Jay Peak. Curling. DODGE boots. More.

Bonnie & I took a mini-vacation this weekend. Saturday afternoon we had a beautiful drive up through Jeff, Belvidere and Montgomery Center winding up at Jay Peak.  We joined members of the Green Mountain Curling Club for what turned out to be a fantastic overnight curling adventure.  Arriving at Jay’s new Tram Haus Lodge shortly after 4 PM, we used our complementary tickets and rode the tram to the top of Jay Peak where we were greeted by a spectacular view.  To the east we could see the Presidential Range; to the south Mount Mansfield, to the west was Montreal, and to the southwest a wonderful view of Lake Champlain (pictured).  Wow!  If we’d left after that, it would’ve been fully satisfying, but, as the commercial states, “There’s more!”

Jay’s new lodge is terrific.  Very nicely done, comfortable and eco-friendly.  The resort is going all-out to attract visitors and they offered an attractive “stay-and-play” package for us curlers.  Bonnie relaxed and declared she was returning with or without me!

Nice group dinner in the lodge’s restaurant, then a short walk over to Jay Peak’s new Ice Haus, which is one of the nicest ice rinks I’ve visited in many years. They’re still new but I think they’ll get the hang of prepping the ice for curling.  Our group had a great time being back on the ice after 4 or 5 months off, so the imperfections of the ice weren’t as critical as our own imperfections.  And, rink manager Dennis Himes made sure an important curling component was well-stocked … Long Trail and wine!  Post-curling get-together back at the hotel, more curling in the morning and back on the road by 11 AM.  Less than 20 hours but feeling like a wonderful vacation.  Thanks Mike Sitko for all your efforts to pull it together.

Another visit to The Burger Barn in Jeffersonville on the way home (this time a Reuben burger … yum!) and back home in time for a great NASCAR nap.  Could it have been any better?

Maybe so.  Dinner and 50th birthday celebration for sister-in-law Jeanne Albertson with great home-brewed English Pale Ale.  Scott is getting really good at brewing.

Finally home and had a good online chat with Ace Tarberry in New Zealand.  Ace first skied on the DODGE carbon fiber ski boot with coach Peter Dodge down in La Parva, Chile a couple of weeks ago and was ripping it up so much he took the boots with him to New Zealand for training with the U.S. Ski Team.  Seems like Ace and the DODGE boot are making quite an impression, scoring times right there with the WC slalom guys.  Way to go Ace!  Keep kicking it.

With the cool mornings being a pre-cursor to winter, I am getting anxious to get back on snow.  But it’ll have to wait for at least another couple of months.

Enjoy the remaining warm days.

Bill