December 26 - 28. Gotta Love Santa Fe
Maybe not.
December 26, 2007
Beth and the boys and I are headed out for Santa Fe the day after Christmas to spend some time in Santa Fe and do a little skiing and relaxing with the McCreas. Our plan was to drive to Amarillo tonight and find a hotel to rest our weary bones, get up early tomorrow and be in Santa Fe by early afternoon. That part worked out well. The total driving time to Santa Fe was about 9 hours. It's really not a bad drive. Once you hit the New Mexico border, the speed limit increases to 75 and you can really haul. The only down side to the drive out was the SMELL around Amarillo. Apparently, the cattle slaughter houses are running at full speed right now. What a terrible smell. Beth spent an hour gagging as the boys and I giggled like school girls. What makes stanky stuff so funny to boys?
We arrived in Santa Fe on schedule on Wednesday. We were meeting the McCrea's and they showed up around 8pm. Our hotel was right in downtown Santa Fe so we decided to walk to get pizza for dinner. Thursday we planned a big day of skiing in Taos so we didn't want to get too crazy on Wednesday night. The pizza was good and after walking back we all decided to grab some sleep in anticipation of carving some wicked lines down the slopes of Taos.
December 28, 2007
Thursday morning 7:00 am. We are up and on the road to Taos. Ski school registration is from 8:15 to 9:00 am and after checking out the skitaos website, we learn it is an hour and 15 minutes to get there from Santa Fe. Leaving at 7...we even have time to stop at Mickey D's to get fueled up for the slopes. It's nice drive from Santa Fe and the day is starting out well.
8:00 we are STILL driving and haven't even made it to the town of Taos. What happened to an hour and 15 minutes? Not happening and the end isn't even in site. BUMMER. The only good news is that it is starting to snow.
8:40 we are finally into the town of Taos and see the signs saying 15 more miles to the ski area. Ok, so at this point we are thinking.....we should make it just in time for ski school.
9:00 um......not going to make it for registration. Hopefully they keep it open late. We still have a few miles to go and the snow is really coming down. We are on the road to the ski area, which is a windy two lane job and it is starting to get slick. I wish I had 4-wheel drive.
9:30 Finally made it to the slopes. 1 hour 15 minutes on the web site equated to 2 hours and 30 minutes actual time. I wonder what the wait really is on the advertised 5 minute lift lines???
9:40 We make it to ski school to register Ryan and Everett. What do you mean ski school is full? Reservations required? DOH!!!!!!!! Not good. But wait....they are trying to put together another class and will start calling names at 10am. We are on the list.
10:00 Where's the name calling dude?
10:30 There he is. Ryan and Everett get called. Wooo hooo! Sweet. Bruce and I are going to move the car out of the ski school lot while the boys are getting settled in. So we head to the parking lot and it is really really snowing now. Visibility is low. The IQ level of the guy directing us where to park is even lower. He puts us in a downhill slot that as soon as I get in, I tell Bruce there isn't anyway we are getting out. I wish I had 4 wheel drive. Not good but, hey, that's a problem for another time. Let's hit the slopes baby!!!!!!!!!!
11:00 Rentals are rented, jackets are zipped, toques (yes I am bi-lingual) are pulled down and we are heading toward the lifts. Bunny slope? Nah, we don't need no stinking bunny slope. Let's head to the top. So what if Bruce and Camden haven't skied in a couple of years. There are greens up top. Up we go. Bruce, Camden, Andrew, Beth and I for our day on the slopes at Taos. The further up we go, the harder it is snowing. Get prepared for zero visibility boys! We got fresh powder, but nobody can see it. Let's ski by feel today. Nevermind that it is so cold and windy we have no feel. WE CAN DO IT!
11:20 - We are cruising down the cat walks. A-train and the Cam-man are doing great. Hard to keep up with them. Brucester is getting his groove and once he figures out how to stop it will be all good. B-ditty quickly starts grabbing her wide turns and is keeping it under control nicely even with the brace on her wrist. Big Daddy is working out the kinks and quickly gets in his element and chases down the boys. Here comes Brucester. There goes Brucester. Still can't stop. Big Daddy has his ski legs under him and quickly hits his norm of short fast bursts fallowed by exruciating burning sensations in the quads and hammies resulting in the need to stop and rest. Slow and steady wins the race Big Daddy thinks as B-ditty cruises by with the why you stopping look. Brucester ain't far behind and judging by the coat of white he is wearing he must have figured out how to stop using the ever popular wipeout method.
