Aspen Arrival

This morning we got up dark and early at 03:00, got ready, packed up, and headed off to the airport at 04:30. We flew out of GSP via Cincinnati/North Kentucky airport (CVG), pictured at left, then through SLC, Salt Lake City, UT. Scarfed down two egg mcmuffins in Greenville on the way and had a $7 bagel on one of the flights. I guess gone are the days of complimentary meals on flights. Corey almost got dinged an additional $15 for her luggage if I hadn't gotten my allowance for two pieces (due to my frequent flyer miles).

On the flight to SLC we were on a Boeing 757 and look! they finally got personalized entertainment thingys. Notice the credit card slot at bottom, though. Of course to watch a movie you have to cough up $6! What a rip-off! The TV shows were free and it looked like they were getting live TV (CNN, etc.). Maybe they fly with TV satellite dishes now. Live TV was pretty boring though, there's never anything on, no matter if you're at home or in the air. I listened to some music instead. One aspect that I really liked about these systems was that they were touch-screen. I think that, if they don't get too greasy, it's a better interface than the hand-held paddles you use on the airbuses (A330s). But there the vids are free so they're still better IMO.

On the final leg we got a good glimpse of Snowmass on the descent. Looks niiiiice! I didn't know this but we were told our ski tickets should be good for all four hills: Aspen, Aspen Highlands, Snowmass, and Buttermilk. The last sounds kinda like a bunny hill, so I think we'll skip that one, but the cab driver told us about a snow cat ride up to a nice bowl up on Aspen Highlands that I'd like to check out. I think we'll start with Aspen tomorrow and then move on to the other hills later in the week. Today, since there should still be plenty of time left in the day, we should figure out where to get our rentals. Last year at Squaw Valley we tried this and decided that it's too much of a hassle to lug around ski equipment any more. Particularly our now rather old equipment (last time I had my skis I got a comment that I had "old man skis" from someone in the lift line :)