Observations on this ski trip

#1 - This place is as crowded as Disney World, but the temperaments are totally different. No whining or crying kids. No parents threatening, "If you don't stop this right now, we are leaving." Perhaps the fact that the kids are bundled up like mini Michelin men with hoods, hats, helmets, and goggles that cover their whole face has something to do with it. They can barely move, let alone utter a string of words. And if they do manage to say something, it is, for the most part, lost in the wind or it can't penetrate their parent's bundled ears.

#2 - If I were the CEO of Kleenex, I'd have advertisements everywhere. I'd pass out free samples and set up booths. Everyone here carries facial tissue for their runny noses.

#3 - It takes longer to suit up in all this ski gear then it does to ski down the mountain. Pants, socks, ski pants, thermals, shirt, sweater, jacket, hat, neck warmer, gloves, scarf, goggles...and all of this is put on in the room. Then they hike down the hall to the storage area for their skis and off comes the jacket, the gloves, the hat and scarf and on go the ski shoes which have 20 different clasps and laces. Then back on goes the jacket, the gloves, the hat, and the scarf. By now, everyone is sweating and whining about sweating. Jeez, all of this for a ride down the mountain on your feet? I don't get it!

#4 - No McDonald's, but there is a Starbucks!

#5 - The thing about vacationing with three men....no one cares what you look like. I don't need make-up, a matching outfit, or a purse. I don't even need to comb my hair or brush my teeth (although I do this for my own sanity). The downside, of course, is the raised toilet seat, but that is quite minor in comparison.

#6 - High atop the mountain, above the ski slopes, there is a house perched at the peak. Who the hell lives there? I'm sure the view is fantastic, but who wants to have a cliff as a backyard?