Grooming day

Much to their dismay, the cats were taken in for a grooming today, bundled up in their carry all bags, bellies empty and fire in their eyes. And as an extra penalty, the pet grooming salon was flooded from some kind of leak from the floors above, so a dirty brownish water covered everything. We were all too happy to leave the caterwauling animals and go up to Fairway Market in Harlem where we stocked up on produce for the holiday week coming up. If you get there early in the morning its not such an aggravation to shop there. I got a nice slab of hake for tomorrows supper.

The photo on the left is last night's dinner -- mustard/mint lamb rib chops with red potatoes with provencal spices. It was pretty good, but cleaning up the brazier was a pain.

Drizzly Dog Weekend

This is Nikolai watching the Catsitter DVD up in Vermont. Pretty amazingly, the cats are fascinated by the gerbils, birds and chipmunks on the disc. They bat the TV with their paws and then they look behind the TV after it has been turned off trying to figure where their prey has gone.

These are the new flowering plants we got for the patio; pretty good deal for $21 total !



For dinner, I grilled a lemon stuffed 2.5 lb red snapper, Russian fingerling potatoes and some endives on the Weber last week. It worked out pretty well but that big fish only feeds about two people, with a little leftover for fussy cats.

This is Lena enjoying doggie ice cream; this brand is called FrostyPaws. It can keep her absorbed for 20 min per cup -- no brain freeze for this lady! She's back on her Piroxicam by the way, which has made a world of difference in her mobility and mood.
Our peonies have come out in bloom and you can see them in this "Before" picture of dinner. We prepared skewers of yellow/green squash, pork loin kebabs, onions, and pineapple rum boats in the back. Shish kabobs are time consuming which explains why prepared ones seem costlier than they ought to be. Anyways we like to custom cut ours and then put our own different Penzeys spices on each item, so we make this ourselves. You can not see it here but we also had some great lemon/scallion/cilantro rice to go with this.

And this is the "After" picture on the grill. The squash skewers are a little too long.

J. made a bonfire too after I dug out the firepit from a couple of seasons worth of ashes. I put the ashes into the plowscrape scars on the front lawn, so hopefully that will help them get filled in with new grass. It started getting cold and rainy, and we lost the electrical power (which happens once a year or so) so we came back earlier than usual on Sunday. Remember you can click on the pictures to look at high resolution larger versions of them.

Extra bonus - our friends Mike & Lisa just had a new baby !

And as previously mentioned - I am thinking strongly about this good deal from the Vail network of resorts. It really makes skiing/riding their system much more cost effective. They will probably be more crowded as a result, but this pass looks good. If you are interested, or end up getting one, let me know so maybe we can work our 09 group trips around that.

A trip to Curry Hill and a spice store

So this weekend we met some family friends at the Madras vegetarian chain gone global, Saravanaas, in NYC's Curry Hill neighborhood.

The food was excellent and spicy, but the service was weak --enough so that I'm not sure I would go back. They charge gratuity on the bill, which is legal in NYC if you disclose that, but I think when a venues opts for that there must be a reasonable level of service. I walked out thinking the service sucked and I don't think I'd go back. You can see the enormity of their fried bread known as poori's on the left side. The specialty of the house are the crispy rice griddle cades called dosai, also in the picture to the right

Afterwards, we went two streets up to the famed specialty spice store, Kalustyan's which stocks a massive array of spices known along with an incredible range of dried food and grains. I counted something like 30 different kinds of rice alone. They do a substantial amount of business to the restaurant trade, so their pricing for retail customers is on the high side. But its helpful to shop there just to see all the different things they have.
While we were there, we picked up a number of exotic spices that we can't easily find including florals like rosewater, jasmine, and lavender. Then in the picture to the right, you can see the big jars of goods, where we found glaceed orange rinds, apricots, and blanched almonds. Then in the powdered spice section we got some file powder, biryani blend, and Japanese dried bonito flakes. And then we also found some sour cherry juice, Peruvian hot sauces, and dried morels. It was quite the expensive shopping trip.

Indiana Jones New Movie - It was nothing special

We had a relaxing weekend in the city, taking care of household chores and seeing friends. On Saturday we started with our once a quarter visit to Costco to load up on pet food, kitty litter, and swiffers. After we came back and unloaded a car full of dry goods, we got ready to see some friends, Jesse & Susan. We met them at a hole in the wall Mexican restaurant (Ah Chiuhaha!) around the corner where we had some tacos and salsa. After that we went to see the new Indiana Jones movie that just came out. It was ok, nothing special, and certainly not as good as the prior three.

