Vail - Feb 2015

Vail

Continuing with our annual tradition of having a ski weekend with Rakesh, Simran and Ria, this year we decided to go to Vail and chose to go a little earlier in February to avoid the President's Day weekend rush.  We picked them up late on Thursday night at the airport and drove out to Vail where we checked into our hotel, Ritz Carlton Residences.  We got a two bedroom with a kitchen and living room - the suite was bigger than the one in Beaver Creek and the service was great.  The only downsides were that the second bedroom only had one full bed so Ria had to sleep on the pull out sofa and that there was not much of a social scene at the hotel.  We arrived after midnight so we quickly unpacked and went to sleep.

Shawna and Simran

On Friday, the boys and Ria had to rush out the door to get ski passes and rentals and to register Ria in ski school before they met up with Nancy for their own private instruction.  Ria ended up with only one other kid in her class so she got some great attention.  Meanwhile, Keith and Rak said they learned quite a bit and improved their technique - either that or they felt like they had to say this given how much they spent on private lessons!  Shawna went to the gym in the morning and then Simran and Shawna went on the Vail Food Walking Tour which included food tastings at 6 places as well as a bit of history about Vail.  The food was yummy and the history was interesting.  After the tour, they picked up groceries and met the others back at the condo.  We had a drink in the lobby at the hotel bar and then went back to the room to cook and relax there.  Shawna made a Moroccan lamb meatball dish with couscous and pita/hummus for a snack.

Food Walking Tour

On Saturday, Ria was not feeling great in the morning - we all thought she was bluffing so her parents told her that she would have to pay them back for the ski school that had been pre-booked which got her motivated to get up and go to ski school.  Turns out she was not bluffing as she got sick on the mountain and we had to bring her back to the room where she rested that evening and the entire next day.  Shawna got a massage at the Arrabelle Resort in the morning and then Shawna and Simran met the boys for lunch at The 10th Vail which is in mid-Vail at the top of Gondola One.  We shared a lamb chili and caesar salad.  It was here that we got the news about Ria being sick so we took her down the gondola and back to the room.  That evening, Simran made a yummy pasta dish and we chilled out in the room with some wine.

Sara and Keith

On Sunday, the boys skied while Ria rested in the room.  Keith ran into Sara on the mountain so they did a few runs with her.  Shawna worked out and then grabbed lunch for Simran and Ria at Blue Moose Pizza.  We then packed up the room and relaxed until the boys returned for us to check out and leave the hotel.  We drove back home - took a bit longer due to traffic - and chilled out at our house before we drove them to the airport.  We got some take out at John Holly's which was pretty good and then looked at old photos on the TV.

The weekend went by too fast - the weather was great and the boys really enjoyed the skiing.  Shawna and Simran didn't have as many trips to plan but enjoyed relaxing and catching up.