I am counting down the minutes to my departure from Jacksonhell, FL, and my return north to spend time with my squeeze and to once again ride the slopes of Killington. Pico opened last weekend so we might hit it on Sunday. I wonder what Beer Mountain is like this weekend. Yes, I said it again…Beer Mountain.
I wish there were a way to control time. I would speed it up to the point where Melanie and I arrive in Killington then slow it down over the weekend so the time together seems to last forever.
Met up with Melanie in DC for the Murphy’s holiday party. Good times and good friends. My friend Tom from Memphis joined us for the party, and long time friends from St. Louis now DC area residents Linda and Jeff stopped by for a while. Always great seeing them.
The traveling thing has Melanie and I really busy lately. A typical 7 to 10 days will have both of us in up to 5 different cities. For example, my schedule has me back in Jacksonville, FL on Monday, Killington, Vermont for the weekend, followed by Memphis, then NYC, and finally Sunday River, Maine. Melanie will be home in PA, back to Killington, NYC, Paris, and Sunday River as well but I am not sure of the order of her schedule. And next month is shaping up to be more of the same but with different destination cities.
So see ya at the airport terminals…
It’s time to call in sick. Killington got 8 to 10 inches of fresh pow over night and it is still falling. Stowe got 4 inches over night. And the trees are starting to change colors here in Florida. Something is not right.
I have return to rainy Florida after attending the first ever DGB Killington Weekend. What a great weekend! Skiing and riding, beer and pizza. What more can a group of guys ask for?
We shredded slopes of Killington from peak to peak Saturday including Beer Mountain, and threw back a few cold ones at the Outback for apre’ ski. We ended the night with a few rounds of Beirut where Team Andy and Josh took the first game only to be stomped by Team Fernado and Kirby, who were calling their shots and landin’ em in game two. But the match would be won by Team Andy and Josh who were landing double sinkers and clearing the other end of the team in a matter of minutes.
Sunday was a return to the Killington slopes with a smaller crowd and better snow conditions. The snow was falling and there were wind gusts so strong that I almost fell over a couple of times. Andy was slammed to the ground by an out of control snowboarder. Fernado was working on technique. And Josh and I were making plans to take out the other two on the lifts.
Overall it was a great time with great guys.
Today was fun travel day for me. My day began at 5:30 am packing. A quick breakfast at the hotel and a call from Melanie. I love it when she calls even if I don’t always sound like I do when I answer the phone. She called to say that her flight from Paris to New York was delayed by at least an hour. This should have given me a clue to my own flight situation but it didn’t.
7:40 am, I am at the customer site. I wrap up for the day, make a few phone calls, and head off for the airport around 10:15 am. Going through Jacksonville’s airport was a breeze. I decided not to check my bag because I knew I would be rushed at LGA transferring to the Delta Shuttle to Boston. Little did I know at the time, this would be my smartest move of the day.
From JAX to ATL (Atlanta for those who don’t know the airport codes). I land in terminal B and I must rush to terminal T for my connecting flight. The plane is scheduled to leave in 30 minutes so I am rushed. I just missed the first train to so I continue walking. Ah, another train stop for terminal T. I jump on but the train does not move. I wait. I continue waiting. I wait even more. I get off the train and start walking again. No time to waste on a downed train.
I finally make it to terminal T and my gate only to find out that my plane to New York has been delay by more than an hour. Ground delays at all NYC airports I am told. A carry over from yesterday’s snow and ice storms. And I bet the same reason that Melanie was delayed.
Great. I am ultimately going to Boston today, not New York. I am joining the others from the Davis Boys Crew. The plan is for me to meet up with Josh in Boston then connect with Fernado in New Hampshire.
Okay, so I get the wacked idea to talk to the Delta agent at the gate to see if I can make it to NYC any other way. No luck. But than I mention, “Well, I am flying back to NYC on business but non-reving from LGA to Boston. Any chance of getting me to Boston.” “Do you have any checked bags?” she asks. Nope, and lucky for me, my flight to New York was over booked. So getting me on another plane was a win-win situation for all. The wonderful Delta agent started pounding the keyboard and hooked me up.
Instead of flying to NYC, I took my final leg on the business trip to DC Reagan. Then I non-reved to Boston on Delta’s new DC/Boston shuttle. And she didn’t even bother to adjust the cost. How cool is that!?!
So thanks to Delta airlines and to my most excellent girlfriend Melanie, for whom I owe thanks for the companion pass which allows me to do last minute non-rev travel, I am not only going to make it to Boston but I will be getting there much earlier than expected.
Oh, I just realized I never mentioned why I am heading to Boston. To join da boys for a DGB weekend riding Killington. Bye, bye sunny, warm Florida. Hello cold temps and white, fluffy pow. Ookay, it’s the Ice Coast. How about white, packed pow? Either way, it’s snow and I am on the way.
By the way, snow covered DC looks really cool…especially the mall.
A lot has happened since my last posting. My freebord came in but it has yet to touch cement. I have been away since its arrival and now I’m afraid Melanie will be riding it before me. Of course, maybe I can bring it with me on my trips to Florida.
Florida? Why am I in Florida when the snow is in Vermont? First, let me take a step back and recap the events since my last posting.
I was in Charlotte, NC a week and a half ago to visit my friend Dave. He is on the road to recovery but still has a ways to go. Please keep him in your thoughts. I left Charlotte to meet my mom at the Cincinnati, OH airport. This was a surprise meeting for my mom who was not expecting me to join her on her last leg to New York. We flew back to NYC together with plans to drive up to Killington, VT the next day.
Well, wouldn’t ya know. Melanie got stuck in Paris because of the air traffic controller strike. This delayed our drive up to Vermont for a day. But she finally returned to New York, and mom and I picked her up at JFK. We headed straight to Killington to meet up with the rest of the Davis family.
Killington was great. Spending time with my mom, Melanie, and her family was very nice. And not only was the turkey delicious but it snowed. Boy did it snow. I hit the slopes twice during the visit but missed the big dump on Sunday. That’s okay because I am returning to Killington Friday night.
“You still haven’t answered the question, what are you doing in Florida?” Sorry about that. So you see, during all this fun I was asked to call a potential customer to gain a better understanding of the technical skills needs. Before making the call, I was told to sale myself to the customer, which I did. And so now I am staffed in Jacksonville, FL for the next few weeks. I went for 20 degree temps and a couple of feet of new snow to short sleeve weather with lots of sun. Who knows? I may visit the beach later this week before returning to Vermont this weekend.
Got my freebord in today! But unfortunately it is raining so it may be a few days before I can try it out.
Popular Mechanics has a good article on the Freebord.
Okay, so I am reading every piece of information I can find on the Freebord thinking to myself I gotta get me one of these things. (Freebord is a snowboard for the streets.) Then I start thinking Manhattan is too flat. I need some hills and less traffic before I will ride the slopes of Manhattan. Beside a skateboard is more idea for urban riding. But than I found this web called LongBoardMaps.com. Go figure. The Internet has everything. And sure enough, there is a list of runs in Manhattan. And I know there is little downtown traffic late at night. Now I just need a crew to ride with ‘cause riding alone is just not as much fun.