park city skiing

When I was younger, I was a terrible skier. Then when my oldest son was 13 years old, I took snowboarding lessons with him.  I never put skis on again.  (Thanks Tommy!) Until about 2 weeks ago. I decided it was time to give skiing another try since the snowboarding experience involves a full body boot camp type of workout between pushups to get up and down, really good balance to ride those long straight-aways, a lot of hobbling along on the catwalks, stress every time you get off a ski lift, and the head banging falls when you simply catch an edge. So I went to MountainCreek by myself and took a ski lesson which took me from the bunny slope to the big mountain in 2 hours.  (Another thanks to Tommy  who suggested it since he has also switched over to skiing)  Next stop…. PARK CITY.

Best part of skiing are the VIEWS!

My ski-mates on this trip were my daughter Juli, my husband’s twin brother Bill, and cousin Christoper. We rented a 2-bedroom condo right near a shuttle bus which was one stop to the lift. Pretty darn convenient. Also, it was across the street from a big grocery store where, on the first night, we got our food supplies and were able to push the shopping cart all the way to our front door AND (bonus) use the cart to transport our skis and boots to the shuttle bus stop on day one! Once we got to the mountain, we paid $7 per night for ski storage so we did not have to lug the skis to the mountain every day.  Genius. PS. we returned the shopping cart after use because we are not rude #wegotstyle

Grocery Cart action

Park Avenue Condos where we stayed has a clubhouse area with 2 big hot tubs and a heated pool which Juli and I took advantage of each day apres ski. It was so helpful in eliminating the pain of sore ski muscles. No matter how much you work out, it’s a new muscle group that is taking over for the long days on the mountain. Even “Mr. Fit” Christopher was taking nightly Advil!  

Hot Tub action

We got into a rhythm pretty quickly as we each found our own ‘zone’ in the condo for hanging out: Bill - dining room table dealing with house sale stuff, phone calls, emails. Christopher was at the kitchen counter working working working on and off - seemed like more on than off, but never once seemed stressed. Juli - couch west and my couch spot was east (near power outlet for laptop). Also, I’m making up the east/west because I have no idea which way the couch was facing in terms of compass points. We also had a pretty good morning routine going off the bat - up at 7 am, Bill on coffee making, each on our own breakfast scene, yogurt, oatmeal or whatever, no cooking here, and I did the morning PB&J sandwich-making for the our lunch on the mountain. Of course we added one shared hot chocolate and one shared fries because ‘skiing is werk’, but man that smushed sandwich was everything when lunchtime rolled around.

Our little ski crew

Gondola morning

Always smiling

Here a quick list of notes, links, and tips:

Awesome Condo (link here) for 4-6 people - John was a pleasure to deal with in every way!  THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

Ski Valet aka Storage at Aloha Ski Rental - Ski Rental and Overnight Ski Storage

Great restaurant walkable from the condo -  Squatters Roadhouse Grill  Open Table link to Squatters

Here's a helpful blog post from a local foodie who reviews some of the restaurants we enjoyed: Park City Restaurant Reviews  and another helpful list:  List of Restaurants in Park City

Free shuttles to mountain, Main Street, Deer Valley, Canyons - track on line or on app:  MyStop App

Most of the restaurants on Main Street seem to have good reviews. There is no lacking in places to drink beer.  In terms of planning, you really want to make reservations for dinner (well ahead of time if possible) because no matter if it’s the weekend or midweek, everything is usually very booked up. The 3 we enjoyed were:

Handle - a new spot we tried the first night. Location was a little odd in a building which had other store in it reminding me of a type of mini-mall setting, but good food and very hip.

(link to website)  Also, this is the night Bill learned to use LYFT and was so amazed by the whole thing "this is so great, you don't even need to take out any money".  yup, welcome to the 21st century.  

Bill loving LYFT

Wahso - easy to find on Main Street with all the red lights, more of a classy setting, not for the rowdy crowd - we were seated in a cute booth with a privacy curtain (cute), but we had the BEST waitress of all time. Friendly, informative and patient with Bill and his million questions about the menu.  (and that is not an exaggeration) 

(link to website) 

Cool lighting

Private dining

High West Distillery - a hot spot that does not take reservations, NOR can you seem to find a phone number to call them.  You best bet is to show up 1-2 hours before you want to eat, put your name down and hit the shops while waiting for a text which allows you 15 minutes to get back to claim your table. The hot pretzel appetizer alone is worth the trouble.  

