Hi, how's your week been?
We are just back from a stunning week in Aspen, Colorado (and still pinching myself to make sure it wasn't all a fabulous dream!). Let me explain ...
A few months ago Mr B was invited to sit on an independent Travel Advisory Board that meets several times a year in various US locations. This quarter's meeting was at the St. Regis hotel in Aspen, Colorado, timed to also tie in with the annual Food & Wine Classic being held there this weekend. What's more, when he received all his agenda information and documentation etc., there was a sentence included at the bottom that immediately caught my eye ...
"Please let us know if you would like to bring a guest ..."
Hmmmmm, well that would have to be two in our case but Mr B made enquiries and happily they confirmed it was totally fine (as Youngest would be bunked in our room - a fact he has had to get used to as the trade off for being able to stay somewhere nice!) Huzzah! Finally, a trip that co-incided with school holidays that we could actually go on and as Colorado was also on our list of states that we hadn't yet visited, even better!
As all of Mr B's expenses were paid, including the 4 nights accommodation, flight & car hire etc., all we had to do was book flights for Youngest and I and pay for any of our own expenses while we were there. When else would we get the opportunity to stay in a 5* hotel in a destination like Aspen for practically nothng? (except maybe at next June's meeting? **adopts hopeful expression**).
We decided that we would fly to Denver and drive the 3.5 hrs from there to Aspen as being June, the Independence Pass route was open and by all accounts a beautiful drive. So, bright and early Tuesday morning we headed to the airport for a Southwest flight to Denver. For those that are not familiar with Southwest Airlines you cannot book a specific seat, and depending on how early you check in (or pay extra to be in the coveted 'early boarding'group) are allocated boarding group A, B or C (a bit like the old EasyJet process) and then a number within that group from 1-60. You would not believe the lengths people go to make sure they check in exactly 24 hours before in order to get a better group setting alarms for the middle of the night and getting up at 3am to check in etc.... Thankfully though, as our flight was as a reasonable hour, I was there ready and waiting with finger poised on the 'Check-In' button precisely 24 hrs before or 8.20am on Monday. Despite clicking the button seconds after opening, Ethan and I were still allocated B28 & B29 **grrrrr!** Mr B though, who was on a separate booking managed to get a whole 10 places in front of us so hopefully he could get on first and save us a seat all together. To be honest though, none of us was really that bothered as it was only a short flight and we didn't really mind.
As the flight finally started boarding, the elite Group A passengers were called to line up in number order and then swiftly ushered onto the plane. Next came the request for assisted boarding or those with small children ... masses of families with buggies containing mostly irritable and cranky toddlers suddenly appeared from nowhere and rushed towards the front of the gate ... where did they all come from?! ... Finally, Group B began boarding and when Youngest and I boarded the plane, after walking past rows and rows of occupied window and aisle seats and an abundance of empty middle seats which of course nobody wants, saw Mr B waving to us from a row of 3 seats towards the back of the plane. Oh, well done. We sat down and settled in to our seats just in time to notice that sitting behind us ... well I say sitting ... was the Walmart family. Child number one, about three years of age, was jumping up and down on his seat and whining that he wanted to sit with Daddy (who had conveniently sat himself several rows down on the opposite side of the plane!). Child number two, a boy of around 9 or 10 was also whining that child number one had hit him and was getting on his nerves (you and me both love). Loud, shouty mother, making more noise than the two of them put together, screamed "Just shut up will ya ...!" and "Alex! Sit the hell down or I'll whop your ass!"
Oh joy. I glared at Mr B. "Well, this was the last empty row with seats together ..." I can't think why.
Throughout the next 90 minutes, devil child continued to whine and cry non stop, which progressed to high pitched screaming each time shouty mother 'whopped his ass'! Oh Lord.
Mercifully, just as I thought I could stand it no longer and was about to hurl myself out of the Emergency Exit, the pilot announced that we were making our descent for landing **cue more screaming from devil child who didn't want to wear his seat belt**
After a very swift exit from the aircraft and thankfully an equally quick delivery of our bags, we were soon on our way to collect our car and the onward journey to Aspen. Some 40 minutes after leaving the airport, the city seemed to fall away all at once and gave way to some of the most beautiful scenery I think I have ever seen, equalled only I think to that when we visited Montana a few summers ago, which thinking about it was very similar. We climbed higher and higher through lush green mountains, still topped with snow in many places, and beside powerful white water rivers. Stunning.
