Park City Life

I know, I said the last postcard from Park City would be the last, but life goes on here and it can be fun. But this is the last one as we will likely head home this weekend after one last week skiing.

Marley now has his own Park City Mountain season lift pass even if he doesn't have skis, boots and poles. PCM will make a season pass for your dog, with their picture on it, and if scanned, will give your contact information. Pretty cool and very nice of PCM to provide our local dogs with such ID. So, if Marls was too cool with his Sundance ID, he can now proudly wear his ski pass at all times.

As you know, we bring our cat Edwina (Eddie) with us, and she is a pretty good traveler. At home she is an inside/outside cat with her own door. Here she has to have a "door bitch" to let her in and out. Wednesday night, she went outside and Joel forgot she was out there and went to bed. Come morning he realized his potential error but wasn't sure if she came in or not. Tiny tracks in the 2 inches of fresh snow on the deck confirmed she had not been let inside. Joel was a little beside himself for potentially freezing his kitty to death and immediately got dressed to perform a search and rescue. But, when he went to go outside, she was waiting patiently, none the worse for wear, seemingly warm, but very hungry. Finally, she had a reason to sleep all day and was ready to go outside again by evening. I think she wants a door bell though.

Pictured here are myself, Marley and Cinco de Dogo (Lou's fifth dog) digging around in the snow. I stupidly decided to walk out without snow shoes and my two "rescue" retrievers were worthless. Marley will hug you while you freeze and Cinco will attempt to dig his way to China, even if he doesn't know where that is. Actually, I had thrown a rope toy by accident over the fence and was attempting to help Cinco recover it before he had a nervous breakdown from Compulsive Dog Disorder. He had to have his toy back but he couldn't and wouldn't go over the fence.

And of course we've been on the Rail Trail, where Cinco loves to haul out tree trunks from the freezing river.

We have had several dinner parties, one with our patented Chipotle Tri Tip and the other, my Spicy Fish Stew over steamed rice. We entertained the Mayor of Daniel, Utah and his bride, Merry (this is actually Mike and Merry Duggin) and the Beers, Bob and Kris. Bob left for the Olympics in Vancouver on the 5^th for the entire month as an Olympic volunteer official. We'll have to keep an eye out on TV for him. Deer Valley will have to struggle along without him. But, if you need a hot cup of latte, stop by the Deer Valley Snow Lodge coffee shop and Barista Kris will be happy to make it for you.

Pictured here is a lovely dinner party at Nancy's house.

Wednesday, we had a treat. Kris, Bob, Joel and I drove up to the Empire Lodge in Deer Valley for their Fireside Dinner. The Lodge has these huge wood burning fireplaces going full steam. In the lobby is the dessert fireplace where there are chocolate, caramel and white chocolate fondues and a Chocolate pudding.

The first fireplace after you are seated is the Raclette station where you get a hot plate of fresh melted cheese, then a table with all the traditional condiments that go with your cheese. Cornichons, dried meats, breads, steamed baby potatoes…it was all there. My favorite.

Then you head to the next room's fireplace where they are serving three different stews in large cast iron Dutch ovens. The veal and mushroom was very good. There is a table with salads and such, but since I am not good with buffets, I go for the proteins and not the rabbit fare.

Once you have loosened your belt and such, it was time for the Lamb station. Hanging in front of the fire are legs of lamb that are then carved up to your order. There is also Mountain Mac and Cheese, which is a not low calorie/no cholesterol and is wonderful. Everyone raved over the lamb, but not being a lamb aficionado, I tried some and passed on it. I went back to the Raclette station.

Last, we got to go to the dessert station that we had been hovering over while waiting to be seated. That was really good, especially with the Tobin James we brought and the Malbec Kris and Bob brought. They served some decaf you would swear was real.

Skiing has been quite good. The other day we stopped at a yurt on the mountain with a great view. We sipped a beer and enjoyed the sunshine in 29°F air. The runs that day were groomed so nice off the Crescent chair and we had it all to ourselves. We skied until our legs were burning up, which now is about 2+ hours. Where does it go? Pictured here is my run down Willy's, a great black diamond that is steep, but actually groomed once in awhile. Fantastic.

President's Day weekend brought the crowds coming into town. Tonight (Friday) we are going to Adolph's, a long time PC restaurant for an early Valentine's Dinner. We don't even want to try to go out on Sunday here. It's been snowing on and off all day, with about 6 inches of fresh snow on the deck.

Tuesdays, being Fat Tuesday, Kris Beer is doing a Cajun Night and all I have to do is come up with an hors de oeuvre. No problem.

