Yippee. We are on our way to our annual pilgrimage to the Sundance Film Festival in Park City, Utah. We have been attending for years with our good friends, Mike and Joan, and despite the fact that we do the same thing every year, there is always some new adventure. This year we are 12 - me, Patti, Matt and Emily represent the Sands clan; Mike, Joan, Michael, Maggie (his girlfriend), niece Jackie and boyfriend and two of Michael’s friends from New York make up the Zaccaro group. We will also have a one day “guest appearance” by Nikki who is taking a break from her lacrosse at Cal to fly in on Sunday to celebrate her birthday.

I am looking forward to getting in some skiing at Deer Valley. This has been a tough year snowwise for Utah. Despite this, Deer Valley has great snowmaking and 70% of its trails are open. Let me share a secret, the best time to ski is during Sundance. While there are many Hollywood fancies are walking around in expensive ski outfits, none of them ski so the slopes are empty. Yeah for us skiers.

Patti will be star gazing and I don’t mean at the beautiful Utah ski. Of course, her favorite is Robert Redford. We will be attending opening night and Redford always opens the proceeding. I love watching Patti gazing at Redford because I know she is not seeing a 70 year old man but instead the “Sundance Kid”, her heartthrob from her favorite movie.There is a pretty good lineup of stars this year including Paul Rudd, Jeff Daniels, Paul Giamatti, Joaquin Phoenix, Rooney Mara, Jonah Hill, Jack Black, Maggie Gyllenhaal and Naomi Watts.

Generally the movies at Sundance are pretty artsy but we always find a gem. Better, however, is when we come across a real loser and we make fun of it for the whole trip. The worst ever was “Weiner Dog” , the story of a Daschund that wanders through different people’s boring lives and then gets run over by a truck. Absolutely pointless movie. The phrase “It’s a Weiner Dog” has become a descriptive term in our group connoting a worthless endeavor or waste of time.

Well, time to catch a little sleep before we arrive. Patti dragged me out of the house this morning so early that we were about 4 hours early for our flight, seriously.

Keep your eyes open for updates. If you want more info on some of the “hot” Sundance movies click on this website: http://www.latimes.com/entertainment/envelope/la-en-mn-gold-standard-sundance-best-picture-oscars-get-out-20180115-story.html

Our first full day at Deer Valley and a very busy day it was.

Matt, Emily, Michael, Maggie and I hit the slopes at about 9:30 (pic below). It was a beautiful day, warm and little wind and we had the mountain to ourselves. There is something very peaceful about gliding down a quiet mountain. While you are aware of your surroundings, you also feel like you are in a very private place - just you, nature, the muted sound of wind rushing by and a bit of a sense of weightlessness as you lift up and down on your skis to make your turns. There is a rythem to it and when you are in the rythem it’s almost hypnotic.

After a solid morning of skiing, we all met at “The Cabin” (pic below). The Cabin is the brainchild of our friend Mike Zaccaro. It is a joint endeavor between Tupelo and the Deercrest Club. The Deercrest Club took over a cozy cabin at the top of Deer Valley mountain right next to the gondola. They set up a kitchen and Matt Harris, the chef at Tupelo developed a menu. Deercrest Club members get access to the inside of the cabin with its fireplace and comfy furnishings and can either have free chili or soup or order food from the menu. Non-members can sit at outside tables located on a deck overlooking the mountain and order food and drinks. The food is delicious (lobster rolls, pulled pork sandwiches, bison burgers, and poutine) and The Cabin has been a financial success and we benefit because of our ownership in Tupelo. Who would ever think we would have access to a private cabin on the top of a beautiful mountain and be making money on it at the same time.

Later in the afternoon, it was off to the opening night festivities for the Sundance Film Festival at the Eccles Center in Park City. The buzz is similar to a Hollywood red carpet event with spotlights and movie stars, it’s just that everyone is in jeans and boots. After a greeting from Robert Redford (pic below), we were introduced to the opening film called Blindspotting.

The movie was written by and stars Daveed Diggs and Rafael Casal. Diggs is one of the stars of Hamilton on Broadway. It portrays Collins (Diggs) in his last days of probation and his friend Miles (Casal) as they deal with the gentrification of Oakland, California. These guys are from the “hood” but realize that they, their neighborhood and their friendship are changing and the movie is about the characters having to come to terms with this. The movie does a great job of catching the rythem of Oakland and the use of rapping \240(at which both Diggs and Casal are great) give the movie almost a musical feel. Unfortunately, there is a lot of violence and profanity but it is integral to the plot. However, the movie is not for the faint of heart. Overall the consensus is that it will be big hit when it’s released later this year.

After the movie, our whole group went to Tupelo (pic below), 16 in all. Instead of ordering individually, we had the chef just serve us all family style. Biscuits, deviled eggs, tuna tartare, crab fritters, Caesar salad, pasta with braised rabbit, filet mignon, cream cheese mash potatoes, root vegetables, sticky toffee pudding, chocolate truffles and passion fruit sorbet. Every dish was better than the one before it. Wash it down with some awesome wine and you have a feast.

Well can’t wait to see what tomorrow has in store.

Today was kind of a transition day. No one seemed to be in a hurry to get going this morning. Finally, about 9:30, Matt and I got our stuff together and made it to the slopes. No one else made it.

The weather was not good. It was so windy that a number of lifts were closed. It’s not that riding on the lift in the wind is dangerous, it’s just that the direction of the wind made it impossible for skiers to get off. Not a good situation.

Despite that, Matt and I had a good time skiing together. He is a fantastic skier so I just like following him down the mountain to watch.