12:00 - Lunch time. One run down. It's looking like a short day on the slopes. Big daddy is experiencing cramps in the feet. Shouldn't have worn the sock liner. Dumb move. Eveyone is cold and visibility is nothing. Let's grab some chow, take one more run, and see how we feel. Brucestar, A-train and Cam-man decide that the top is over-rated and head over to the smaller lifts while B-ditty and I head back up for one more run from the top.
1:00 On top again. Not much to choose from so we head back down the same cat walk as before. Nothing exciting to report. Nice green run, but very narrow and the only real choice we had. Decent cruising though. Probably our last run big run so we head to the beginner area to look for the Rdogg and Big E. All kids look the same in their ski gear so as we are on the lift we locate the kids that ski the best and claim them as ours. We rock as parents.
2:00 and time to get the little ones from ski school. A-train and Cam-man have spent the afternoon skiing together and seem to be enjoying some quality time being on their own. Rdogg and Big E are back inside and ready to go. Time to pack up and get the cars.
2:15 I called it. No chance of getting the Expedition out of this spot. Mel...go find some help while I stay here with the car. What a pain. I wish I had 4 wheel drive.
2:30 about the best thing I can say about Taos is that the cops are friendly and they responded quickly. Never really had to be winched out before, so this was a new experience. My next car.....equipped with a winch, a wench and you guessed it....4 wheel drive! Guy thing.
3:30 Heading out of Taos. Gotta say, the conditions were poor for skiing. High wind, low visibility, cold and snowy. Not the best of ski days. Can't say that I ever want to hit Taos again. The staff were totally unorganized (except for the cops) and the slopes were nothing spectacular. Glad that I can say I skied Taos, but no plans to come back this week. Ski Santa Fe...Here we come.
December 26, 2007
Beth and the boys and I are headed out for Santa Fe the day after Christmas to spend some time in Santa Fe and do a little skiing and relaxing with the McCreas. Our plan was to drive to Amarillo tonight and find a hotel to rest our weary bones, get up early tomorrow and be in Santa Fe by early afternoon. That part worked out well. The total driving time to Santa Fe was about 9 hours. It's really not a bad drive. Once you hit the New Mexico border, the speed limit increases to 75 and you can really haul. The only down side to the drive out was the SMELL around Amarillo. Apparently, the cattle slaughter houses are running at full speed right now. What a terrible smell. Beth spent an hour gagging as the boys and I giggled like school girls. What makes stanky stuff so funny to boys?
We arrived in Santa Fe on schedule on Wednesday. We were meeting the McCrea's and they showed up around 8pm. Our hotel was right in downtown Santa Fe so we decided to walk to get pizza for dinner. Thursday we planned a big day of skiing in Taos so we didn't want to get too crazy on Wednesday night. The pizza was good and after walking back we all decided to grab some sleep in anticipation of carving some wicked lines down the slopes of Taos.
December 28, 2007
Thursday morning 7:00 am. We are up and on the road to Taos. Ski school registration is from 8:15 to 9:00 am and after checking out the skitaos website, we learn it is an hour and 15 minutes to get there from Santa Fe. Leaving at 7...we even have time to stop at Mickey D's to get fueled up for the slopes. It's nice drive from Santa Fe and the day is starting out well.
8:00 we are STILL driving and haven't even made it to the town of Taos. What happened to an hour and 15 minutes? Not happening and the end isn't even in site. BUMMER. The only good news is that it is starting to snow.
8:40 we are finally into the town of Taos and see the signs saying 15 more miles to the ski area. Ok, so at this point we are thinking.....we should make it just in time for ski school.
9:00 um......not going to make it for registration. Hopefully they keep it open late. We still have a few miles to go and the snow is really coming down. We are on the road to the ski area, which is a windy two lane job and it is starting to get slick. I wish I had 4-wheel drive.
