to Killington, VT and back

rountrip to Killington, VT

I know this is not exactly NYC, but it's a good enough roadtrip there from NYC, so I'll just throw in all the reviews together in one post.

McDonald's and Mobile station couplings - they dot the freeways, not sure if it was in Connecticut or Massachusetts or both. This pair is a sight for sore eyes and sensitive bladders. The great things is that they are many of these rest stops, the bad thing is that they all look alike, so you're never quite sure if you're closer to your destination or not.
I do have to say that Mobile stations have the best, cleanest on-the-road bathrooms, or at least gives they appearance of that, with their display of plastic flowers atop the commode and timed air fresheners.

Basin Ski Shop - We were directed here by our more serious ski buddies for ski rentals and such. Quick service, uncomplicated rental forms. I found if you just stand there and look confused, they'll direct you to the right place soon enough. You enter, and to your right is a little counter with rental forms which you complete, then someone directs you to the benches about five feet away, measures your stockinged foot (mine was 24cm), and brings you a pair of ski boots to try. With the correct boots, you're directed to a line another five feet into the store where someone else takes your form and, depending on what level skiier you are, brings out a pair of skiis, holds them next to you for size, then hand the skiis to yet another guy who slaps them on the table, fits the bindings with your boots, then hand you the skis, poles and boots, and then directs you to the counter on the other side of the store, through all the merchandise, to pay for the rentals. It's quite factory like, but works smoothly. I wouldn't say the staff was overly friendly, but quick and efficient and got you moving. The store's exterior takes advantage of the scenery with the huge windows all around the store.

Killington Ski Resort, VT - I still count myself as a "beginner skiier" though this is maybe my fourth time on the slopes. Killington is huge, meaning many parking lots, many trails and lifts, like a little town or big city like NYC it's got its own mini centers like K-1, Snowshed, Ramshead, Bear Mt. We showed up late in the morning, after getting our skis at Basin (see above), so the upper parking lots were full. No worries, as they have free shuttles that haul you around the resort. We made our way to Snowshed so I could review the basics of skiing, and played around on the little slopes/lesson area for an hour or so before purchasing the half-day lift tickets, which weren't that much of a bargain ($68 vs the full day price of $72). Snowshed was perfect for the beginner, a great practice slope that was long enough to get descent practice in, and wide enough for the many beginners to fall and stop and stay safely out of each other's way. When I got enough confidence, we moved to the Yodel trail, a bit narrower and longer trail but still green for the novice.

We then skiied over to K-1 Gondolas and were carried to the top of the mountain to K-1 Lodge where I had the best French dip sandwich. The meat was juicy all on its own, no need of the dipping au jus. Sandwiched between grilled garlic bread and slathered with horseradish spread, it was a grand meal - except that it was way too big to eat as a sandwich, and I felt slightly embarrassed eating it with fork and knife. The cottage fries that accompanied it were perfectly crisp and tastey.

After that late lunch we made our last trail run down the Great Eastern trail that was coded as green but could have been a double black diamond as far as I was concerned. I made it down but not without a good dose of profanity and spills. The conditions had changed by then too - it was now snowing and the trail was more icy. Finally reaching the bottom of the trail alive, we met our friends at the K-1 base lodge, soothed my injuries with a couple of beers and shouted over the live music, laughing at the other skiiers who were whopping it up.

Casey's Caboose for dinner - crowded as all the popular places were. We hung out at the bar for about 20 minutes waiting for a table to open up. Took advantage of the free popcorn waiting in one of those old fashioned popcorn machines at the end of the bar. We scored a great table right next to the huge picture windows and watched the snow fall thickly and gracefully over the mountains and trees. I had the shrimp scampi, others had the diavlo, the stuffed eggplant parmesean, and mussles dish. It was probably good, no loud cries either way of great food or terrible food, but we were already two or three drinks into the night. Our waitress was more chipper than possible, but nice enough.

On the way back, we stopped at Okemo nearby for brunch. First stop was Trappers which was pretty full. We sat at the counter, got a pair of menues ourselves and was ignored by the overwhelmed waitress for a good 30 minutes before finally leaving in a huff. It was as if we were sitting in her blind spot, as she took the orders of two parties who came in after us. We flagged down what w as apparently the only other waitress in the place, who brushed us off saying that we're not in her area. Even if we did get her attention and got our order in, I doubt we would have gotten our food hot, or been able to pay in a timely manner. Down the block we spotted the Hatchery and all was right again in breakfast land. Good service, immediate seating and coffee, and yummy pancakes plus their special omelette of the day - brie, bacon and carmelized onions - made up for the poor service at the other place.