The next morning we baked cinnamon scones and then went to church, which seemed sparsely attended, and then went shopping afterwards. The city was shut down for a parade on 5th avenue so getting across town was a headache. So we walked for a while and stopped for an iced chai and jello while going home. Then we went to the Japanese market to get rice vinegar, bok choy, and various other Oriental spices. Afterwards I opened up a light Italian rose wine for dinner.

Last night for dinner Jenn made veal marsala, mashed potatoes and green beans which we ate on the patio. The patio is now covered with a dozen flowering plants which are all in various stages of bloom. They are quite thirsty though and need 3 gallons of water just about every other day; the pets like to snooze outside while we water them.

Memorial Day Weekend in Vermont

We had a nice relaxing weekend up in Vermont. It was pretty cool for late May and we still have not switched the sheets from flannel to cotton in the bedrooms. We got up there on Thursday night and worked from home on Friday. The new DSL line up there lets us work on the internet and phone at the same time which is helpful.
The lilacs (see right) are blooming and we put those all over the kitchen; you can smell them all over the house. A little spring cleaning was needed so we cleaned up the bedrooms and their closets, and gave a bunch of clothes to a local charity. After that we went to the animal feed store to get some special cat food for Zamfir who is having stomach issues. Unfortunately he did not care for this, rejecting it (as you can see in the picture) -- so we will have to find something else. Even Lena, who never rejects food, did not want to eat her kibble this weekend. Eventually when nothing else was offered, she realized thiswas the best she was going to get.
We took the Corvette up to the new green grocer in Ludlow where we purchased fresh zucchini, endives, fennel, beets, fiddleheads, and more. Jenn pressure cooked the beets for a nice pickled salad later. Then we stopped at the butcher and got some chicken and beef for the grill. We stuffed the chicken with tarragon and it grilled up perfectly after a brine bath in bay leaves, sugar, and salt. After we got home, the pets and I built a big bonfire to be lit at nighttime. The wood was quite dry and this was probablythe largest and easiest bonfire I've ever lit. It took one match to light the whole thing with no extra work. Once it had settled down to glowing embers we roasted marshmallows and made s'mores, celebrating the weekend we got engaged, two years ago on Memorial Day Weekend at Matt & Rebecca's wedding.


On Sunday we took the Corvette across the mountains to Manchester where we looked for cotton sheets at the outlet store of Garnet Hill. We ended up getting Lena some new pillow cases for her cushions, but didn't find exactly what we wanted. Although we did not come home empty handed Jenn got a new dress and I got a new pair of US Ski Team sunglasses at a sale nearby. After all that, we stopped at a Friendly's ice cream where the dog got a sticky bowl of vanilla ice cream to cool her down. It was a nice weekend -- here are some pictures.(The odd looking 'fan' potato is a Hasselback potato. A whole potoato is cut partially into slices but still connected and stuffed with shallots, then rubbed with oil, wrapped in foil and put on the grill. When it comes out it's topped with breadcrumbs and spices -- very tasty and a recipe from a hotel in Stockholm.Labor intensive but nice for a special baked tater treat!)

Just back from Hong Kong & California

It's been a long ten days, having just gotten back from Hong Kong and San Francisco.


HK was very exciting and I hope to get back there soon. Until I have time to post more, here are few pictures from the trip.


It was like a weird blend of Chinatown, Las Vegas, San Francisco and skyscrapers.

Chinese building ski resorts

Could this be the ultimate bubble - ski real estate and China in one investment meme?

Depending on the quality of the snow, this could be like getting in to Vail in the 70's or Aspen in the 60's. I have also heard exceptional things about the quality of Japan's snow, although the resorts are not so world class in amenities.

Two Bits about Okemo, and the rest of our weekend

Some of you may have heard that Okemo was hit by a credit card fraud scheme, so if you used your card there recently, keep an eye on your charges/activity. It is vexatious to get things removed if they are false. And on a brighter note, Okemo had a fantastic season as far as attendance and sales went, the best they've had in a half dozen years. Despite the high prices and (sometimes) crowds, it is better to have a healthy profitable local ski area than a bankrupt one. Just look at property prices around Magic Mountain or Suicide Six if you still convincing on that point.

