Ski Town Shenanigans

It was kind of an interesting flight here. Just who do the airlines think they are fooling with this on time departure shit? I mean, they pull away from the gate "on time" so we can sit on the runway for a goddamned hour during which I could still be comfortably sipping hot coffee in the terminal. Everyone knows it's a game, and yet they still perpetrate this scam on the public.

A man struck up a conversation with me on the jetway (of course, there was a huge line to get on the plane -- why can't they enforce the boarding order rules?), and we chatted for a bit. I noticed his shirt was denim and said "U.S. House of Representatives" on it. If you're not from Washington DC, this might sound more significant than it is. This is a place where the yuppie pecking order is decided by your badge. State Department is good, NASA is good but you never see people wearing their IRS or USDA badges out for drinks. I figured he was a lobbyist or something, and I asked "what's with the shirt?" He replies "oh, I'm a congressman. where are you going in Utah?" I said, Heber, to see my parents and it turns out he's their congressman (Chris Cannon).

And speaking of the Heber Valley, they are the host for the 2002 olympics cross-country and biathalon events. I have no idea where they plan to put people or how on earth they are going to get them in and out of here. That's going to be a really shitty week for the residents. Park City (where the downhill and jumping stuff is) is accustomed to the onslaught of tourists because of the film festivals. It's a bit sleepier on this side of the mountain.

I'm really jealous of my parents views. Their backyard is a golf course where it's still valley, and maybe a quarter mile a way, there is the mountain range (the other side of this mtn range is Deer Valley, Park City and some other ski area I can't remember the name of). One of those mountains is Timpanogos, and it's a BIG (11-12000 ft) one. Well, it's really big if you're from the east. It's even bigger if you're originally from Chicago.

Tonight we ate at a local restaurant in either Heber or Midway. The food was excellent and cheap. I've never had a bad meal in Utah -- I maintain this is because food is the only vice remaining to the LDS folks. This place reminded me of Bite and Twilight and Soul Kitchen in Chicago. After that, we went to the April Fool's party in Park City. This is a party held for the employees of Park City by the town as an appreciation for a great ski season sort of thing (more on that later). My parents are realtors and one of their realtor friends is in the band playing at the party.

Apparently, it wasn't a good ski season here. They only got 80" of snow, and they usually get like 200". It's already slushy, and people usually ski here until May. It looks very unlikely that people will be skiing here as late as Easter even. I think my parents are done for the year. Skiing in soft, slushy snow is a lot of work.

Note to self: parents may have a point about West Wing. Tell Tivo to record it.