9:30 Finally made it to the slopes. 1 hour 15 minutes on the web site equated to 2 hours and 30 minutes actual time. I wonder what the wait really is on the advertised 5 minute lift lines???
9:40 We make it to ski school to register Ryan and Everett. What do you mean ski school is full? Reservations required? DOH!!!!!!!! Not good. But wait....they are trying to put together another class and will start calling names at 10am. We are on the list.
10:00 Where's the name calling dude?
10:30 There he is. Ryan and Everett get called. Wooo hooo! Sweet. Bruce and I are going to move the car out of the ski school lot while the boys are getting settled in. So we head to the parking lot and it is really really snowing now. Visibility is low. The IQ level of the guy directing us where to park is even lower. He puts us in a downhill slot that as soon as I get in, I tell Bruce there isn't anyway we are getting out. I wish I had 4 wheel drive. Not good but, hey, that's a problem for another time. Let's hit the slopes baby!!!!!!!!!!
11:00 Rentals are rented, jackets are zipped, toques (yes I am bi-lingual) are pulled down and we are heading toward the lifts. Bunny slope? Nah, we don't need no stinking bunny slope. Let's head to the top. So what if Bruce and Camden haven't skied in a couple of years. There are greens up top. Up we go. Bruce, Camden, Andrew, Beth and I for our day on the slopes at Taos. The further up we go, the harder it is snowing. Get prepared for zero visibility boys! We got fresh powder, but nobody can see it. Let's ski by feel today. Nevermind that it is so cold and windy we have no feel. WE CAN DO IT!
11:20 - We are cruising down the cat walks. A-train and the Cam-man are doing great. Hard to keep up with them. Brucester is getting his groove and once he figures out how to stop it will be all good. B-ditty quickly starts grabbing her wide turns and is keeping it under control nicely even with the brace on her wrist. Big Daddy is working out the kinks and quickly gets in his element and chases down the boys. Here comes Brucester. There goes Brucester. Still can't stop. Big Daddy has his ski legs under him and quickly hits his norm of short fast bursts fallowed by exruciating burning sensations in the quads and hammies resulting in the need to stop and rest. Slow and steady wins the race Big Daddy thinks as B-ditty cruises by with the why you stopping look. Brucester ain't far behind and judging by the coat of white he is wearing he must have figured out how to stop using the ever popular wipeout method.
12:00 - Lunch time. One run down. It's looking like a short day on the slopes. Big daddy is experiencing cramps in the feet. Shouldn't have worn the sock liner. Dumb move. Eveyone is cold and visibility is nothing. Let's grab some chow, take one more run, and see how we feel. Brucestar, A-train and Cam-man decide that the top is over-rated and head over to the smaller lifts while B-ditty and I head back up for one more run from the top.
1:00 On top again. Not much to choose from so we head back down the same cat walk as before. Nothing exciting to report. Nice green run, but very narrow and the only real choice we had. Decent cruising though. Probably our last run big run so we head to the beginner area to look for the Rdogg and Big E. All kids look the same in their ski gear so as we are on the lift we locate the kids that ski the best and claim them as ours. We rock as parents.
2:00 and time to get the little ones from ski school. A-train and Cam-man have spent the afternoon skiing together and seem to be enjoying some quality time being on their own. Rdogg and Big E are back inside and ready to go. Time to pack up and get the cars.
2:15 I called it. No chance of getting the Expedition out of this spot. Mel...go find some help while I stay here with the car. What a pain. I wish I had 4 wheel drive.
2:30 about the best thing I can say about Taos is that the cops are friendly and they responded quickly. Never really had to be winched out before, so this was a new experience. My next car.....equipped with a winch, a wench and you guessed it....4 wheel drive! Guy thing.
3:30 Heading out of Taos. Gotta say, the conditions were poor for skiing. High wind, low visibility, cold and snowy. Not the best of ski days. Can't say that I ever want to hit Taos again. The staff were totally unorganized (except for the cops) and the slopes were nothing spectacular. Glad that I can say I skied Taos, but no plans to come back this week. Ski Santa Fe...Here we come.
posted by barry c at 8:16 PM
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