Skiing in Breckenridge

In early February, Tim, I and a few of Tim's friends from work headed out to Breckenridge, CO for the first ski trip of the year. I was so excited to be back on skis again. This winter I really felt the pain of not being in Calgary where I was only a 2 hour drive from the ski hills. Getting on a plane for 3 hours and lugging all your stuff around does not have the same appeal that's for sure.

We stayed right at the base of the hill in a place called The Village Hotel which was great. Rolled out of bed and onto the slopes. One of the first noticeable things about Breck is how high it is. The base is 9,600ft so you certainly feel it. I'm not super fit at the moment and even walking across the car park was a little strenuous! I'm pretty sure that Breckenridge has the honour of the Highest Chairlift in North America. You really feel this when you are only there for the weekend, without too much time to acclimatise.

Breck has a gorgeous base village, a pretty Main St decorated with copious amounts of fairy lights and brightly painted shops.

The skiing is pretty darn nice (Even if we didn't see the sun the whole weekend). The mountain is split into 9 different peaks, so there is something for everyone. The group I was with had two snowboarders, one first time skier and then Tim and I. Kimmie (The first time skier) spent her first day in lessons and then was tearing around the mountain, complete natural. Proud to say that Tim spent for time on skis this weekend that we had previously and we even managed to adventure around the mountain and too the other peak one day. There's pretty good beginner terrain. I was just happy to have ski's on my feet!

Christmas and New Years in the UK

So I spent just over a week back in the UK, mostly in Devon but we spent New Years Eve in London.

Wonderfully we got into the UK in between the snow storms, and it was actually our most on-time arrival in Devon from the US so far. Go Figure. We even packed an extra carry-on full of clothes thinking that it was highly likely that we would lose our luggage. Didn't happen thankfully.

The first few days were pretty busy. We didn't get to Devon until the 23rd December. We had our obligatory pasty at Paddington train station in London before standing (!) all the way down to Devon on the train. Got to love British Rail and the holidays, and to think that they are putting UP the fares. Madness.

First up on arrival to a VERY snowy England was the Simmons' Family Christmas Meal. Me, Tim, my brother, step-mum and my Dad's side of the family. Always great to see everyone even if it is only once a year.

Tim and I at my family's house in Devon and Christmas Day

Christmas Eve was spent at the bar that my brother Mike works in at the moment. Good grub there thanks bro and then in the Bell.
Christmas day was spent at Mums. Usual strange (but awesome) traditions of Champagne in the morning, Whiskey and Pork Pies (for Ken's Midland roots), presents, walk to the pub (which we skipped this year... ), much napping and then a turkey Christmas dinner.

Tim and my brother Mike during Christmas Dinner

My big present this year was a DSLR Canon Rebel T1i Camera from Tim and my Mum. It's awesome. I've been wanting a fancy camera for a while now and Tim has been making me put it off so that he can get me one for Christmas. I did, admittedly become a member of the paparazzi though over my time in the UK. I decided that I was determined to catch all the things that happen over Christmas that we just take as "normal" but then one day realise that we have no pictures of. I'm definitely having fun with it though. So far I'm still just trying to figure out what all the settings mean, but its such a nice camera sometimes nice ones just happen without me even trying. I'm all about black and white and portrait people photos at the moment. Watch this space for my new hobby!

Usually on Boxing Day (the day after Christmas), my brother and I go surfing. Last year we dragged Tim along too. Although this year we broke our reasonably long running tradition. There was snow on the ground and Mike had the flu... didn't seem like our most sensible idea ever. Although we did go for a nice walk on the beach instead. I really love going down to the sea in Devon. It's a beautiful part of the world if you ever get the chance to visit it you should. This does mean though that I haven't been surfing for a year and a half. Boo. Hawaii in April should make up for it!

Mum, Ken, Mike and Tim on Saunton Sands

Tim and I walking on Saunton Sands

Then we headed off to my Dad's for dinner. This has turned into quite the feast of lots of our favourite food and often results in us being pretty hammered... No less than 8 courses later, fun time was had by all.

Dad's flat for Boxing day dinner

The rest of the time in Devon was spent mostly lazing around, eating and of course, included the obligatory trip to Squires Fish and Chip shop and a trip to the Thatch for a pint. I got to drive my old car for the day too! So happy, haven't driven for at least a year and in my own little car too. Brilliant. Even with My Dad, Tim and Mike crammed into my little Fiesta. Good times.

