondering why we weren't as good as they were yet.
Nosara Beach at Sunset
Before we knew it we were hungry for dinner. We showered and walked to Beach Dog Cafe only to find that it was closed for the Easter holiday. Venturing up the road in search of something open, we heard live music and came upon Casa Tucan. The food was nothing spectacular and we were definitely ripped off by the bar ($5 for a local beer on tap!) but the live music was nice, there were lots of other people around, and we were grateful to have found some place open.
The "hippie ex-pat" two man band
Back to the hotel we went and collapsed into bed, sleepy as anything from all that sun and surf, to rest up for our morning surf lesson.
Every time I explore Italy I am introduced to a place I have never been before. Italy is such a huge country, and even though this is my fifth visit here, I still have not seen all of what there is to see in this beautiful country.
When you think of Tuscany, you think of hills covered with vineyards, olive groves, and sunflower fields, correct? Me too, you are not alone. But, today, for the first time I was introduced to a part of Tuscany that I had never seen before, the Marremma region of Tuscany.
We first ventured to a seaside village by name of Talamonte at the very tip of a tiny peninsula where there is a beautiflu cape and harbor to go along with it. Of course there is a very old walled village as wel, where every apartment has a view of the sea. Net, we ventured south to a mountain named Argrentario off the western coast that is conneted to the mainland with three thin strips of land that form lagunas in between them. On the northern coast of the island is Porto San Stefano where we stopped for lunch overlooking the harbor. Then we ventured to the East of the Island and marveled at Porto Ercole which is guarded by two forts on two hills overlooking the harbor. Luckily it is the off season in Marremma which meant less tourists to navigate through and less seagulls to worry about becoming roadkill.
After exploring the coastal marinas at Monte Argentario, we drove uphill to the little midieval mountail villages with spectacular views of the Mediterranean and Isola d'Elba. We drove through Maglinao, Pereta, and Scansano, all beautiful terraced hillside towns with medieval walls and stuctured. Every time I go to Italy (or anywhere in Europe really) I am awed by how old it really is. In the United States of America we don't have structures or towns or cities half as old as the ones in Europe, and seeing them in Europe (and espeicially when I was in Isreal) reminded me of how old “civilized' human life has existed. It's really fascinating.
After returning back to the apartment in Barberino Val d'Elsa we ate dinner at a restaurant where I dined on wild boar and tagliatelle. The wild boar was caught on Sunday morning with the restaurant proprieters shotgun... The pizza chef at the restaurant, Mirko, is moving to New York City in October to move in with a friend of his and look for work. He wants to make arrugula pizza in Brooklyn just for me (or so I'd like to think), and I think I know just the place for him to create his pizza magic.
Sunday is the day of rest in Italy. Nothing is open, and I decided I would embrace the custom of doing nothing, and do nothing. I came to the Piazza in the morning and caught up on my e-mails (thanks for the comments on the recent entries!) and just as I was preparing to leave and go back to the apartment, I was approached by two American backpackers looking for a winery with an open tasting room. I explained to them that it is Sunday! and that nothing is open, but better luck next time. I told them about Bustecca down the street with yummy pasta and house wine, and they said, "Let's go!" and offered to treat me to lunch in exchange for my knowledge. Count me in.
Brandon and Nick of Reno, NV, a tattoo artist and cabinet maker respectively, both business owners, were happy to share their traveling experiences with me. Highlights so far included bar hopping in London in between flights and meeting and congregating with travelers from around the world (Poland, Canada, and Egypt) at their hostel in Tavarnelle. They are most looking forward to Oktoberfest in Munich and bathing in hot beer while drinking beer in Austria (apparently you can do that?).
Talking with them made me wish I had the guts to go backpacking through Europe. I've thought about it so many times but there is some little fear in me, I think of being alone in the big bad world. Anyone want to go with me? But seriously, I really want to go backpacking in Europe and sleep in hostel beds and carry my big back pack around and use it as a pillow on overnight trains.