Next year we're going to bring the Porsche, since this image shows it can be done. Of course I'm not sure where the dog, cat, 8 cases of wine and assorted other bags of crap would actually go. But, it's an idea.

Other than that, it is another day in Park City….someone has to do this.

Off to home.

Sundance Ends; Skiing Continues

Sundance has come to an end. The big winner was "Winter's Bone" and the audience favorite was "Happythankyoumoreplease" by Josh Radnor of "How I Met Your Mother" the TV series. It was quite good actually.

"Winter's Bone" was a good movie once you got into it. Set in the Ozarks in winter, it is the story of a very strong 17 year old girl, the eldest child with two young siblings, whose mother is beyond depressed and dad is missing while on bond for cooking crank. The story is her search for him among her "extended" family as he has skipped on his bond and used the house and timber they own, the last thing they own, for collateral. It is bleakly filmed, well acted and makes you want to book your next vacation in the Virgin Islands, not the Ozarks.

Friday night I watched most of "Howl" which is about the obscenity trial and adult life of poet Allan Ginsburg. That was a really good movie and now I can understand why they had such other movies as "Killer Inside Me" for instance. Obscenity. Do not forget that the actions, prosecutions and arrests of people like Allan Ginsburg and Lenny Bruce for instance, expanded and clarified the First Amendment rights of not just entertainers, comedians and porn film makers, but writers and each of us to see and read what we want. And let's not forget Linda Lovelace either as a pioneer of sorts.

Right: Working the balcony at Eccles

Which reminds me, Harry Reams lives and works as a realtor in Park City, but I digress….

As "Killer" exemplifies, being filmed and released doesn't make it good, just legally okay to see and make something as art.

Friday also brought us "The Kids Are Alright" with Annette Bening, Julianne Moore and Mark Rufalo. Bening and Moore are a lesbian married couple (I know it is hard to fathom and takes a few minutes to grasp) with two children who were the result of artificial insemination with Mark Rufalo's sperm. The oldest daughter finds him, meets him and he insinuates himself into their life as a family. It is a funny, believable movie about marriage, family and the modern family and, the fact it is a lesbian couple becomes almost invisible at times. The movie was bought while showing here and you should see it in theaters soon. Expect Bening and Moore to contend for Oscars they say…probably Rufalo and the daughter, actress Mia Wasikowska as well.

Upper Right: Kris Beer and Joel at the top of Deer Valley

We have had lots of snow. Last night while working a shift that lasted two movies, it snowed at least 6 inches on the truck in the parking lot. Dry, fluffy snow. This morning it is clear and a crisp 14° F out with blue sky and brilliant sunshine. It is a skiing kind of day here.

Marley and Cinco (Lou's 5 year old Yellow Lab) are chomping at the bit to go walk the Rail Trail. There is a creek alongside it and Cinco is determined to jump into the freezing water and retrieve sticks that he considers invaluable. Marley watches, takes the stick from Cinco and thinks he is a nut job for going skinny dipping in freezing water when the temperature is below freezing as well. Cinco, well, is Cinco, and he thinks it is quite normal and wonders why Marley is such a prude.

Left: Creek on the Trail

Now that Sundance is over, it is time for me to buckle down and use my 5 punch gym card Nancy has arranged for me and go skiing more. It helps not coming home from "work" at midnight, or later, and then taking an hour or so to settle down and sleep. I am usually in bed by 9 pm, so this really shakes me up schedule wise.

I highly suggest if you love movies and want to work Sundance, to apply with them online for next year's Festival. I will volunteer again, as I have met many people, seen famous people up close, seen both great and bad movies and everything in between and just had fun.

I have included some "Icicle Art" as the icicles are pretty neat here at Lou's house. There is one that goes up two stories to the roof and goes to ground level. It is about 1 foot thick at the top. Given some of the weather extremes we have had, the porch lost some of its icicles and when they fell, randomly, they made a nice little art exhibit in the fresh snow.

Icicles up close are very unique and fun to look at. The light comes through them in interesting ways given all the cracks that develop. The shapes as they melt and freeze are fun as well.

Upper Left: This is one of Lou's Marmot's during summer; Below: Eddie hunts

No one is messing with the big one for fear of being stabbed, blowing out a nearby window or ripping the eave off the top floor of the house. We'll let it sort itself out for now.

And yes there are marmot's here as the image from summer verifies. They live under the deck apparently. That and Magpies, keep Eddie riveted.

That's it from Park City. Next stop will be Salt Cay in March and some more adventure tales in

Vietnam when road trips get slow.