(link to website) 

Bill's Park City photo tradition

Park City Museum - as strange as it sounds, it is worth a peek!  It gives the history of Park City with unique video and audio presentations which are motion-triggered.  Sit in an old train seat and enjoy a video about the town, step into an old mine car to watch a video about how it went from a mine car to the first ski subway car to get folks to the mountain (amazing!!) walk into an old solitary confinement jail cell and imagine what it might have been like to have the door shut and locked. Yikes.

(link to website)

Subway to mountain anyone....???

Solitary confinement cell

Cute store named "Cake" where we purchased magic dust :)  

Best store in Park City :)

Finding a Banksy during our walk down Main Street

#banksy

Some funny things I want to remember for laughs:

One night, Juli was lying in bed looking at her Apple Watch and she was 10 calories away from closing her rings.  So I popped up and said ‘give it to me” and started jumping jacks, burpies and high knees - she started laughing so hard and we both laughed until we cried and could not stop.

Why is the mountain lodge hot chocolate SOOOO GOOOOOD?????

yummmmmm

Having been a snowboarder, I was not really used to managing the ski poles on the chairlift. So while pulling out the map, I dropped a pole - down it went to a black diamond trail and I was about to say good riddance because we were not skiing down a black diamond. Luckily there was a skier down below willing to pick it up and bring it up the lift to the top of the mountain.

"Hold on to those poles Helen"

Thinking I would avoid this from happening again by WEARING the poles on my wrist while boarding the chairlift so that I would not accidentally let one slip away on the lift (which I believe is covered in the first ski lesson as something NOT to do)....However on the next lift ride, my pole which was now attached to my wrist, got caught in the gate as it opened for us to board the lift. I struggled as I finally got it ‘unstuck’ and ended up with crossed skis and then fell and all I heard was the lift attendant shouting “LAY FLAT” at the top of her lungs, and since I’m very good at taking direction, I just slammed my body down like a pancake waiting for the chair to run me over like a bus which was scary as hell let me tell you. My thoughts were racing -Was the chair going to FIT OVER ME as it passes or drag me along? Was the chair going to rip my nose off my face if I don’t turn my head? (I think I did turn my head to avoid that actually but it all happened very fast) and then I could not get UP once she stopped the lift from moving!!! omg…. Embarrassingggggggggg 

Me on the lift ALONE after the fall

In general, skiing was great and Juli is the BEST mountain guide - shout out to @designtoexplore on instagram and designtoexplore.com because she knows how to plan it all, trails, bathroom stops, lunch stops and how to get back to home base EXACTLY when our legs are about to give out!  woo! Juli for the win!

Christopher taught us about ‘squatting’ and I don’t mean living in an apartment without paying rent, I mean LITERALLY squatting for 30 minutes per day for health benefits. Feel free to check that out here:  All about Squatting for good health

Christopher was the king of healthy eating with his apre ski smelly pea soup every day. Ewwwwwww (sorry cousin, it may be healthy, but it smells bad)

Bill wanted to eat at his hot spot High West Distillery, so finally Juli and I make it happen by heading out early, putting our name on the wait list and then shopping until the text arrived (oh the torture lol)

Took the guys shopping after dinner which lasted about 5 minutes.

Juli and I recorded our first podcast for Design to Explore and we could not stop laughing for the first 10 minutes.  And I have the audio evidence to prove it.  oh boy. 

The morning we checked out, the guys wanted to leave their bags in the clubhouse and ski for the day since they were taking the red eye. But when I went to return the keys upon checkout, the club house was closed.  oops. They had to put their bags in the condo ski locker and hope for the best. Luckily the bags were still there when they returned from the mountain. 

Juli and I called an uber with what we THOUGHT was plenty of time, but it took 30 minutes for our ride to appear and it was cutting it way too tight for my flight which was at 10:30.  (Hers was at noon). We were not even in the car until 9:20 with a 30 min drive to the airport…and then magically I got a text that my flight was delayed 30 minutes!  whoosh! #helenkarma

When I arrived in Newark and took the shuttle to long term parking aka P6, low and behold I realized I was NOT parked in that lot, but I had no idea where I was parked!  I didn’t realize that there are many privately owned ‘long term parking’ lots which are all called just that, so I did not know which one had my car!  It was a few minutes of mystery, until I remembered that I left a set of car keys locked in the car under the mat ‘just in case’  and it just so happens, we have TILE chips on all our keys!!!  So I was able to look on the app and see exactly where my car was parked, so I called an uber to pick me up and take me to it. Amazing. I’m wondering if I’d still be roaming around P6 with my bags now if it were not for TILE????? I’m guessing Tom would have come to save the day, but get yourself some Tiles NOW!!!!

