vermont Archives - Page 4 of 6 - My Healthy, Happier Life

ashleyd / December 20, 2012

Vermont Skication

This year, my holidays are split into three parts:

Vermont Skication with my aunt and uncle
Family Christmas in Vermont with the Rudolph, Diamond and Myer families
St. Croix with friends

Since Tuesday evening, I’ve enjoyed lots of quality time with my Aunt Rusty and Uncle Randy both at home and on the slopes.

Yesterday, after a quick 4 mile run and weights session at their local gym, my uncle and I headed to the Bromley Mountain for a few hours of skiing. While Bromley is definitely smaller than Stratton, where we normally ski, it was a great place to get back in the groove after 9 months off skis. The weather was overcast and mild, reaching 35 degrees by mid afternoon.

I didn’t want to get too warm so I only wore the OUC Half Marathon technical t-shirt and Nike running tights, which were unlined, under my ski pants and ski jacket. I also discovered that Pro Compression socks make awesome ski socks!

We did a few runs together warming up before he headed for the black diamonds and I spent the day skiing solo on the green trails. Oddly enough, I really enjoy skiing on my own. I love taking in the sights, enjoying the cold, fresh air, and focusing on practicing the skills I’ve learned during the past two years of lessons.

Bromley randomly had really cute, wildlife cartoon signs along all the trails.

After a day of skiing I was pretty exhausted. Therefore, since I was in charge of dinner last night, I went with the simplest thing I know how to make that always delivers: roasted chicken. I followed my normal perfect roast chicken recipe and made a salad and reheated the previous night’s roasted root vegetables while the chicken cooked.

The chicken turned out wonderfully and both my aunt and uncle enjoyed it along with a glass of Chardonnay while watching Road to Perdition.

This morning, since the weather looked so nice when we woke up, Uncle Randy and I headed over to Stratton Mountain, which is about 15 minutes from the house, for a morning of skiing.

Stratton had four of their main lifts running, including the Gondola which goes all the way to the top. After doing 2 runs on the smaller, shorter greens I decided I was ready to conquer my fear and head up the gondola. Last year I did this run with Margaret a few times after 2 days of skiing. Today, I rode the gondola to the top on my own and was so excited when I stepped out. The top of the mountain was gorgeous, above the fog, and looked like a winter wonderland!

I spent the next 2 hours doing the long green and blue runs from the top, making friends along the way with a few other skiers of a similar skill level. We would follow each other down the mountain and then chat on our way back up the gondola. It felt good to realize just how far I’ve come in two years of skiing. The beautiful sights didn’t hurt either! Check out all the snow and blue sky!

After four great hours of skiing we headed back home for an afternoon of decorating. I hope I get to come back and see Frosty at least once more this trip. But, if the weather doesn’t allow, these 2 half days of skiing have been the perfect dose of winter to get me into the holiday spirit!

Your turn: Are you a skier? If so do you prefer the trails that are sharp and fast or do you prefer winding your way down the mountain?

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ashleyd / December 18, 2012

A Tuckered Pup

I can’t believe that I’m sitting in my family’s Vermont home right now looking at this adorable face.

The day has been a complete whirlwind but wonderful all the same.

The morning started with a glute and arm killing workout at the gym.

Followed by a mad dash to Penn Station with more bags than I should have ever attempted carrying, including 8 days worth of clothes, ski gear, and presents! Bo is bringing the rest of our presents when he comes up Thursday!

I wisely spent $23 to upgrade to business class on Amtrak which allowed me unlimited bottles of water, more reliable wi-fi, a large private seat, and plenty of room for all my stuff. While the view outside was serene the ride unfortunately left me feeling “train sick.”

Once my aunt picked me up in Albany our day has been filled with gobbling turkeys, grocery shopping, decorating, cooking, and now finally curling up in front of the roaring fire before our guests arrive for a small dinner party tonight. While neither of us are crafty, I’m pretty impressed with the headway we made on the house this afternoon. It’s been so much fun spending the day chatting as we decorate the mantle, hang lights, and cook together. By Saturday evening both my family and Bo’s family will all be here for the holiday so I cherish these quiet moments we have together.

Yup, I am definitely feeling like Samantha, the tired pup, right about now. Time to sip a glass of wine and find more energy!

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ashleyd / July 22, 2012

Vermont Priorities

Good morning from Vermont!

It’s amazing how things can change over the years. We’ve been coming up to Vermont for 10 years and the Manchester Center Outlets used to be the highlight of my trip. We’d spend at least a day shopping through all the stores and leave feeling as if we’d accomplished a great deal by securing some amazing deals and a new season worth of clothing.

These days, our trips revolve around the outdoors. Since I arrived Thursday night we’ve spent more time outdoors than indoors and it has clearly become not only my priority but also my family’s. I’ve fallen back in love with this area so much that I’ve cancelled a Fall trip so I can come back up here to experience the fresh air, mountain hikes, late night fires, family, bike rides, and delicious wine and food.

Since I’ve taken the weekend off to spend time with everyone, I’ll step back a bit and give you a few separate recaps, beginning with this weekend’s long run.

Since I didn’t have to fight the heat up here in Vermont I was able to sleep until 6:30 on Friday. After enjoying a half cup of coffee and peanut butter toast I headed down to the Manchester Center Post Office, my starting point for the run.

My uncle who is an avid cyclist, was able to give me a great route which was exactly the right distance and included a few challenging hills. Starting at the post office gave me a safe starting point that could also easily be looked up on Google Maps in case I got lost.

Per Gia’s advice I did my best not to stress out about the run and instead focused on enjoying the gorgeous scenery, keeping my pace slow and steady, fueling appropriately, and enjoying myself. The two roads, River and Ridgeville Roads, where I ran were new to me which made the route even more fun as it felt like a bit of an adventure.