Wintery Winter Park

Winter Park, December 3, 2007

I have spent three days in Janet’s house, and I have to wonder: How do these walls stay up with all the stuff she has hung on them? I’ve told Janet this before, so she won’t be insulted.

I really love her little condo – actually not so much the condo itself, but the decor. It wouldn’t be my choice of a place to live, but she’s got the decorating sense of a quilter, which she is. She puts together textures and colors – also cultures and locales – in the random, eclectic way a quilter combines fabrics of different textures and designs. The only thing that restricts the combinations is the fit – and even that is negotiable. The effect is the colorful and fun of barely controlled chaos.

What I’m really jealous of is her loft, which she has devoted to her quilting projects. It’s an entire room that doesn’t have to accommodate any other uses or humans. What luxury!

When I arrived on Friday afternoon, we had a celebratory glass of wine – a nice Rhone blend, and then took off for lunch at Fontenot’s, a Cajun restaurant, for gumbo (for me) and fish and chips (for her). The gumbo was decent, but nothing to write home about. Then, we visited the wine tasting room of a friend of hers, where Janet left some wine-themed throw pillows that she hopes to sell at the tasting room. I liked them so much I bought three myself.

Since we planned to go to the spa the next day, and I had left home without thinking to buy a bathing suit, we checked at BJammin’ – a sportswear shop that specializes in beach and ski wear. Maybe the word “specializes” doesn’t make any sense in that context. But, in any case, I found a suit that fit, and quickly concluded that no one – no one but Paris Hilton, perhaps – should try on a swim suit in the middle of winter, when pasty-white cellulite looks its worst. Yuck! A little suntan on those upper thighs would help some – maybe not a lot, but some!

We returned home, opened a bottle of wine to celebrate my new job (I’m starting a new one Dec. 17) and watched Sea of Love on cable. We’re such wild and crazy girls!

Snowshoeing up Elk Creek the next day was spectacular. We got about 6 inches of perfect powder Friday night, and I was thankful I’d rented an SUV for the trip. We made fresh tracks with the Highlander back to the trailhead, and from there, created sloppier first tracks with our snowshoes.

The tree branches and the trail were decorated with fluffy caps of fresh snow. It was clear, sunny and – hey! What happened to the oxygen around here!? I quickly realized that I had come from sea level to about 9900 feet above sea level in two days, and I had some serious oxygen deprivation. But, Janet was patient, I got over my embarrassment of huffing like a life-long smoker, and we made our destination and turned around. Coming back was more of a downhill slope and I began to feel a little more competent. It had been a long time since I snowshoed, but I quickly rediscovered it truly is just like walking. Funny walking, but walking.

We had dinner at a nice restaurant, Untamed Grill, with a bottle of wine (a malbec). I would recommend it if you’re really hungry and don’t mind spending at least $25 a person. I had great prime rib and Janet had a tasty, but perhaps too complicated, dish of beef medallions on couscous cakes with brie and a fine, tasty sauce. We both voted for the prime rib, and split our dishes. No dessert necessary.

On Sunday, I pulled my back trying to help Sam – her ancient, sweet black lab – up on the bed, after he faltered about half-on, half-off. I spent the rest of the day on the couch, leaning against hot pads and ice packs and watching the NFL. Not a great way to spend a nice sunny day in Winter Park. I always seem to hurt myself – or at least something related to my spine – when I visit Janet. We had dinner at Mama Falzitto’s, an Italian place that I highly recommend. Lots of food for the money, and the cobbler dessert was wonderful.

I returned to Seattle on Monday. Alaska boarded the flight early, in anticipation of trying to beat some of the bad weather in Seattle, but then we sat on the tarmac for an hour in Denver while the mechanics dealt with some mechanical issues. The flight was very bumby coming into Seattle, thanks to the Pineapple Express – the flow of Hawaii winter storms, which bring warm weather and monsoons to the Northwest every December.

I nearly got frostbite Monday morning, as I scraped ice off my windows. I had forgotten how cold temperatures below zero feel.

All in all, it was a great trip, most notably for getting to see Gina, Jenny and Janet. I’m very lucky to have such great friends and nieces.