@designtoexplore is Insta-famous

Perfect trail for me

Me: "Make sure you get the skis in the photo please" 

Group shot on the mountain finally

Pretty

Til next time!

#parkcity #utahtravel #travel #skiing #skiingoutwest #snowboarding #parkcitymountain #skitravel #traveldiaries

costa rica (a few weeks late reporting in...)

even though many people rave about costa rica, I admit I was skeptical. we booked the trip rather spontaneously with limited information (not my usual style), but then found out that everything we were interested in doing would be a 3+ hour drive from the peninsula of papagayo where we‘d be staying. we brought juli along since she was on winter break and would soon be leaving us to head to australia for the winter/spring semester.  upon arrival, we decided to change a bit of money at the airport and the ‘sweet-as-sugar’ costan rica lady tried hard to sell me with her smile to change more money than we had planned.  I’m usually a sucker, but I didn’t fall for her sales pitch and thank goodness because the exchange rate at the airport was a major rip-off!  lesson learned without much of a loss. on an up-note, we did need the cash, since our taxi driver would not take american dollars and he was the ONLY one who wouldn’t during the course of the trip.  

the hotel was in a beautiful location, with the bay on one side and the pacific ocean on the other, a 2 minute walk from one to the other (maybe less!) since it was late afternoon already, juli and I sat by the bay watching the sights while tom went for his first of many long swims. as the sun set, I walked over to the beach side where there was what looked like a scene from 'the bachelor' with a private table set up for a romantic dinner for two.  (beautiful) we did some research with the concierge and planned the next day’s activities which included a private guide and some adventurous activities.

we met mayer the following morning and we realized immediately that this was not just any tour guide.  he was like a college professor and bird watcher with an appreciation of his country that won us over in the first 10 minutes.  charming to listen to (the way he said the word “popular” had juli and I smiling again and again, I wish I had recorded it), knowledgeable about everything and eager to share it all, he stood the ‘test of tom’ who rode shot gun and never stopped asking him questions.

our first stop was the town of arenal where we saw an active volcano that was just stunning to see in person.  and the reason for heading to this area was to experience zip-lining. I’d gotten mixed reviews on this activity, some who hated it, said it was ‘lame’ and some who said it’s a ‘do not miss’.  I had no idea what to expect, and I’m a roller coaster fanatic, so I figured “I got this”.  at the same time, I am not a fan of heights or anything to do with dangling high above the trees (or even a few feet up) so when I saw what this was actually about, I was pretty sure I was going to back out.  the only thing I can say now that would mildly convey the experience is holy sh***, that was scary and exhilarating like nothing I have even done before!!!  thinking back, I still can’t believe I did it.  those who called it ‘lame’ did not experience zip lining at sky trek!!!!!!  as panicked as I was for all 7 zips, the last one was so climactic that I know I will do it again if I have the opportunity.  every ride was frightfully high above the tree tops, easily 30 stories up… and the last zip took each of us through the trees like tarzan.  it was just beautiful and amazing. 

anything after that was going to be a let down, but I would not have it any other way.  mayer took us on a hike over hanging bridges and pointed out every bird with excitement as though it was his first time to share this with anyone.  as the day wore on and tom’s questions continued, we found out that costa rica is an incredibly eco-friendly country using geothermal energy and wind to power 98% of the entire country.  they sure have it figured out pretty well there!  we also learned that mayer had provided private tours with just a few famous people :)  he asked us “do you know this person beyonce?”  haha… yup, I think we know who that is….. beyonce and jay z…. brad pitt and angelina jolie!  also obama, kobe bryant, and various other names he mentioned have toured with, not seeming to be very impressed at all.   

following this was lunch at the springs hotel which is named that for very good reason.  it has dozens of hot springs so that you can easily find a private place for a soak.  we made our way down the path to a nice hot natural-looking pool (it was manmade, but really pretty) with a little waterfall.  the springs are natural in that the water comes from the earth and is pumped up into the manmade pools. very peaceful and a good way to end the excursion.  the 3-hour drive back seemed long, but I still say it was worth the drive.  in hindsight, we agreed that it might have been better to stay at a place like the springs to be closer to more of what costa rica has to offer.  oh and speaking of 'the bachelor' earlier, they actually filmed an episode of the show at this hotel! 