In other news, we went to the Indian enclave of Edison, NJ over the weekend to do some shopping for a family friend's upcoming wedding. The girls found a large number of shops purveying the latest in high fashion and garish colors. But most importantly they found Asok, the tailor who works in a mirrored dressing room, who will be able to make their modifications in time for the big ceremony.

While they were wrangling with the sari proprietors, I wandered around the area exploring various niche retailers. I was able to find a good Indian grocery there and stocked up on all kinds of obscure spices, chili's, and flours. We also picked up some of the tropical fruit juices that are handy to have around. (And along the way, I discovered that the ancient and honorable custom of bargaining was banned in Edison, NJ.)

While we were there, we made time to have an excellent lunch at Mughul restaurant, which is buried in the back of a mall, quite far set back from the main road. This is a picture of just a few of the dishes they had. It's more upscale than the Jackson Diner, and slightly better, although it has more eclectic dishes than one would expect. The dishes in the photo from front to back are - goat curry, tandoori chicken and vegetable pilaf.

It was a good jaunt, made even better by J. preparing the spicy southern Indian polenta like dish -- upma -- the next day from my mom's recipe with the ingredients purchased on the excursion.

The final ski day of the season

Today was the last ski day of the year for me, courtesy of Okemo's free day for FlexCard holders. It was warm, slushy and sparsely attended but I still got a couple of pleasant hours in.

I doubt the temperature was below freezing last night, because the snow felt like a slurpee, without the sticky red syrup. In conditions like that you have to lean back a little bit more than usual, because if you hit soft patches your skis suddenly start going slower and you will lose your balance if your center of gravity is too far forward.

It's unnerving to ski like that because you have less control and causes your skis to slide around. Still it was a fun day, although I would not have spent the $50 or so I saw some others laying out for the privilege.

It is difficult to do much spring skiing once it stops freezing overnight. That freeze / thaw cycle is needed so that the ice clusters can recrystallize which makes for hard/fast conditions in the morning but nice soft "corn" a little before noon.

Superb skiing at Okemo on March 30

We had a late March snow squall and, in exchange for the driveway being impassable, got some great late season skiing at Okemo on the last weekend of the month. J. and I got accidentally separated but we still got in a good amount of vertical. I don't think I've ever skied more vertical feet in a shorter period of a time - I hit the Northstar lift 7 times in about an hour and half. This meant skiing fast, no stopping at all, and going quickly through the singles line. It was almost like skiing in the Rockies - fresh soft new snow, bright clear blue skies, and warm temperatures in the 30's. And because of the late season, no crowds at all. There was a big difference in the feel of the snow underfoot between the southern oriented runs and northern/shady runs. I stayed on the right sides of the trails which tended to be drier.

It was great skiing, perhaps the last of the season for us. Much different than a few years ago.

Sunny Skiing in California

We just got back from a trip to California where we visited family, and squeezed in a few days skiing at Northstar, a forested bowl on the North Lake. To the left is the mid mountain lodge, which had a handy taco shack for quick lunches. A trio of 3 lifts fan out from this area.

This is J. after finishing a nice run on the sunny side of the bowl. Northstar is well protected from the wind, and this pocket is particularly sunny. That can mean the snow gets soft by the end of the day, making the skiing slow, but it was very easy to turn on.

Here is a picture from the top of the mountain facing down the sunnier West ridge. There is a particularly good long classic intermediate trail here from the top of the mountain, winding first on the top of the ridge all the way down to a notch in the side, where it broadens out to a tree lined gully back to the main lift areas. At the very top, when you first start, you can catch a glimpse of the vast alpine Lake Tahoe.

The next day I went to ski the backside, which was steeper and had longer runs. I thought the snow was harder on this side, although the runs were more challenging than I remembered from the last time here, although that was in better mid-winter conditions. For Tahoe, there is a lot of vertical to do in one lift here, 1800 vertical feet, without any crosswalks to interrupt it.

While we were visiting family in LA, J's parents threw us a nice cocktail party, where (among other things) J. made a baked brie en croute, with slices of crisp apples and pears to dig the gooey cheese out. (You can kind see the cheese oozing out of as it lost its form over time) Like most parties, there was tons of leftover food that was sent home with family friends, Justin and Randall.

We also had lunch by the seashore, in Newport Beach, where I had yet more of that particularly Californian invention, fish tacos. It's a scenic drive to there, worth the trouble. I can see why its a popular place for vacationers and residents.

