Kelsey's Back at UNH

On Sunday, I flew Kelsey back to the University of New Hampshire for the second semester of her freshman year. It was GREAT to have her home. It made for even teams and I was no longer a man without a country in my own home. She'll be home again in March, but only for a few days -- she plans to spend part of her spring break out at Butler University in Indiana visiting her boyfriend Dave Flynn.

We flew to Portsmouth in the morning, landing just before noon. The weather was overcast and grey, but we quickly got above the clouds and it got better as we flew northeast. We landed in clear conditions at Pease International airport. A big storm was due to hit home around 5pm, so I was anxious to get back to HPN as early as possible. Kelsey's friend Kyle met us at the airport and drove her back to campus. I was back in the air within 15 minutes and glad to be heading home. We'd had a 25 knot tailwind on the trip up to Portsmouth, but now I was flying into that same wind so it made for slow going. The weather got progressively worse as I flew southwest and within 30 minutes I was inside the clouds flying on instruments. The temperature was right around 0 degrees celcius so I was concerned about icing. Fortunately, I didn't encounter any and the trip gave me a chance to practice my instrument flying. To my surprise, I was very sharp on the gauges and flew with great control. My Bi-annual flight review is coming later this month, so that bodes well for me to pass with flying colors.

Four hours door to door -- I got home just in time for the AFC Championship game on television. Too bad the Jets couldn't keep their streak alive. It was a fun game to watch and the NFC Championship game was even better. Not a bad Sunday.

Christmas Break in Canada

We’ve never really gone anywhere over Christmas break. Our typical family routine has been to hang around the house and play with our new stuff. Mary Beth usually takes some time off from work and I will usually take the day before or the day after Christmas, but never the entire week. Our big traveling family vacation has typically been during the February school holiday or occasionally the Easter break.

This year was different. Because Kelsey is now in college, she has a different school break schedule than the local school system which makes vacationing as a family challenging. Perhaps because our trip to Mont-Tremblant had been so much fun last year, she wanted to go again with our entire family and her boyfriend’s family as well. Our only option for this was to go over the Christmas break. I found a house big enough for all of us – again using the greatest realtor in the Laurentian Mountains, David Coderre. We planned to leave Saturday, the day after Christmas and stay until the following Saturday, Jan. 2nd; spending the New Year holiday with our neighbors to the North.

The weather was a major challenge to this year’s trip. It rained in Tremblant on Christmas Day and was forecast to rain on both Saturday and Sunday as well. Our Saturday drive to Mont-Tremblant should have taken 7 ½ hours, but ended in Plattsburgh, NY after only 5. David Coderre called to tell us the roads around Montreal and up into the mountains were becoming impassable due to freezing rain and we should not continue over the border. Better to wait until the next day. We found cheap accommodations at a Days Inn, ate at Applebee’s, bowled 2 games at the local lanes and caught the 9pm showing of The Blind Side. We were on our way again at 6am on Sunday and arrived at the house by 9:30am. We skied Sunday afternoon in a light rain and fog. Monday brought temperatures 25 degrees colder with sub-zero Fahrenheit wind chills at the top of the mountain. The conditions were fair, but 1/3 of the trails were closed due to the rain and the glades were all closed off. The weather stayed very cold and overcast for the next 3 days. By Thursday, it warmed a little and Friday was the nicest day with temperatures in the mid-twenties. The drive home on Saturday was relatively uneventful, but part of it was made in a snow storm.

I learned a few things from this trip:

• The week between Christmas and New Years is 40% more expensive than February
  
• In February, U.S. schools have one of two different weeks off and Canadian’s aren’t on break, which helps dramatically with the crowds.
• Reservations at restaurants and activities are nearly impossible during Christmas week.
• A larger crowd makes skiing easier because groups of equally capable skiers can split up without leaving anyone alone.

We skied 5 days, took 1 day off to go snow tubing and went on an evening 2-horse open sleigh ride. In all, it was a good trip but I don’t think I would do it again. For me, February is the best month to be in Mont-Tremblant.

Videos:
The house in Canada
Base Lodge
Snow Tubing 1
Snow Tubing 2
Snow Tubing 3