after getting some good advice from the maestro mayer, we planned a river tour with him for the following day.  another early start, but only a 2 hour drive this time, to the palo verde river.  on the way, mayer told us we were driving through his neighborhood, so he stopped to share some truly local sights with us.  there were men walking in a nearby stream with small boats full of sand.  as he drove us closer, we could see the oxen they were using to pull the boats full of sand. mayer explained that they were using the oxen to farm the sand which would be sold to create good quality cement, but the kicker was that the men were wading in crocodile-infested water to do this!  yikes!  

he also stopped on the way to the river as we passed what I would call some kind of swamp so he could share his bird watching prowess.  he proceeded to pull out his ‘bird watching scope’ and set it up on a tripod as we all watched with a smile.  he pointed out birds so far away, I’m not sure how he even noticed them, and his excitement was childlike, as though it was the first time he was seeing each bird.  we absolutely loved him.  I think he enjoyed us as well, and the fact that we were nimble enough to hop in and out of the vehicle easily made him happy.  he mentioned that he normally has older folks who take a long time to get in and out of the car, so often times he has them observing out the windows only.

arriving at the boat ramp, we met justino, the pontoon boat captain who was able to spot crocodiles, monkeys and lizards that were literally camouflaged in the water and trees.  quite amazing.  we even got to see the famous jesus christ lizard,  named this because of the crazy way it can literally walk on water!  then we had lunch at a funky little place I can’t remember the name of which had a bit of a hokey tourist thing going on with a girl in a cowgirl costume doing a demonstration about how to make tortillas.  it was funny and we played along (tom too), then we bid farewell to our hero mayer as he dropped us back at our hotel so we could relax on the beach for the rest of the day.  the weather was really perfect the whole time, so no complaints about that!  as the sun went down, I thought I might go for a run or a hike since the concierge had mentioned a hiking trail nearby.  I’ll keep the drama to a minimum here, but safe to say the hiking path involved very little hiking should be renamed "stairway to heaven".  I climbed something like 786 steps (equal to 79 floors on my apple watch) and I had no way of knowing when it would end or where I would end up… so after reaching the summit, I decided to go back down the way I came to make sure I didn’t end up at the bottom only to have to climb back up 786 steps again to get back to the hotel.  my legs were numb, the sweat was pouring off my body so I guess ‘mission accomplished’ in terms of exercise, but it was not the hiking experience I’d expected.  the bonus was a gorgeous sunset view from the top as I listened to the sounds of costa rican wildlife and hoped I didn’t meet any of them head on #yikes

we spent the last full day relaxing on the beach (in the shade, yes, believe it).  the water was beautiful, juli and I gabbed away our girl time while tom swam and swam and swam… and as the sun began to set, I thought I might try round 2 of hiking/running, this time staying on the path that led to and from the hotel.  since we had only been to and from in a vehicle, I really didn’t notice how steep the hills were and it was mostly uphill on the way out.  I did bring a flashlight because I knew it would get dark pretty quickly but as I finally got to the flat ground and felt like I could finally run for a stretch, what should begin circling about me but a big family of bats??!!!!!! and I’m not sure where the term ‘bat out of hell’ came from, but at that moment, pun or no pun, that is exactly how fast I ran for cover!  yup, I freaked out.  and that pretty much wrapped up the costa rican adventure.   next stop, park city utah… :)

#costarica #ziplining #adventuretrip #travel #familyfun #birdwatching #crocodiles #hiking #monkeys

costa rica from above

private dinner 'bachelor' style

beautiful

poolside

mayer points out the holler monkeys in the guanacaste tree

guanacaste tree

wind power

arenal volcano - active, yes, that is smoke from the volcano!

me zip-lining - if only there was sound on this photo, you would hear my endless blood-curdling screams!

yes, it was my actual birthday - a terrifying yet thrilling way to spend it!

this bitch is fearless tho

more terror for my fear of heights - hanging bridge hike #yikes

walking palm tree

captain justino of the palo verde river

tortilla lessons

mayer and the lunch ladies

hot springs soak

786 stairs to heaven

the costa rican sunset view from above

london calling

what a nice surprise when tom mentioned we ‘had to’ do a weekend in london to see the harry potter play, as he is working on the harry potter theater in nyc.  after the evening flight over the pond where I mostly slept and tom mostly didn’t, I was refreshed and ready to take on the day at 6 m.  we arrived at the st martin’s lane hotel which was modern and charming, and were pleased to find out we could get into our room first thing even though check-in was not until the afternoon.  off to a good start with the brits!!  tom caught some z’s while I caught up on some work.

