Last week we took a break from renovating to get out of town. Originally the plan was to take a big ole fashioned road trip and head out to CO to stay with a good friend of mine, and ski the rockies. In the end of the day, CO is 27 hour drive, and it would have taken us nearly a week to comfortably drive both ways. We decided to stay closer to home so we could get some major things done around here.
Since living in Maine I have spent very little time exploring other New England states, and I had snowboarded in none of them. In our five day adventure we skied three mountains, in three states. Loon Mountain in New Hamphire, Sugarbush in Vermont, and Sunday River in Maine. Sunday River is our closest resort, and we only stopped there to get in a few runs on our drive home.
We had planned to get two days in at Loon to start out trip off, but mother nature had other plans and our first day was rained out. We nearly skipped our second day becasue it was so cold and windy, but we were glad we toughed it out. Leave it to this winters wacky weather to be 45 and raining one day, and a freezing 5 the next. Loon had a gondola which allowed us to warm up between runs, and we had the mountain to our selves. Loon is nestled in the White Mountains in Lincoln, NH. The White Mountains are breath taking, even in the frigid winter, but I really hope to spend some time hiking them this summer. Loon is a resort on our season pass, so we were excited to check it out, becasue we will most likely be getting down there again soon.
Next stop Vermont. There is something unique, old school and captiavting about Vermont. We stayed in the Mad River valley, wich is an enchanting area. Mr. Man wanted to ski Mad River Glen for his birthday, but it is ski only, so I was planning on spending two days at Sugarbush. I scored a great 2 day lodging and lift ticket deal through the Weathertop Mountain Inn, which allowed us to ski at either resort in the valley. Naturally mother nature once again has other plans. Her early week rain exposed much of the rugged terrain at Mad River, and it was not advised to ski there. So we spent both days at Suagrbush, exploring the Warren and Waitsfield area during the mornings and evenings. We are definitely people that fall in love with places when on vacation, so much so that we usually check out real estate, chat extensively about spending more time in X area, and have nearly moved out the country a few times.
Sugarbush is an awesome mountain, I believe the largest on the east coast. It has a variety of terrrain, and although the mountain isn’t comeplety open yet, we found planty of places to explore. The surrounding areas are full of quaint shops, restaurants and bars. We were amazed by the amount of good dining options to choose from in such a small mountian area. Every restuarant you walk into proudly serves beer brewed locally, and food grown, raised and produced locally, not becasue it’s the ‘trendy’ thing to do, but because it is the way a small mountain community survives year in and year out. While the concept of locally produced food is becoming more mainstream nationally it is ingrained in the fabric of the Vermont society, on every level.
On our first night in the Mad River valley, we were headed to have dinner at a local french restaurant when we were hit by a deer. I say we were hit, because she came out of nowhere and smashed into the drivers side of my car. She was a huge doe and did a decent amount of damage to my little Prius. Luckily we came out unscathed, and it seemed as though she got away unharmed as well. I have never been in car accident with a large animal, and I don’t think I will ever forget seeing her face hit our windsheild. After out accident, we headed back towards our room and bellied up at the cozy bar at Hyde Away, for some nerve soothing wine and grub. We met so many cool people while at the bar, and heard every locals deer story. We met an awesome couple from Jersey who ended up showing us around Sugarbush the next day, and celebrating Mr. Man’s birthday with us.
We made the best out of a not so ideal situation, had a blast, met really cool people, and found the only bar that served fernet in the Valley.
At the bar in Hostel Tevere, where we celebrated and introduced our new friends to Fernet, this hung on the wall. All we do is have fun all the time. I love this. It is perfectly inline with my intentions for 2014, and always a great reminder.
