"Happy New Yea" in Vermont

Happy New Yea! Picture above taken at a local Taco shop in Ludlow, Vermont (the town close to where we stayed).

An account of the Vermont trip... for those of you who are wanting to see pictures and hear about our trip. I didn't take a ton of pictures. Mostly, I spent the time relaxing and enjoying friends (there were lots around - 20 people total in the 6 bedroom cabin). I did convince myself to go snowboarding one day, and I'm still sore from it. Vermont is definitely not Colorado... It's not as pretty, there is a lot of ice on the slopes, and it's extremely COLD! It didn't really seem like we were in mountains either. I think of Mountains... These seemed like very Big hills (or baby mountains)... Vermont, you are definitely definitely no Colorado.

A few notes on our trip:

• The 4 and half hour drive took us over 7 hours from the city to Vermont... thanks to the lovely snowstorm that arrived as we were heading out of the city. I got to sit in the backseat of a car between to guys. Lovely and comfy... Or not.
  

• We rung in the New Year... except that it is a little bit of a foggy memory for me... and one of my friends from home had to deal with me yelling "Happy New Year" and "I love you" over and over again on the phone! I blame it on the Whiskey (which is no longer a friend of mine!!)
  

• I made some new friends!! I was actually scared to go, so many new people! I knew some people before the trip, yet, I didn't even know many of them that well... Plus All the New people... Despite my fear, it was very enjoyable, and I'm sure we'll see most of them again (soon, I hope!)
  

• Talking about the people. 20 people in a cabin kind of scared me. We've done the group trips multiple times, and most of the time, there ends up being Some sort of drama. Drama doesn't entertain me much, and I was hoping it would avoid me all together... And it DID! 20 people stayed together in a cabin for 4 days, and we all survived with no major issues. The person who put all of us together as he planned the trip did an amazing job! It's nice to be surrounded with chill, respectful, fun people. (Not that I wasn't on my past trips... maybe we are all just a little more mature now as "adults".)
  

• Vermont may never find me boarding down its slopes again. I was pretty miserable. Seth convinced me to go to the top of the mountain. We took a fairly new boarder along with us, thinking it would be fine since we were heading down a green. Except for the fact that it was so cold and the wind was blowing sharp pieces of ice/snow in our faces. Even worse, the run kept going flat and then uphill again and again... which hardly allows me to snowboard, let alone a beginner (I have trouble with the going-too-fast thing so I cannot keep my speed up to go uphill all the time). Whole long story... we ended up walking, it was 4 p.m., mountain and lifts were closed, sun was going down, NO one was around (I could have been dying in the middle of the run, and no one would have known). I cursed Vermont for over half an hour, as my feet froze, and I feared frost bite. (I actually played out the consequences in my head for what I was sure was frost bite - how would I possibly be able to live in NYC? My frost bitten feet would prevent me from Ever walking again... Ok, so I had a little personal drama!) Eventually, we came to a steep blue that S informed us we Had to go down in order to get back to the lodge... K and I stood and watched him as he fell and slid down... then as he got the bright idea to sit on his snowboard like a sled, between the bindings. He literally flew down the hill. With no chance of running into anyone and a very deep desire to be back at the lodge, K and I both jumped on our snowboarding sleds and flew down the mountain behind him. It may have been the One thing that truly saved that day of boarding. (In the future, I think I'll plan to head up right before the lifts close so I can be one of the last ones coming down... and then, instead of boarding, I'll just sled down on my board! It really was one of the best sledding experiences ever!)

Me, sitting before the run from hell began. Doesn't seem so bad, right? Don't let it fool you.

Seth's face after the Horrid trip down the hill.

• New Year's Day was celebrated with a wonderful dinner at a local steak/crab/lobster restaurant. It was an enjoyable evening with the group, despite our 2 hour wait. (Side note: All the restaurants in this town looked like big houses. It gave the town a cozy feeling.)

• There was about a foot and a half or more of snow!!! We also witnessed one of the best snowfalls I've seen in my life! It was a perfect, peaceful snow, where the flakes just float down from above, as if in slow motion. A few never made it to the ground, as they were falling slow enough for me to easily catch with my tongue. (Check out the vid!)

• Hot Tub. Need I say more? I'm not going to lie, I've been craving a little warm weather after hearing about so many peoples' amazing trips to warm climates and beaches... But a hot tub in the cold snowy weather is just about as nice! (PLUS, I don't have to worry about sunscreen!)

Here are a few of the guys with S before I ran through the cold snow to join.

• There were fellow Twilight fans/readers among us... We spent a part of the last evening in the cabin discussing the movie, the books, everything while the rest of the group enjoyed football! :) It was very enjoyable! I've just finally finished the 4th book today, and K was getting ready to start it... I hope we can all get together after she finishes to discuss "the saga" without having to worry about giving anything away!
  

• Did I mention I'm still sore? Despite that, I want to go back!!!