If there is one thing the Italians love more than their food it is their wine. Or at least the tourists do. Today we went to the Unione Viticoltori di Panzano in Chianti other wise known as the Panzano Wine Festival. Essentially, the festival is a huge wine tasting event where intead of taveling from vineyard to vineyard to taste wine as you would do in Napa Valley, California or the North Fork of Long Island, NY, each taster purchases a wine glass with carrying pouch (think kangaroos) and hops from booth to booth tasting wines from various wineries. This festival has 17 wineries with booths, most booths have more than one wine to taste, so one person could taste about 34 wines, which equates to about seven glasses of wine in total. That's a lot of wine. And all for 12 Euro... for TWO days!
I tasted at eleven booths (I discarded lots of the tastings after one or two sips). This was my first experience of a wine tasting festival. At first I thought all the wines tasted the same, but then I was able to discern what I thought were good wines from the rest. My three favorite vineyards were: 1) Chianti Classico Reserve at Cennatoio, 2) Chianti Classico Reserve at Panzanello, 3) Rose at Vignole. For ambience, there was a band playing Pink Floyd and classic American rock'n'roll covers at the festival as well as wine inspired art painted by Luca Carfagna (with whom I am now in love with) displayed and for sale.
After the wine festival we headed to Badia a Passignano for dinner at La Cantinetta di Passignano where I must have ingested over 2,000 calories, all of which were well worth it. We started with a antipasti platter of Italian meats, cheeses, bruchettes, pates, tomatillos, jams, and arugula. For the primmi piatti we had the “Linguine Chef” which our waiter informed us was always fish based and that no matter what it was we would like. He was right. We were served fresh linguini in squid ink with tomatoes and little clams. I've always strayed from squid ink because it smells so salty in American Italian restaurants, but this was not too salty at all, it was perfect, so perfect I wouldn't let our waiter clear it from the table. For secundo piatti we had beef with fresh truffles. Oh. My. Goodness. And that is all I have to say about that.
Today was a day for my stomach, and tomorrow, with any luck, I will walk it all off. It is raining now (bad for the grapes but good for my allergies) so hopefully tomorrow will bring clear skies perfect for strolling around.
First I'd like to say, that is it so unequivolcaly Italian that the wifi hotspot in this village is at the wine bar. But of course! Where else would the proper spot be? Also, that I can't post photos from here as my memory card is not compatible with my dad's computer, but once I return to NY I will add the appropriate pictures to each entry. Until then, use your imagination.
I took the morning to explore this midieval village of Barbino that I am staying in for the week. The walled part of the town, the medieval part, is teeny tiny and takes about 10 minutes to walk a full loop. There is a front gate and a back gate to get in and out of the town. Once inside there is a church that rings it's bells every hour and half hour from 6am until midnight (do they sleep around here?), a wine bar, a little grocery shop, a library, a hair salon, a few artisanal shops, a butcher, and a baker, but no candlestick maker that I can find.
I walked outside the city walls and found the new apartments and homes all with great views of the Tuscan hills. Every diretion there is a view to die for. That's one of the things I love about Tuscany.
A few other things that I love about Tuscany are the flower pots on every balcony and doorstep in town and all the fresh laundry hanging over balconies and on lines. Every once in a while I found a little old lady (the average age here is about 80!) out watering her plants or hanging her laundry. Also these old women sweep their porches and steps what seems like all the time, trying to get rid of the never ending dust and dirt that accumulates in a midieval town. Lastly, I love the cloths that hang over the heavy wooden front doors. Since it's rare to find a European dwelling with screens on the doors and windows, these clothes supposedly keep the bugs out.
Lunch in Italy lasts from 1pm to 3pm, and all the shops are closed. Only restaurants and bars are open. I kind of feel bad for the waiters and chefs that have to work during this designated time off, but not really, because I get to eat the yummy food. Today I ordered homemade pasta in a pear and gorgonzola cream sauce for only 7.50 Euro at Bustecca. It was tutto bene! The pasta here is really something else. I'm sure it's the reason why even thin Italaian women have little soft pasta bellies. I can anticipate having one before I head back to New York. I will just have to walk it off every day, because there's no way I am going to stay away from the pasta while I am here. But it will be so worth it.