Squires Fish and Chip Shop in Braunton

The Thatch Pub, Croyde

Dad and Mike looking over Croyde Beach

Our last night in Devon was spent in our local at The Bell for the quiz night. We weren't particularly good but it was great that for the first time in years my 3 childhood friends were all in the same place at the same time. Really great to see them, even if the first thing Neil said to me after hugging me was "Wow your accent has changed" and then walked off. Hmmmm. I guess it had to happen at some stage.

Tim and I then left Devon to spend New Years in London where we were to be joined by the lovely Miss Danielle. The very helpfully do lots of railworks on the route from Devon to London in between Christmas and New Year so we persuaded Mum to drive us up to London for a much more eventful than liked journey. Half way along the M4 motorway we had a puncture. Nightmare. Tim changed his first ever car tyre right there on the edge of the motorway! Eventually we made it to my cousin Jasper's house to meet his new addition baby Thorin.
Then Tim and I got a cab to our hotel to meet Danielle. After much of a cluster later, someone had already checked in as me and taken our room and then the next room they gave us already had someone in it, sigh. Much annoyance later we had a room in the hotel opposite Danielle.

Tim and Danielle outside Tim's favourite coffee shop in London

To top it all off at this point I seemed to have contracted Mike's bug and was developing a pretty hefty cold. Determined not to let everyone down I probably trekked around London for two days too long and made it worse, only to fly home on the 1st and have so much pain in my ears as we landed that I have been rendered useless with an ear and sinus infection for the last week, not able to go and join to my project in New York.

We spent New Year Eve itself in both the Winter Wonderland in Hyde park in the very impressive beer garden and in Covent Garden too. The crowds were too crazy to get too close to the London Fireworks so we saw the top of them over the buildings in Covent Garden, took part in an impromptu ring of people doing Auld Lang Syne and found a camper van full of hot Somerset Cider to hang out in. Pretty Good fun.

The cider van!

Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Danielle and I at Hyde Park Winter Wonderland

Now I'm back in Chicago spending the week here recuperating from my stupid cold and looking forward to the exciting year I already have planned! We are going skiing in Breckenridge for a weekend in early Feb, my Dad, Mike and step-mum are coming over to go skiing in Park City, Utah for a week and then a few days in New York on the way home, a week in Hawaii in April with Tim's family and two weddings to attend and thats just up to May! All very exciting!

Canada Vacation - Edmonton, Nelson and Calgary

During the last week of August Tim and I ventured back to Canada for what felt like a well earned week long vacation. The project that I was on at work since coming to Chicago had just finished and I was definitely in need of a break. In classic Anne and Tim vacation style, it involved lots of flying, good friends and hanging out with family. But this time it was Tim's!

We spent the first weekend in Edmonton, attending one of Tim's university friend's weddings. Theres a pretty large group of them that have been friends since collage and still meet up at each others weddings. They're a nice crowd and have been pretty friendly to me as the newcomer to the bunch. Some of them I've met a few times now and so that made it easier :-S. It was a lovely wedding and it was nice wandering round Edmonton seeing all the places that Tim used to hang out and work in during University and for a year or two afterwards. It was also blissfully cold in comparison to the boiling Chicago summer that we had been having.

Next stop was Nelson, which is in British Colombia where Tim's sister and parents are now living. To get there we had to fly Edmonton to Vancouver (which looks lovely must actually go there one time...), and then take a little plane to Castlegar which is in the heart of the southern BC Canadian Rockies. Tim's parents picked us up and then took us back to his sister Kim's gorgeous house. Kim and her Yorkshire husband Wes moved to Nelson from Alberta and picked an amazing spot. They have done their house up themselves (helps that Wes is an electrician) from what sounded like a dump initially, and now have a 3 story house with a wrap around deck, and a self contained basement that Tim's folks now live in. Tim's mum has done an amazing job on the garden which has a massive veg patch and loads of fruit trees, which, as this is serious bear country, get ravaged every night, much to their annoyance.

The house is located just up and across the road from the West Arm of the Kootenay Lake, a huge freshwater lake that runs down the middle of this part of the Rockies. They have an enviously slow paced, outdoorsy life. You can't help but be relaxed the minute that you get there. I could of quite happily stayed. Tim and I spent most of the week lying in the hammock on the deck, enjoying the sun and reading books. Fantastically self indulgent. We also ventured into Nelson itself to see the Farmer's Market, which turned into marvelling at how Nelson seems to have an awful lot of Hippies per square inch, possibly only challenged by Glastonbury Festival. As there have been lots of bears this summer Tim and I were too chicken to go out hiking, which would of been fun, but actually relaxing, and admittedly napping for an hour or two every day, seemed like a pretty good alternative. We also managed to go Kayaking one morning too. It was super hot while we were there so we dragged ourselves out of bed early enough that it was still cool. It was pretty windy and the lake was pretty choppy, I loved it, made me think I was at sea, Tim, not so much!