After skiing, Patti, Joan, Mike and I went to Freshies Lobster. Freshies started life in Park City as a food truck serving fresh lobster flown in from Maine. It’s now a small restaurant. You order at the counter and then sit at small metal tables. Despite the rather simple setting, the lobster rolls are to die for. I know it sounds silly for people from New England to fly all the way to Utah to have lobster but, believe me, this is worth it. Freshie’s lobster roll was ranked #1 in the country by Downeast Magazine, a magazine published in New England - who’d figure? We all got lobster rolls except Patti - she got a grilled hot dog; you know there is always one in the crowd that needs to be different. Lively chatter and delicious lobster made for a very nice lunch. (pic below).

Everyone went their separate ways after lunch. Most of the young people went to see American Animals, a movie about 4 ordinary students at a college in Kentucky who try to steal priceless books from the college’s rare book collection and fail. It’s based on a true story. The reaction of the group was mixed. Some thought it was an interesting study of the thought process of young college students. Others, those who were looking for a good “heist” movie (like Oceans 11”) were very disappointed. Oh well, that’s what makes the world go around.

Mike, Joan, Patti and I needed to meet to discuss a bike trip we have planned for the fall. After a little dissension in the ranks (girls vs. guys), we finally decided to get out of town to get a break from the craziness. Mike knew of a brewpub in Kimball Junction about 20 minutes out of town. We plunked the address into the GPS and off we went. After a twisting and turning journey (and some continued grumbling from the girls), we arrived at our location: Molly Blooms, gastropub extraordinaire. Only one small problem, instead of a bustling eating and drinking establishment, we were greeted by a huge empty building and an “Available for Lease” sign. Oh boy, you should have heard the chorus from the back seat. After a few minutes of lively discussion (during which the girls seemed to overuse such terms as idiot, nincompoop, fool, twit and blockhead), we found another brew house and proceeded to have a lovely time planning our trip.

Later in the day, we ended back at the hotel. Mike, Maggie and friends went to an NBA basketball game in Salt Lake - the Utah Jazz vs the NY Knicks. The rest of us ordered room service (the truffle pizza was delicious) and watched the basketball game on TV. Since Michael and entourage were sitting right behind the Jazz bench, we could see them every time the ball was on that end of the court. It was fun.

Now the big news. Early in the evening it started to snow. Yeah. I am finishing this blog on Saturday morning and we already have 5 inches and it is still snowing (pic below). Could be some good skiing today.

Snow, snow, snow is the theme for today. We woke up today to 10 inches of new powder delivered to the slopes overnight. It continued to snow all day but it was a light snow with no wind so it really didn’t interfere with our plans.

Patti, Emily and Joan braved the elements to go snowshoeing (pic below). They were lead by our good friend Karen, director of the Deercrest Club and expert outdoorsperson. Patti and Emily were first timers and loved it. They put on their snowshoes and climbed about half way up the mountain and enjoyed the beautiful snow covered vista. As Emily put it: “a workout with a view”. Patti commented on how quiet and peaceful it was.

In contrast to serene snowshoers, Matt and I hit the slopes about 9:30 and skied nonstop for 2 hours. It was pretty intense. The powder was up to our shins and we went down some slopes where we were the first to put down tracks. We wondered why the slopes were not more crowded and learned later that there was a major accident on the main highway to Deer Valley slowing traffic and keeping the crowds away. Their loss - our gain.

Michael, Maggie and friends went to a 9:00 AM movie, “Don’t Worry He Won’t Get Far on Foot” starring Joaquin Phoenix, Jonah Hill and Rooney Mara. The amazing part of that story is that all of them had gone to a club the night before (after the basketball game) and had gotten home at 3:30 AM! They all get special kudos for making it to the movie. The effort did take a toll, none of them made it to the slopes.

A group of 10 of us headed to lunch at Tupelo. A bunch of us had the lobster roll which was delicious. Once again the question emerges - why go to Utah for lobster? The answer - because it’s really good.

After lunch I rushed back to the St. Regis to catch another hour of skiing with Matt. It was sublime. The crowds were gone, the snow was great, and I got to spend some quality time with Matt. The only problem was after we took our skis off, Matt bopped into the club with a spring in his step. Me, I limped with pretty much every muscle I have aching. Oh well, it was definitely worth it.

After siesta, all of us gathered for dinner and games. We ordered room service for dinner and feasted on steak, mashed potatoes, broccoli, truffle pizza, and salad - this is not your father’s room service.

We played a new game called “Over Under” which was fun. One player reads a question from a card. The rest of the group decides on the answer (it is always a number). Then the card reader has to guess if the group answer is “too high”, “too low”, or “spot on”. It’s fun and educational. For example, did you know that you could make 5 billion tooth picks from an average size Redwood Tree? This is stuff that could come in handy for the rest of your life.

Well, that’s all for now. Tomorrow is football day with my mighty Eagles playing. I will go to bed with visions of Super Bowls dancing in my head.

Ok, every vacation needs to have a lazy day and that was today. Since there is not much action to report, I will give you some other information about our stay.

First, the day started off sad with us saying goodbye to Matt and Emily.

This is getaway day. Patti and I returned all of our stuff to our storage area: coats, boots, ski stuff, toiletries, wine and cookies. I don’t how we do it but we seem to be “stuff magnets”. We now have stuff in 3 places, Connecticut, Florida and Utah. Ugh!

We had a nice breakfast at the J&G restaurant. On that score, we will let you in on a little secret. They have a beautiful breakfast buffet at the restaurant for $38.00 a person. However, you can also order off the menu, although it’s discouraged. Well, Patti and I faced the waiter’s scorn and ordered off the menu - an egg white frittata (with potatoes and toast), sausage, pancakes (with bananas and fruit), coffee and juice. It was too much for us to finish. The total bill was $56.00. Much cheaper than the buffet. See, we were very frugal - if you call a $56.00 breakfast frugal!

We are the airport now. We are already discussing our next trip to Park City.