How's your Aspen?

So I arrived at my friend Amanda's in Aspen to find, not the couch to sleep on as I was expecting, but an entire queen sized bed in my own room for the week. Thank you Amanda & Jenah! After settling-in, we went on a tour of the town and had some dinner. The next morning I was heading up the gondola to start my first proper mountain ski day in a very long time. It was a perfectly clear sunny day, and I was more than relieved that I was still able to ski the steep bits after 10 years. Tired and happy, I headed home for a quick bite to eat then out for a drink or two with the locals. Day 2 was much like day 1: Amanda and I ripped it up in the morning, and just like that, two fantastic ski days were behind me.
Day 3 called for rain, so we did what anyone would do in that situation: We went dog sledding. Up bright and early, we put on our parkas and mukluks and sat ourselves into a sled pulled by 8 beautiful strong dogs. After only one spill (thanks Joe), some snow angel making, and some really fast turns around tight corners, we arrived back at the chalet for a gourmet meal including elk steak! So what next on a rainy day? North to mile 56 on the highway, we did a quick change in the car on the shoulder and scrambled down the rain-soaked rocks to where the natural hot springs flow into the stream. Though hot at times, the spring was wonderfully refreshing, and after 90 minutes was difficult to part with. What a great way to spend a rainy day!
2 more days of solid skiing (thank you Janine & Erica) meant that my legs (read: 80-year-old knees and hips) were complaining. I decided I’d had my last ski on the mountain, and was more than content with my 4-great days. There was, in fact, only one thing that would have gotten me up the hill that fifth morning…….. A text from Amanda at 7:30am informing me of the 8 inches of fresh powder that had fallen the night before……… Alas. Well 4 more hours never hurt anyone. I skied out the fresh snow; took one last run on Walsh’s, and headed home to pack and prepare for my last night. Meeting a few friends for some tacky-Aspen-style Apres, we had a little taste of the true Aspen Experience. A final night on the town with my new friends, it was a perfect week-long ski holiday; I now remember why I loved living at a mountain 10 years ago………. No I still wouldn’t go back.
No holiday can be perfect, and I paid for my first 7-days of perfection on my last. High winds meant that my flight out of Aspen was cancelled. I piled into a taxi with 5-others to Denver (beautiful drive by the way) only to miss my connecting flight and be put on standby for another at midnight. Unfortunately, that flight was full and I spent the night sleeping at the gate waiting for the next one to leave at 6am. Arriving in Washington for my stopover, I was scolded by the woman at duty-free, though caught my last leg to Toronto without much difficulty. In Toronto at the baggage carousel, I found my luggage and skis were safely waiting for me back in Washington, destined to arrive 24-hours late. Home at last; yes it was worth it.