Yesterdays five vertical miles skied really took a lot out of me. I didn't want to wake up today. I would have been perfectly content to burrow under the sheets for as long as I wanted. But, with tomorrow being the last day, I knew I had to take advantage of situation.
The day stared with the three of us heading into Cole Sport with a surprise for Vic and Kyle, two of our favorite "ski bums" who work there. This past week it was both of their birthdays, Vic turning 25 and Kyle turning 20. In our family, we have a "birthday pie" tradition that started with, of course, me. I am not to keen on cake, and my mom makes the world's best apple pie, so one year I asked for birthday pie instead of birthday cake. I got a pie with my age worked into the pie crust, I think the first pie was the year I turned 20. Anyways, we decided that we would give birthday pies to Vic and Kyle that they could share with the rest of the crew at Cole Sport. We did, however, refrain from singing happy birthday because my mom can't carry a tune if it had handles on it. They were so appreciative of their birthday pies, and when we got back to the shop at the end of the day they said they enjoyed them very much. Well, who doesn't like a birthday pie?!
Vic, Mom, Kyle, Me and birthday pie!
After presenting the guys with the pies (I'm a poet and I don't even know it), we headed up the Payday lift to start our second to last day at Park City Mountain. Little to our knowledge, it had snowed four inches that morning, so we were able to get some nice fresh, soft, buttery snow. Our warm up run on Sunrise off of McConkey's lift was absolutely perfect.
The weather alternated between snowing and sunshine all day. It was mildly schizophrenic. Sometimes the snowflakes were so big and wet that we needed "windshield wipers" for our goggles. Sometimes the snow was like pellets flying at us. Other times the sun shone down on us. But, you can't worry about the weather because the weather doesn't worry about you.
Riding the Pioneer lift in the falling snow.
After skiing 15,161 vertical feet, Shane and I were feeling pretty beat up from the insanity of the previous day, so we ended a little earlier than usual. Mom was very pleased with herself that she outlasted her young energetic children. Point for Mom.
When we got back to the condo, we decided that Albert the shopping cart should be returned to the parking lot before we left to go back home. I did promise that we would return him. But, of course we couldn't resist having a photo shoot with Albert! He is quite photogenic if I do say so myself.
I went to return Albert and then of course I got sidetracked and ended up in the TJ Maxx in Redstone. I have a SERIOUS weakness for TJ Maxx like you can't even believe. I ended up with a few new purchases, one of which is a bottle of Ahava lotion from the Dead Sea in Israel. We couldn't find matzoh ball soup mix in Smith's but I found Israeli lotion in the TJ Maxx. Some things never cease to amaze me.
On the way to dinner we stopped into Jupiter Bowl, a brand spankin' new bowling alley named for the bowl at Park City Mountain that is deemed experts only. I don't think you need to be an expert bowler to go to Jupiter Bowl though. Jupiter Bowl had not only bowling lanes, but a full bar, a video arcade complete with Dance Dance Revolution, air hockey, and a photo booth (we did take a strip of photos!), pool tables, lots of TVs playing sports games, and a sit down restaurant. I definitely want to hit up Jupiter Bowl the next time I come to Park City.
For dinner we headed to the Red Rock Brewery. When we got there it was very busy with families, but the exposed ceiling and open kitchen made it feel less crowded. We got a table in the corner and enjoyed our time there without feeling like there were too many people around. But most importantly, the food at Red Rock is AMAZING. We split an order of spicy buffalo wings to start with that were finger licking good. They were even so spicy that Shane, the king of spicy, had to drink water while eating them. Mom ordered the pink trout which was so flavorful and tender. Shane ordered the chicken schnitzel. I ordered the sweet potato cannelloni. Um... YUM! It's a good thing there were only two cannellonis, because I would have kept eating them. I also ordered a Honey Wheat beer which was delicious. It gave John Harvards and Southampton Publick House brews a run for their money! Mom and Shane each ordered a Red Rock homemade cream soda which I have to admit, was ridiculously good. Mom, the queen of cream soda, said it was the best cream soda she had ever had. Now, that's saying something. I highly recommend eating at Red Rock Brewery because the food is delicious, the drinks are thirst quenching, and the price is oh so good. Dinner and drinks for the three of us cost under $70!