Several hours later, we drove into Aspen itself and I was delighted to find that it was every bit as pretty as I had imagined it to be. Pretty gardens full of brightly coloured summer flowers and hanging baskets overflowing with lobelia and cheery pansies. Then there were the mountains themselves, covered in a thousand shades of green, set against the backdrop of a blue, blue sky. Whilst I have no doubt that this place is equally beautiful in the winter, and I am sure is totally magical when covered with a thick blanket of snow, I am not a skier and and therefore for me, summer time was the perfect time of year to visit when everywhere is accessible and easy to get around.
The St Regis hotel was very grand and catered for one's every whim (as you would expect with the grand price tag to match!). I also discovered on arrival that as Mr B's guest, I too was invited to attend the dinners each evening! I was a bit reluctant to leave Youngest to fend for himself but after assurances that he would be absolutely fine on his own, I decided that I might just go to the first one and we left him happy as a pig in muck, sprawled on the giant king sized bed with equally huge TV, snacks, and a tray of macarons and chocolates that had mystically appeared after the 'turn down' service!
Dinner was a private dining affair for around 24, at one long beautifully laid table which sparkled with crystal and silver and decorated with bowls of gorgeous fresh flowers and twinkling candles. After being handed a welcome glass of vintage champagne as we arrived (nice touch I thought), and introduced to several of the other Board Memberd and their guests, I discovered that the evening was being hosted by Krug in partnership with the hotel's very talented chef, and as well as some amazing food (including melt in the mouth lamb to die for!) we were also served a different champagne with each course!! Get in! Looks like I picked the right dinner to attend.
We didn't really see much of Mr B for the following three days (or evenings come to that as I elected to ditch the suits in favour of dining with Youngest - except in slightly cheaper venues!) as they had a fairly packed agenda, but he did appear during the second afternoon to announce that apparently one board member could not make it at the last minute and as the room had been paid for, Penni, the lovely lady responsible for organising the event wondered whether Ethan would like his own room just down the corridor from ours?"
WHAAAAT?! Needless to say he accepted in a heartbeat and spent the rest of the week announcing at every available opportunity ...
"If you need me I'll be in my room..."
While Mr B was busy, we spent a few very relaxing days laying by the hotel pool and exploring the restaurants and coffee bars of Aspen. Don't feel too sorry for him though, as after a bit of hard work they were all off at various events being held for the annual Food & Wine Classic event, hob-nobbing with celebrity chefs at the top of mountains and attending vintage wine tastings! (after one such event Mr B even declaring that he thought he might be suffering from a touch of altitude sickness ... Reeaaallly?)
All too soon our magical trip has come to an end and this morning we left the wonderful St Regis (or Bognor as Ethan called it ... which couldn't be further apart!) and headed back to Denver on the scenic route by which we had arrived. This time, as we pulled over at a scenic viewpoint to take a few photographs of the stunning views, we found ourselves amidst a vintage car rally and after chatting with a couple of the drivers for a while, ended up following a 1961 E Type Jaguar and two classic Porsches down the mountain - I was fully expecting Jeremy Clarkson, James May & Richard Hammond to pop up any minute! (Btw, sorry Chris Evans and Matt LeBlanc ... it's just not the same ... sniff)
A short while later we were once again back at the airport for the return leg home, and as Mr B popped to the shop to buy water and mints for the flight (nothing if not predictable) and I popped to the Ladies, I told Youngest we would meet him at the gate. As I joined him a few minutes later he turned to me with an incredulous look on his face and said ...
"You're not going to believe who's on our flight?!"
Yep. Walmart family. There was devil child trying to contort his way out of his buggy, screaming as loud as his lungs would allow, while his mother shouted how she would "whop his ass" in a minute whilst force feeding him a bag of McDonalds fries ....
Shoot me now.
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