Tim's Mum also mothered us well, it was lovely to have some "mum cooking". It was really great getting to see Tim's family. He hasn't seen them much for a few years so it was good to just hang out. Wes and I had a lovely time bantering over the north/south English divide, and Kim and I are frighteningly similar despite the 12 or so years between us. It was just what we both needed.

Next stop was Calgary for the final weekend. I desperately wanted to catch up with old friends there on our way home. We had a pub night in my honour (hurrah!), organised by the awesome Miss Patricia, and a great turnout, it was amazing to see you all, I miss you all very much. It felt like a long long time ago that I lived there, despite the fact that it's only been 9 months. Lot's of life changes in that time I guess! Talking of which we had a great time catching up with the newly Canadianified JJ and his gorgeous fiancee Sara, seeing their new pad, eating at the Farm and catching up with Sara's little critters. Also the soon to be parents Jason and Andree (they had their gorgeous little boy just a few days after we left).

A lovely week away and great to see so many friends.

Vegas Baby!

My first trip to Las Vegas...

Tim won a place in the World Series of Poker Main Event, so I went out to visit while he was playing... 

Tim playing next to the Player of the Year, Frank Kasella. Courtesy of World Series of Poker website.

I flew in Friday evening, met Tim at our hotel, we were staying at the Rio, which is where the poker tournemant was. We pretty much headed straight out onto The Strip and settled on dinner in the mall attached to Planet Hollywood. I was in serious sensory overload, my eyes were like saucepans that whole first night, everywhere you look bright lights and noises. Most people seemed drunk and oddly tall. All was a bit much. Thankfully the next day I was "meh, another load of slot machines, another casino...".

The next day Tim was playing in Day 2. Our friends Suzie and Ian had also come to join us in Vegas to see Tim playing so they met us at the Rio down where the tournament was. I'm not sure what I was expecting of a poker tournament, maybe silent concentration, restricted access... It was pretty different. Huge rooms of thousands of people playing poker, the constant clinking of people fiddling with their chips. Most people were chatting with friends who were watching, playing on their iPhones, most looked pretty bored. I guess 12 hours of poker a day is a lot.... Suzie and Ian and I stayed for an hour or so marvelling at the madness of the whole thing and then decided to venture off, not knowing whether Tim would bust out and join us or not... 

The New York, New York.

It's seriously hot in Las Vegas. 42 degrees celsius during the day and not a lot cooler during the evening. Like being in an oven. We wondered around the malls, and looked at the famous Bellagio Lake. Tim and I had watched the fountain show the night before. It's pretty cool, apart from all the cheesy music. We then headed into the Bellagio, a spectacle in itself, and tried our hand at some gambling. Turns out Suzie has some freaky good luck and the roulette wheel. So that was pretty fun.

Ian and Suzie looking out over The Strip

The Paris Hotel

The botanic garden inside the Bellagio.

In the evening we went to see the Cirque de Soleil show, Zumanity at the New York, New York hotel..... It was, erm, interesting! Some impressively flexible and daringly crazy people thats for sure. Definitly adults only. ;-) Then we went to a lovely dinner at the Venetian. Tim was still in at this point, so I went back and met him afterwards to celebrate his successful day!

It was a flying visit to Las Vegas. Next time I definitly want to go to the "Old Vegas" part of town and see some random people getting married in an Elvis chapel and hunt down that famous Vegas Sign. Loved it though!

San Francisco - Anne's Birthday Trip May 2010

For my birthday this year Tim and I headed out to the west coast, to San Francisco. 

We flew out during the day on Friday, it was actually quite nice not to just rush from work to the airport on Thursday night like we normally would for a long weekend, but its does mean you lose most of that day, however we were much more relaxed!

We were staying at The Clift, a hotel that I had found on my latest obsession www.jetsetter.com. Turned out well. We were a few block from Union Square and the Trolleys. Once we got in we set off in hunt of some food for a picnic lunch the next day. We used the Trolleys, which although are a tourist trap and actually pretty handy to get around. We bought 3 day passes which turned out to be pretty worth the money. 