After wanting to visit for many years, the stars and schedules finally lined up to view the Ronald Reagan Presidential library in Simi Valley. It's an unusually beautiful hilly site, with surrounding views for perhaps 50 miles. On the clear sunny day we spent there it was remarkable in its serenity and --although we did not bring one -- a perfect spot for a picnic. The museum takes 2-3 hours to explore and covers the various stages of Ron and Nancy's life well, although Jane Wyman (Reagan's first wife) seemed conspicuous by her ommission.

Upon our return to Sacramento, my mother gathered a large group of friends and hosted a lovely brunch at a local Punjabi restaurant where we had a buffet, followed by a splash of young Coutet. It was great seeing local friends again, especially those who had not been able to join us in New York last year. The food was good, but nothing to make us forget our fiery hot and greasy Jackson Heights Diner in Queens.

A few links

Sometimes ski areas slowly go under, like Pico or Haystack. This is an article about someone who tracks them down, trying to save the memories.

We just got back from Stowe, to celebrate our first anniversary, and oddly enough this link makes it sound like we're not the only ones who thought it was a good place for couples.

And lastly, we are looking at visiting Northstar in Tahoe, which has this recent writeup in the Miami Herald of all places. I would not have thought folks would have trekked that far to visit it. You can see where it is located to the left.

A great few days at Stowe

Last weekend, we took the extra time to drive up to Stowe, in Northern Vermont, for a little getaway celebration. There was quite a bit of snow the night before we left, but after a little bit of shoveling, we were able to get the car on the road. After an easy, isolated drive we pulled into the Stoweflake resort in the early afternoon. After getting our stuff squared away we went off to explore the charming village, and pick up a few forgotten items. Dinner was at a surprisingly decent Thai restaurant, Red Basil, on the mountain road.

The next day we took the shuttle up to the mountain and started by skiing the newly expanded and improved Spruce Peak area. This area has most of the novice/intermediate terrain , as well as a more modern base area. The snow conditions here were terrific and the crowds were much less than at the main area. J and I got our ski legs here and she tried an intermediate run to test her ability in softer snow. After she got confidence in skiing this area, I left to ski the gondola on the main mountain and she enjoyed the Spruce area. After a nice day of skiing we headed back for a sauna/hot tub soak. Later on we enjoyed a great dinner at the Swisspot restaurant in the village.

The next day J went for the full day of spa treatment while I attacked the main mountain. By now, most of the weekend crowds had gone and it felt like I had the whole mountain to myself. In general the runs on the main mountain are a bit steeper and more challenging than other Vermont ski areas, as well as the Gondola and Spruce areas. These are classic, old fashioned runs with rolling terrain well protected by trees. I had a blast working my way around the mountain. In a concession to my creaky knees, I didn't dare attempt the icy Liftline run under the Quadrunner chair. I am mystified about how I was able to handle that in my 20's. Later I went over to the Gondola and enjoyed those big wide open trails. I felt the quality of snow was better than that in Southern Vermont, but the extra 2.5 hours drive was not something I could routinely tolerate. After a nice day of that, I grabbed a bus back to the resort and headed to the sauna to sweat out some toxins. That night we went back down to the village and had a nice supper at The Whip, which apparently has been in business since 1830. The next day we headed home, tired but happy.

Pretty good skiing during President's week

We got a few days of skiing in on the weekends bookending the President's holiday week at Okemo. The first weekend we took the godkids out and zoomed around the mountain. Lines were long at some places but we were able to get some good runs in on the Jackson Gore part of Okemo.

The next weekend was better, since there had been abundant snowfall during the weekend, and the temperature had stayed cold, keeping the surface conditions soft and powdery. This time I enjoyed the South Face side of the mountain ridge, where few people were at. Having my skis tuned up helped a lot, especially on the icier spots.

The next weekend we are going up to Stowe, where I have not been in perhaps a decade. I am looking forward to seeing the extensive improvements AIG has made there.

Too Wet on Feb 2 & 3

Well, we drove up on Friday Feb 1, through a driving rain for 5-6 hours, only to be confounded by our last stretch of road being unplowed, which had about 8" of snow, compressed into 3" of wet packed from hours of cold rain. The car could not make it up that, so we pulled over, and marched up the last stretch to the house. Lena was a real trooper during that and got endless treats and belly rubs all weekend for her heroic walk.

After seeing the snow and wind conditions the next day, we ended up staying in and not heading out to the mountain. There were plenty of chores around the house to keep us busy and we both caught up on some reading.

Hopefully things will be better by the President's Holiday.

