December 28, 2001 through January 1, 2002.
We stayed in 4 small rustic cabins. In one were all the girls: Sarah Hadzor and Becca, Sarah Ross, Tory, and Katie. In another were the rest of the Ross Hadzors, including Susan, Tom, Tommy, Bobby, and Andy. In the third were Sandra, Don, David, and Jay. Jeff, I, and Banks had the fourth. They were a little too rustic for us, especially compared to the manor house at Glade Springs that we had last year. We joked that if we saw a Walmart, we would all pay for an area rug for each house for in front of the fireplace. None of the 4 lodges had a wine opener to our great disappointment, and Susan set out to find one at the Lodge. She was told that she could buy one at the gift shop. “We spent $1,000 on four cabins,” she responded, “and I will be back in 10 minutes to pick up a wine opener.” They had one ready for her. I think by the end there was agreement that these lodgings had two great advantages for our group: (1) we saved a lot of money ($2,000 or more) over Glade Springs, and (2) next year we will gladly pay the extra to be back at Glade Springs.
For two of the nights, Sarah Hadzor’s best friend Lisa joined us, driving down from Pennsylvania. She is about to start her last college semester at York College and is studying Math Secondary Education. She was a joy to have with us. On Sunday night (the 30th), Tom organized the dinner conversation seamlessly so that each adult talked about what they did professionally, ostensibly as a means of introduction to Lisa (the big girls add dinner with the adults, and the other kids ate in a separate cabin). However, I suspect it was as much as anything to further acquaint both Becca (who had joined us by the time a good bit of this conversation happened) and Sarah to career options and thoughts.
Although our Thomas Kincaid puzzle (one of Susan’s favorite artists :>) hardly fit on the small coffee tables in the cabin, we gave it a valiant effort. The kids enjoyed playing “Battle of the Sexes.” Perhaps it was as “winning” of an answer when the boys did not know the answer to the girlie questions as when they got it right. Howls of laughter ensued, however, when the boys were asked to finish the phrase, “A moment on the lips…,” and Bobby Hadzor immediately yelled with a pump fist flourish “…forever o the hips!”
The skiing was cold, but sunny. Due to a drought, the majority of the snow at Winterplace was blown – so much so that they had drained the lake from which they drew water to make snow, and they were recharging the lake to begin blowing again. Becca made the most of her time off reading books and sleeping late rather than skiing. Charlotte did the same on Monday (Day 2), but the rest of the crowd made the most of the 3-day ski lift passes and equipment rentals given generously by Bill Bright. Bobby snowboarded with great skill, a feat that no one else tried to master this trip. Katie seemed to have overcome her fear of doing difficult slopes, at one point barreling straight down a fairly difficult blue almost right into the Mountain House lodge. Jay couldn’t wait to snowtube.
