We went to Killington with some friends for a long weekend.

Another Festivus celebration is complete and a big thanks to Theo, Klaudia, Zak and Nina for being such great hosts.

Here are a few pictures and a video of the storm this October. It was the heavy wet snow that did the damage. We were without electricity, heat and water for 6 days. That’s unusual for our area of the country. We made do with the kerosene lamps and flashlights and used melted snow to flush the commodes.

Our friends Theo and Klaudia again graciously hosted another annual Oktoberfest celebration and picnic at Bear Mountain this past weekend. Vittles included home-made coleslaw & potato salad, hot-dogs, hamburgers and apparently tasty Oktoberfest brew. We tamed the cool rainy weather with fleece and canopies and a cast iron Owl grill. We all had a great time and spent it with good company.

I know it’s not as exciting as current events but like I mentioned previously, it is therapeutic for me to reminisce on these trips during the cold and icy winter months.

This one was from back in May of 2005. We began in Las Vegas again and headed to the Grand Canyon, we then went through Bryce Canyon and Arches NP. We spent a good deal of time on Southern Utah. Utah is spectacular. There were times we went from high elevation covered in snow caps to lush green valleys and farmland to such striking desert landscapes that made me feel like we were on the moon. One evening we had a great dinner at Rays Tavern in Green River and decided to press on to Moab to stay the night there. Then once we got to Moab we had a miserable time trying to get a place to stay for the night because the entire town was booked with a 4×4 rally. We finally found a room at the Red Cliffs Lodge about 20mi north of town well after 1:00am. The drive up to the lodge was daunting, in the pitch dark on a twisty valley road, it was cool and there was a sense that the river was at our side the entire time but we couldn’t see it. It would have been a nice place to spend some time. We woke up to a fantastic view of the red cliffs on one side and the Colorado River in full spring swell outside our back door. I remember having a great breakfast in the old town jailhouse (Jailhouse Cafe) in Moab then heading to Arches NP. This trip will always stick in my mind out for the surprising beauty and landscape variety that Utah offered and the fact that we had perfect weather the whole time.

2005 TRIP SLIDESHOW