Shane, Mom, and Me at Red Rock Brewery.
When we returned to the condo after dinner, we walked into the garage and were upset by the absence of Albert... I guess he is with his family of other shopping carts now.
Tomorrow it's back to Park City for our last day. Shane and I are being crazies and waking up for the 8:45am Power Clinic. I don't think I'll survive very long after that. Until then...
Variety is a good thing, especially when vacationing in one place for an entire month. To add some spice to our lives, we decided to go to Snowbird today, another ski resort in the Wasatch Mountains just 12 miles from our condo. If you look at the map of Utah ski resorts, you will find they are all quite close together. In fact, from Park City Mountain you can see Deer Valley. Snowbird and Alta share a mountain, only they are on opposite sides. It's quite incredible really. And, if you think about it, with so many mountains for skiers to chose from, there is always something "new" and the mountains don't get as crowded. It's quite brilliant. Thank you Mother Nature for creating such ski conducive mountains so close together.
Unfortunately, Snowbird is not easily accessible from Park City via public transportation. To do so, one would have to take a shuttle from Park City to Salt Lake City airport and then transfer there to another bus heading to Snowbird. Being people who dance to our own drum, we decided to rent a car for the day, easy peasy. We rented online with Enterprise last week anticipating our Snowbird trip. The great thing about Enterprise is the door to door pickup. They picked us up at our condo (albeit an hour late) and took us to the rental car center. When we got there, Shane (who was driving) signed some forms, they gave us the keys, and we were off! Shane brought Mom's Garmin from home so we were able to have GPS in the car, even though it was quite easy to get to Snowbird from Park City.
To get to Snowbird from Park City, one must first go down the mountain and into Cottonwood Canyon, then back up to Snowbird. The view is absolutely breathtaking. Coming from a flat island, it always amazes me how spectacular mountain ranges are, even though I've seen them quite often in my life.
The GPS announced our arrival at Snowbird and we parked the car in the free lot and walked to Snowbird Center where there are lockers, shops, restaurants, a pharmacy, and a mini grocery store. We headed up to the top floor balcony to get Mom's ticket (we already had two discount tickets purchased from Canyon Sports) and then headed to the waiting area for the Aerial Tram which holds up to 125 people, has a vertical rise of 2,900ft (my ears popped on the way up), and is 8,935ft in length. The tram these days isn't much needed because of the added tunnel and Mineral Basin Express lift, but it's still a treat just the same. I've had my fair share of tram rides in my life. Of course I rode the tram in Jackson Hole, Wyoming last year and for the two years I lived on Roosevelt Island in NYC, I rode the tram there on a frequent basis. You might remember the Roosevelt Island tram from Spiderman 2... maybe?
Video of the two trams crossing, one goes up the other goes down.
As we were waiting for the tram I spotted a family that I recognized from the previous day at Deer Valley. Creepy? Maybe. But I distinctly remembered the two children's ski outfits because they were a glorious color of green. The "green girls" totally stuck out in a crowd, so I said "Hi" to them and we got to chatting. Then of course Mom got to chatting with them. All the chatting on the tram led to a huge photo shoot on the top of Hidden Peak at 11,000ft elevation.
The family on top of Hidden Peak
Panoramic from the top of Hidden Peak
We opted to first go down a short ways on Peruvian Gulch and then catch the "magic carpet" through the tunnel to Mineral Basin on the other side of the mountain.
Shane in the tunnel.
Riding the Magic Carpet
The tunnel is relatively new with it's completion in 2006. Mineral Basin, the "back bowl" of Snowbird is also relatively new with it's opening in 2000 just two years before the Olympics came to Salt Lake City. After we rode the magic carpet to Mineral Basin, we skied to the bottom blindly, not because of visibility, it was in fact a perfectly sunny and warm day, but because of the lack of signs and postings telling skiers where the trails were. Alas, we think we missed the run we intended to do (this happened a few times throughout the day) but all is well. We mostly wanted to explore the mountain and sample a little bit of everything. And let me say, the sampling has got me wanting more. I fully intend to spend multiple consecutive days in Snowbird in the future.
