CD That's Me

[SING OUT LOUD] “Oh give me a home where the buffalo roam, and the deer and the antelope play.” (There is a deer playing in this picture, make sure you click on it to enlarge the photo.)

Park City = by winter, a western state luxury, destination resort for powder skiing and mountain wonderland for the avid outdoors man in the summer. Sounds like just the kind of vacation place for this city rat. I can run miles in heels, power shop in less than 30 minutes and organize an event for thousands blindfolded, but sad to say, I am not the outdoorsy type and I am not a good skier. Not to mention, I have never really been out west (unless of course the Four Seasons in Vegas counts). I do not own a pair of hiking boots and my mountain bike boasts a zillion cob webs in my garage. Yet, each time I have visited Park City, I have had more fun than a barrel of monkeys.

My very first time was this past January – I went to see Sarah and GT’s new home and to brush up on my skills on the slopes. My last time on skis was over 5 years ago in Vermont. I thought I did great. The other three on this particular trip to Twin Farms informed me it was really a hill that I had “completely and totally mastered” and reminded me that I was on a private um,,,hill, with a private instructer and accompanied by a professional hockey player who made it all look so easy. Anyway, out west, I too had a private instructor and was supported by my dear girlfriend Sarah. After a half day lesson I was ready to tackle those double blues. And in case of an emergency (ie I find myself completely out of control and/or with my tips pointing straight downhill) I can strike quite the bullfighter pose if needed. Needless to say, I was quite skilled in the apres ski rituals and loved the lodge at Deer Valley. Big fire, yummy wine, great people watching. . . see this was my type of place.

Second time was a couple of weeks ago right after July 4th weekend – once again to see Sarah and GT but this time to share in their wedding day! I was a bridesmaid, or as Sarah insisted on calling us, a friend of honor. So with all my “bridal I mean friend of honor duties,” I did not get that much time to explore the mountains in the summertime (I really wanted to try zip-lining in Olympic Park. . .so maybe next time) but I did manage to see a few critters that I don’t get to see every day here in Beantown or on Cape Cod. Every night driving home we would see a few deer and one morning I saw two elk (deer with goatees) just strolling right in front of the house. And I swear the bunny rabbits out there are bigger than some medium size dogs. The last day we saw a moose. Now that was pretty cool, although poor giant creature was injured. Don’t worry, we called highway patrol and reported, “there is a moose down on Rte 150.” Again, not a typical call to make living in the city.

I had a blast.

The wedding was gorgeous, the bride stunning and the views breath taking. It truly made me want to be more of an outdoorsy type. And even tried organizing a group one morning to take a power walk with me. Let me tell you, you get winded out there and pretty quickly.

But most importantly, we had a great time with the newlyweds and their friends and family. And bonus, I got Mr. Even Less of the Outdoorsy Type to promise me that we would go back in the winter so I could once again hone up on my ski skills and so that he could wait for me by that big old inviting fire in the lodge.