following the recharge, we headed out into the 50-degree sunshine to find breakfast and decided on our first of several recommendations from some of my british colleagues - the convent garden hotel where ‘all the proper ladies take tea’.  this was clearly the case as it was old and very queen-like in decor, but it was expensive and I would not label this one a must-do because there are plenty of other charming and must less expensive places to find the same.  

as we made our way around the charming neighborhood, we stopped at the apple store so I could pick up the converter for my laptop and that is where we connected with the first of my work peeps.  harry gave us a speedy walking tour around, pointing out his favorite things as the weather changed quickly to misty rain, which is how it continued for the rest of our trip.  no complaints, as the tri-state area was in the midst of a little winter storm. 

next up was a visit with my london clients to check in for a tour of the ‘legendary’ agency and edit suites, where all the work we shoot around the usa gets completed.  the lovely marie took us to a local pub, touted as the oldest pub in london, where we stood drinking in typical london fashion. afterwards, we dined with another colleage and his wife at brown’s restaurant.  turns out there are several restaurants in town with that name, but after a bit of confusion, we connected and had a nice night.

day 2 - breakfast with bill and carmen at balthazar which was yummy and my first official dining recommendation of this post :)  scrambled eggs and crab may sound weird, but it was delicious and I must re-create it at home. we took a cab to see tower bridge - had to do it.  then it was time to make our way to the theater for the show which started at 2 pm, and would have a 2.5 hour intermission between part one and part two. since I had neither read the books, nor seen the movies, I was happy to find the recap of each in the program so I could catch up with the storyline.  I’m sure I missed more than a few references along the way, but for the most part, I had a good sense of the characters and I might just have to watch those movies now. (or not)  the show itself was really well done!  during the long intermission, the guys had to do a backstage walkthrough so we caught a peek behind the scenes and met a few of the lead actors. we went for a quick bite to eat during the break, a nice spot that was recommended by a colleague called shackfuyu….. and then we went to see the rest of the show.  again, it was quite incredible, the special effects were so well done with disappearing acts and some nice magic-style stunts!  I really loved it!  apres show drinks were enjoyed at the dean street townhouse which was so cool and relaxed.  we even enjoyed some drinks sitting in a lounge doing some london people watching.  

day 3 - we took a stroll past buckingham palace because, hello, ya kinda have to do that when you go to england.  and, as our luck would have it, we got there just to catch the changing of the guard which was not planned.  then we met up with my sweetest assistant from 10 years ago who had moved to london after getting married.  it was like no time had passed when she walked in to the patisserie valerie (the one near harrods) with that same bubbly infectious energy I remembered from the day I interviewed her!  toward the end of lunch, her dashing british husband walked in (after playing a round of football, which in england means soccer) to super charge the love we were already enjoying.  after the hugs goodbye, we hopped in a cab and I was suddenly bummed we never took a photo together so tom asked the cabbie to pull over and I scared the hell out of them when I ran up to them shouting ‘we need a photo’ which turned into several photos and combinations of us and them which was really funny (you had to be there).  

from there we had the cab drop us in marylebone to walk around a typical non-tourist-ridden neighborhood which reminded me of an upscale suburban town in nj… then we walked from through soho which was really cool.  the pubs and shops and sights were so pretty.  we didn’t buy anything because there was really nothing to buy that we can’t get at home, but of course we took pix and ended up clocking in about 17K steps on the trusty iphone app.  we connected with bill and carmen for dinner which was italian tapas style, however, not a place I would recommend - food ok, and service borderline rude. we walked to the only place in town it was possible to see the giants game afterward only to watch them lose with our new friend johnny from dallas.

timing is everything as the london underground went on strike that evening, so getting to the airport in the morning proved to be a challenge with taxi delays and maddening traffic, but we made it with time to spare.  having not been to london since the mid 80’s for work, it was really nice to revisit and just play.  jolly good…. yes… jolly good.

lifting off - beautiful view of nyc

st martins lane lobby

harry, helen, tom

apple store london

marie touring us through the london offices

pub time with marie

dinner at brown's with paul and deborah

tower bridge

london selfie

london's winter rink

the show

boning up on the show backstory

london's hermione grainger 

backstage lighting

harry at night

shackfuyu (sound's angry)

#twins

changing of the guard at buckinham palace

kelly/helen  simon/tom

entering soho area

the phone booths are everything

soho beauty