Snowbird is unlike any mountain I have ever visited. Everything is wide open, the complete opposite of The Canyons I'd like to point out. The front AND back of the mountain are in "bowl" formations, and multiple ones at that. The expanse of Snowbird is huge with 2,500 acres of ski-able terrain. One of the unique features of Snowbird is their 40 year old chair lifts. For those of you who don't ski or snowboard, this might not mean that much to you, but for those of you that do ski or snowboard, appreciate those comfortable chair lifts! Two of the lifts I rode today, Little Cloud and Gad 2, were 40 year old two seater chair lifts with seats that literally resembled beach chairs. The seats were plastic slats on a thin metal frame that had teeny tiny armrests and a completely awkward footrest (but at least it had a footrest). I actually got anxiety on these chair lifts, especially when Gad 2 stopped for 5 minutes over a huge bowl. I'm a complete wuss when it comes to chairlifts, it is true. However, I survived the chair lifts enough to continue skiing. And ski I did! We skied a total of 14,756 vertical feet. Not bad considering how much time we spent taking pictures and videos and just staring in awe at the expanse of the mountain.
Me in awe of the mountain, babbling of course.
My favorite thing about Snowbird, however, is their dedication to safety. The trail map for Snowbird is called a "Trail Map and Safety Guide". They have a poster at every lift stating the Skier Responsibility Code. Upon entering Snowbird Center there is a ticker screen ticking off the Code as well. On the tram ride, the operator announcement references the Code as well. This is my kind of mountain! And my observations proved that skiers and riders at Snowbird take the Code to heart. I only once got passed by a fast skier, but that was on a super narrow run. And, since Snowbird has many catwalks cutting through expert terrain, it is especially important to follow the rules of the Code including yield to downhill skiers and observing slow zone regulations.
After out day of skiing came to a close, we headed back to the car to journey back to the condo. Of course, this journey included a requisite stop to 7-Eleven (our favorite convenience store - in fact, on the February 21st episode of Undercover Boss, you can see me in the turquoise sweater purchasing coffee at our local 7-Eleven). Mom and I were overjoyed to learn the 7-Eleven we stopped at had steamed milk, a staple in the perfect cup of coffee. The employees were even nice enough to make us a fresh pot of hazelnut coffee, our favorite. When we questioned the employees about steamed milk (because not all 7-Eleven's have steamed milk much to our dismay), they mentioned that it's mostly people from the East who get the steamed milk. Well, that makes sense! Almost all the 7-Eleven's where we live have steamed milk and hardly any when we travel have it. Go figure. East Coasters sure know how to drink their cheap coffee.
For dinner, we ordered take out Japanese from Shoyu right near where we got our nails done that one time. I learned while waiting to pick up the order that Reef's used to be in that location. This is significant because Reef's was a restaurant we were told to go to because our very close family friend's son's friend's parents owned Reef's. Got that? Well, we weren't able to eat at Reef's because it's not there anymore, but at least we were able to pay it homage by getting take out from the restaurant that occupies it's former space.
After our Japanese food, Mom decided she wanted popcorn... Well, needless to say I gave mom the incorrect microwave cooking time for the popcorn and it started to smoke, heavily I might add, all throughout the apartment. Mom and I were fanning the front and garage doors open trying to get the smoke out while Shane busted open the sliding glass doors in the living room. So, E and R, if you smell any residual burnt popcorn, don't fret... we got it all under control...
Tomorrow it's our last day at Deer Valley. After Shane returns the car to Enterprise and hitches a ride home from them, we're heading the mountain early (why am I awake?). Shane and I want to be sure to hit up the NASTAR race track like we did when we were kids. It will be our fun memory from this trip, that is assuming I don't crash and burn like I did when I was a kid. Until then...
