On the hill: Staycation, all I ever wanted
The Aspen Times
Aspen, CO, Colorado
ASPEN – Re-entry is brutal, and I hardly left the Roaring Fork Valley for spring break. But I did manage to enjoy one heckuva staycation.
With funds being tight this year, and my paid vacation already blocked on the work calendar, I decided to still take the week off and just stay home this spring break. This meant 10 full days to fill with, well, what other people do when they visit the Rocky Mountains in winter.
We skied – seven out of 10 days. We apres-skied – just about as many days as we skied. We hot-tubbed – on as many days as we had access to a hot tub. It was spectacular.
And the icing on the cake of this staycation? Two nights and three days in Beaver Creek, as real tourists.
Seriously, less than a two-hour drive, and we were on vacation for real. Like the previous days in Aspen, we skied, we apres-skied, we hot-tubbed. But in the Beav, there were no dishes in the sink calling my name; there were no random sightings of co-workers, kids’ teachers or acquaintances we had to make small talk with (sorry, we love you all, but …); we even left the dog behind.
And since the media folks over at Vail Resorts helped organize our stay, it was deluxe. My daughter got to have lunch with Lindsey Vonn; my son spent an entire afternoon tubing the Haymaker hill; the kids ice-skated while my husband and I sat by the firepit and watched; we ate and drank well – and slept even better. It was a taste of how other people spend their spring break in the mountains, and we liked it.
I’ve joked with friends returning from our staycation that I could really live in a ski town (even more so without a job, of course). Alas, I do live in Aspen, so … I guess I’ll have to plan a summer staycation just to be sure.