Fast Skiing at Okemo, Jan 20

It has been a long time since I've updated the blog, but we had a nice day of skiing yesterday at Okemo. The weather was clear and sunny, but cold as it can be without a cloud blanket. I needed my footwarmers to handle the mid teen temps. We have not had much fresh snow in the last week, and the groomers had preened the trails into flat, crispy fast movers. We took the kids over to the South Face and skiied all the trails off the Sunrise lift. They were fast, and I could feel the dullness of my midseason edges on my Atomic's .

After a few hours my hands were just too cold, and it was time to pack it in. I would have expected more folks at the mountain, but it wasn't that crowded.

Gstaad Trip Report

I know it has been much delayed, but here's a report from our honeymoon to Gstaad. You can see pictures from the trip on the button to the right, under links.

We started off by flying on Alitalia from New York to Milan, and then connecting to a flight to Geneva and then taking a train from the airport to the village of Gstaad. Although we were traveling business class (which was a treat that Jennifer had been saving her miles for years for) it took quite a while to get there. Alitalia, by the way, is a government owned airline, and things feel sort of faded and dated on it. We left on Sunday right after our wedding, and arrived Monday evening. I suppose things could have been faster if we'd chosen a prepacked tour, since they would have lined up direct flights and bus transfers. Gstaad as a ski destination tends not to be on the list of ready made packages because it has the unfortunate combination of beeing too costly and is not snow sure.

After almost 20 hours of travel, we arrived at the Berherhof in Gstaad. The hotel was perfectly situated, right by the train station and buses to the mountains, and in the middle of the beautiful pedestrian/car free village. In addition the hotel was of a very high standard in accomodations -- in particular the wood work and bathroom fixtures. The kitchen was closed on our arrival, so we went down the street and got a burger at a local cafe. We could sit on our balcony and look over the village, and up at the famous Gstaad Palace hotel sited above the town.

On our first full day in the village, we slept in late and then went exploring, foraging for lunch. We made our way through the village, marvelling at the curious bronze sculptures scattered about. There was an iron cow by the watering hole, elves under the bridge, and more. Someone here has a touch of whimsy. We had savory crepes at a cafe after getting the lay of the land and figuring out where the ski bus shuttles were. The core pedestrian village is filled with expensive boutiques and luxury product stores, but they were interesting to window shop. One store was particularly fascinating -- Kitchen & Table is its name in English. We wandered around the 3 floors of this for almost an hour. The picture to the right is from their pottery department. We came back a few days later, and after a lot of deliberation, selected a fondue pot and burner as a useful memento of the visit. Afterwards we came back to the hotel and relaxed on the balcony for a while while we mulled over dinner options. One of the tour books I had acquired, Lonely Planet, suggested the Post Hotel Rossli as a good choice for classic Swiss fare, so we made our way there later that night. It was a good suggestion indeed, and I enjoyed my rosti and Swiss white wine.

The next morning we were pretty refreshed after the previous days relaxing and exploring, so we were ready to go skiing. We had breakfast downstairs and grabbed a bus from outside the hotel to one of our local village's ski areas -- Eggli. Gstaad is actually a "super ski region" of almost a half dozen villages connected by bus/train/ski trails going up and down the Saanenland valley. Gstaad is the most charming village and has the most local ski areas (3) but they are somewhat less natural fall line skiing than the other villages. I guess the American comparable would be Aspen and its local ski areas, although in the Gstaad Super Ski region, some of the areas are skiiable from each other. Once we got to the Eggli area we took a gondola to the peak and started to make our way down to the Chalberoni mid valley station. Some of the trails down this way were in poor condition due to lack snow, and too much sun on these south facing pistes. Once we got down to the Chalberoni lodge, Jenn stopped to rest and get some lunch, while I made my way up to the top of the the next ridge over and skiied that. There was hardly anyone up there and the conditions were much better, although as I got down to lower altitudes the soft snow became tiring to ski through. We schlepped back to Eggli and then took the gondola back down the village.

