Pace on Earth

Dixie Chicken

Oh how I love a good road trip! Our Sugarloaf/Little Feat expedition was a great success.

The weather was good for the drive down, which was key because a good portion of that drive was done on the backroads of Maine. We spent Friday night in Greenville with friends and travelled the rest of the way to Carabassett Valley Saturday morning. We arrived to find out that we couldn't get into our condo until 4pm which made my ski-or-not-to-ski decision for me. I headed to the rental shop and geared up. As I carried my skis on my shoulder out the front door of the lodge the mountain loomed above me. Clouds cloaked the peak and it looked foreboding to say the least. But then a funny thing happened when I got off the quad; I remembered I could ski. It wasn't pretty but I felt comfortable and, most importantly, I was not a danger to myself or those around me. I stuck to the blue squares as I got my feet and figured 3 or 4 runs was worth a frothy reward. So we went to the mid-mountain bar, Bullwinkle's for lunch.

I enjoyed a Dave's Pale Ale and the best bowl of french onion soup I've had in about a year. It was packed with flavour (or flavor since I was in the USA) and had the perfect ratio of cheese to bread and broth to onion. Magnifique! The beer was good too. So, refreshed, we went back to the slopes for a couple more hours before checking into the condo.

It was a nice setup, 4 beds on two floors, a big living room with kitchen and a bathroom on each floor. It also had two balconies with views of the hill.Once we got home there was a race, first to open a beer, then to hit the hot tub. Sadly, the hot tub wasn't private as I had thought, but public and packed. So I took an extra long hot shower instead, and prepped for the show.

The show itself was great. I knew Little Feat because they played Harvest a few years ago and were one of my stepmom Diane's favourite bands. The were playing as part of the Bud Light Concert Series at Sugarloaf. The venue was great, the crowd was great, and the band played long and hard. They did play Willin', which was cool, and they did end with Dixie Chicken but I should note that it lasted 20+ minutes, went into two other songs, and included a Grateful Dead tease that almost caused North to faint. They ended with a rockin' version of Let it Roll. Good show.

The package for the lift ticket, condo and concert was cheap. The show was great, the condo was good, and the fact that I now know I can ski again is priceless. So, again, road trips are always a good thing. I might have to go on another. Grace Potter at Sugurloaf in March. Or maybe that thing in Vancouver next month...

Pace out.

posted by Vitamin S @ 9:56 p.m.