Christmas 2010

We are in our new place.  ["We", by the way of this blog, refers to my family and I.  My family being my wife, 17 year-old son, and 13 year-old daughter.  But I digress...]

We drove up in the Pilot, which was crammed to its limit.  We brought up about twice as much food as we did last year.  And here we are in our new place, which is steps away from the food market in Margaretville.  Our old place was 4 miles up the dairy farm route out of Fleishmanns.

This place is nice.  It is a loft above the Galli-Curci Theater in Margaretville.  I am looking out its big windows at the main street of Margaretville. It's almost 11 PM and it is light outfrom the store lights,and the Christmas lights.  About three cars have gone by all day, since we got up here, so it is pretty deserted out there now.  From the loft you can look in the cross-the-street neighbors' upstares apartments.  This looks like a 1940's town from here.  If there were a little more snow, you could swear you were on the set of It's a Wonderful Life. Wow, there goes a car; so now it is four.

So looking out the big windows, left to right, there is the Rock, Minerals & Jewelry place, a dive bar with a sign so faded I can't even tell what it says, some kind of maybe leather coat store (it's dark), Main Street Jewelers & Watch Clock Jewelry Repair, Coffee Bar/Sandwich Shop Cafe, and The Cheese Barrel.

When I came up here in late August to checkout out this place I ate lunch in the Sandwich Shop Cafe, and bought Wasabe nuts in the Cheese Barrel.  It was Margaretville's street fair day.  It was sunny and beautiful.  I went for a trail run/hike.  It was an impressive day on many counts: this place was impressive, the town was impressive, lunch was impressive, and the Giant Ledges run/hike was impressive.  I guess that is what led me to go the full fare for renting this place straight through from today through the last weekend in February.

My daughter and I had one ski day so far, last Sunday at Belleayre.  It was great because of the lack of crowds.  I skied onto the lift every run and got my ski legs back by lunchtime.  I was beat from the bumps.  I was surprised that I was not in as good skiing shape as I had been last March.  Actually, I was sort of worried, because in past years my running and cycling has brought me into ski season feeling much more fit for skiing than I felt last weekend.

There hasn't been any big hits of snow yet this winter up here.  All the open terrain at Belleayre so far is from artificially blown snow.  It usually isn't too crowded the day after Christmas Day up here.  But I predict it will crowd up by Tuesday because there is a big dump coming starting tomorrow afternoon.  Forecast is for 24 hours of snow totaling up to 18 inches in Central Jersey, ironically, but "7 inches or more" up here.  I am hoping that means at least 10-12 inches on the mountain.  Monday is going to be POWDER DAY!