Those trolleys are mad, there is a poor brake guy with and actual giant lever on the back of the trolley, and is the only thing stopping you from flying down the super steep San Francisco hills. Rather him than me. We hopped off near China Town and wandered towards the Italian area, where we found lunch for the next day and a lovely bistro/cafe to sit in the sun and watch the world go by. Good espresso too.

Saturday (birthday day) was jam packed. We took the trolley down to Fisherman's wharf. I love being down by the sea, hanging out with boats and seafood is one of my favourite pastimes. We watched them turn around the trolley at the end of the track, amazing that they still just do it by hand, and then headed off towards the Golden Gate bridge for our picnic. It was an irritatingly hazy day (as I'm told it often is in San Fran), so we couldn't quite see the top of the bridge, but it was awesome to see it anyways.

After the trek there and back we went for a quick walk through Fisherman's wharf, lots of yummy looking crab and seafood stands. And of course the pier 39 Sealions.

We then jumped on the Ferry to Alcatraz Island. There is a great audio tour around the old prison island. It's amazing to imagine what it would of been like to of been there, both as a prisoner or as a guard or their family. You can even hear to sounds from the city from the Island, must of been tortuous on its own. There's a great view of the city from the ferry and from the island. We returned back to the hotel to discover we both were seriously sunburnt.... you would of thought we'd learnt by now. We met a bunch of Thoughtworkers that Tim and I are friends with for a birthday dinner. Awesome to see everyone again, and also to meet new people that I'd heard an awful lot about.

On Sunday I decided that I hadn't eaten enough of the seafood at Fisherman's Wharf so we headed back there for lunch in the Ferry Building. Really good fresh crab cakes and shrimp sandwiches. We then met up with Ian and Suzi and headed towards the Haight district. Forgetting that it was the Bay to Breakers fun run that day, the place was a mad house. Definitely a time to see the more erm eccentric side of San Francisco.

 We had a lovely time in San Francisco. A great place for eating! We didn't go to the Wine Country on this trip as we thought it would be too rushed, so I'm definitely looking forwards to that someday in the not too distant future hopefully.

Spring Skiing at Park City, Utah

We managed to get away for a final weekend of skiing before the season is over for the year. Yay!

We took off Friday and Monday and headed to Park City. Amazingly easy to get to. A three hour direct flight from Chicago to Salt Lake City and then a 40min drive up to the base of the ski hill. Added bonus was that Ryan and his now fiancee Helen were instructing at next door Deer Valley. Ryan, George and I shared a house together in New Zealand one season when we were all ski instructing. So it was great to catch up with them.

We were staying at Park City Mountain Resort in a little condo right at the base of the ski lifts. Tim was brave enough to let me help him learn to ski too so that was really awesome. After a few runs on bunny hill we were up and about exploring the mountain. There are some really good progressive greens meaning that even beginners are able to explore the mountain and not be confined to one or two runs. By the end of the three days Tim was pretty much parallel turning, yay!

The snow was surprisingly good for  end of March. I was expecting slushy, patchy spring snow, but what I got was fresh powder and some beautifully groomed solid snow. It was pretty quiet there too, no lift queues and there were many times when I went of skiing by myself, leaving Tim with a pint, where I was the only person on the run. Georgeanna and Tycoon were my favourite runs so far.

The facilities are great, lots of on mountain places to stop and eat or get a drink, good rental equipment for Tim. What I love about skiing in North America is its all about the "Customer Experience". People scrambling over you to help. 

We also spent a day at next door resort Deer Valley. Which is where Ryan and Helen work. Now that place is like a parallel skiing universe. I read a really entertaining article about it, which pretty much sums it up. http://www.deervalley.com/about/ski-magazine-deer-valley-goes-extreme.html

It's all about the Customer here. There are gourmet restaurants all over the slopes. Amazing dreamlike mountain lodges and gold taps in the bathrooms. Normally you walk into the public toilets at a ski resorts, and people are sweaty from skiing, kids have runny noses and it smells a bit funny. At Deer Valley there was one woman in there with GOLD Gucci ski pants and another doing her lipgloss. Nuff said.

The town of Park City was also really lovely. An old mining town, there was a great vibe and some good grub. There's a handy free shuttle bus that goes between all the ski resorts and the town. We had a really lovely time and I would definitely go there again.... next season...

I am so happy when I'm on top of a mountain. It was great to get away for the weekend, really felt like my blood doesn't go round properly unless I'm on snow.