On Wednesday we planned a dinner at the haute cuisine restaurant, Chlosterli, which was a few miles out of town. While that was being set up by the concierge we set out to find electronic connectors that would let us hook our iPod up to the hotel room's stereo. Fortunately we found a Swiss equivalent of RadioShack down a side alley and we got everything sorted out swiftly. From there we took a little side tour of that edge of village. There was a fantastic amount of construction going on; we heard that most of the new chalets are being custom built for Russian oligarchs. Price tags seemed to be in the $5-8mm range, high even for a top end ski resort. When we came back I went down to the gym and tried the hot and cold saunas, followed by a few laps in the pool. After all this we were feeling refreshed and took a taxi to the Chlosterli. We had signed up for the full 9 course dinner which took three plus hours. The range of preparations and the creativity of the chef were extraordinary; it really was one of the greatest meals I have ever had. Everything was supremely fresh and flavorful, with just the right balance between traditional spices and creative ones. We had a delicious bottle of Leroy red burgundy to go with it, which made me want to try cellaring a few on my own, until I saw how costly they are in the US.

On Thursday, Jennifer had a spa session set up for a hot rocks massage therapy while I went down to the gym/sauna in our building after breakfast. After a lazy day relaxing like this we then went to a guitar recital given in the local Roman Catholic church/kirch. Oddly enough, it was a Swiss man singing traditional American devotionals on a guitar; it was weird hearing Sweet Chariot with a thick German accent. The performance was heartfelt, but technically/muscially light years behind our own Holy Trinity. After that we went out for Italian food for dinner. The restaurant was called "Rialto" and was superb. We both had homemade tagliatele with a veal ragu sauce. It had carrots in it and the feel of having been simmered in wine and milk for hours like a good bolognese sauce should be. It was hard to have a bad meal in Gstaad since the standard of both hotels/dining is so high. We walked back to the hotel feeling a slight chill in the air. By midnight, a light snow would be coming down pretty consistently.

On Friday we got up early as it was looking like a powder day from the view from our balcony. We had a hurried breakfast and hopped on the "GoldenCar" , a special bubble shaped rail compartment, from Gstaad to the upvalley village of Schonried. The story we had heard at breakfast was that this area tended to get better snow, and its terrain was wide and forgiving, perfect for the two of us to enjoy skiing together. After a 20 minute scenic train ride, we hopped off at the Schonried baanhof and manhandled our gear toward the lifts. Unlike at typical American resorts, which have some kind of base area for changing and assorted sundries, the base stations in the Gstaad super ski area, tended not to have much beyond a lift area and a ticket booth. Most folks would rent equipment, if needed, in town and then get food up on the mid/top mountain restaurants and warming huts. The gist of all of this is that there was not any ski lockers at the mountain area, or at least any that we could locate, but we had a small inkling that may happen so I'd brought our gear in a daypack style bag. We just skiied with all of our stuff on ourselves, which would make it easy to leave from a different village.

When we got up to the top of the mountain, the snow was coming down thickly and the powder was mid calf. We happily skied down a few runs of this and then tacked down into a broad valley that spanned the way to another vilage. Here the runs were well sheltered from the blowing snow, and as the wind let up, we could lap the trio of runs here. The vertical on the upper runs was probably only 1500 ft or so, but this area seemed popular for families skiing with mixed abilities, so we saw lots of kids here. After a while Jenn went to the Hornberg mittelstation while I kept on doing fast cruises on this lift. It felt good to put force on my Achilles again after so many months of babying it. We were both getting hungry now, so I collected Jenn from the Hornberg area and we zipped down to a midmountain lodge hidden in a little side nook. We got some warm drinks and sandwiches at this place, called Lochstoffel. After that we skiied down to the next town over, called Saanenmoser. The bottom had gotten a little slushy and it was getting time to call it a day, so Jenn decided to have a gluwhein while she waited for me. I thought it might be end of this years ski season for me (I was wrong about that) so I decided to keep doing a few runs on this gondola serviced run. It was pretty nice and broad but slushy near the bottom. Still it was a great way to end the day, and since we had all our stuff with us, we could just stroll down to Saanenmoser's baanhof and catch the train home, exhausted and happy. We got to the station about 10 min before the next train home, so we didn't have to wait. It was a great day.

On Saturday last day of relaxing. Olden. Hiking above town.

Sunday. Train back to Geneva. Dinner with Alain

Monday. Fly back to the USA.

Tuesday. R&R get pets.

We're back

I've had some difficulty posting in the last 6 weeks, plus have been very busy of course. I'm going to get back to the bi weekly post here, with a trip report on Gstaad.

J. and I watched this recently -- it was pretty good. I can pretty much watch these endlessly.

Vermont Skiing Notes

Things are better at Vermont ski areas

Snow arrives in Vermont

An Article about Development

The Single Chair at Mad River Glen (picture to left)

More trails opening at Okemo

Looks like most of the mountain is open, and another half foot or so snow fell.