I arrived into Austin last night sometime after 2 in the morning by the skin of my teeth. My day started by waking up at 5:30 in the morning Friday to have a car in Stowe, Vermont drive me to the airport in Burlington. That car never came because it got stuck in the snow, and I knew it was going to be a long day. Eventually Steve and Cathie from Creative Juice and Michelle from B. Original came down for their car service at 7 and I caught a ride with them. Maybe one of the scariest car rides of my life. Starting out there was so much luggage and so many people Michelle who was in the middle could not move her arms due to all the luggage we had to ride with in our laps. If the roads are icy and the windows are so fogged up you can’t see out, things are not good. We got to the airport alive eventually and in transit I got the call that my flight had of course been cancelled. Hey poor Vickie had trouble getting into Stowe, her luggage got lost and she could not get out. I left her in Burlington because she still did not have a flight. At the airport Steve, Cathie and Michelle all got on their planes and I got put on standby. At 4 I actually got a ticket to Chicago, but if you recall my last trip through O’Hare I was afraid I would never get out of there. Once in Chicago my flight was for 8 at one gate, then 9 at another gate, then 10 at the original gate. This went back and forth for awhile. There was another huge snow storm coming so I knew if I did not get on this flight I was in Chicago for a few days at least. The Austin flight kept being on the board of flights and then disappearing and then back again. Eventually at 11pm last night via standby and very tightly crossed fingers I got on the plane. WHOO-HOO! It was super late when I got home, but the point was I was home.
So yesterday was a bit rough, but other than that I may be a snow bunny and never knew it. Vermont was so gorgeous it was sick. The first night in Burlington I met up with my old friend from Dallas Chris and his wife Stacy and we all went to dinner at Flatbreads for yummy pizza. Burlington reminded me of Austin in the there are 5 colleges kind of way. I wished I could have stayed in town longer but I was whisked away to the Stoweflake up the mountain in Stowe.
The first day there we filmed at a gorgeous house out in the country. I have lived in Texas my whole life so when I have seen snow it gets maybe a 1/2 “ deep, so this was pretty new and exciting to me. Good thing I listened to everyone about buying a new puffy jacket, thermal underwear and dressing in layers. They are not kidding. So filming went fine. Poor Vickie got in late, but after her filming she and I went back to the hotel and quickly off to bed. There was a fireplace on a timer in my room, it was awesome.
Day two we journeyed back out to Stowe Meadows, the name of the house in the country. Here Vickie and I met up with Michelle, Sandy, Cathie and Steve for more filming. Sandy had arrived late the night before due to weather and it this point it was rumored that Allison who had come all the way from Australia was not going to make it at all. The house we were filming at was lovely and had heated floors, no really. There was a big snow storm approaching so we kind of had to hurry. Hurry we did, but it was snowing the entire day and eventually it became too much for the snow plow that was constantly plowing at the drive way. By about 4pm we realized that no one was going anywhere. So all 20 of us had to stay out at this house. Lucky for us it was a big house. Things could be worse right? We went out and walked and say the car that was scheduled to drive us back to the hotel stuck in a snow drift, watched Steve shovel snow and at some point just snuggled in. It was like a big slumber party in the end. Turns out the Valentines Day blizzard of 2007 was the 2nd worst snow storm in Burlington’s history. So if I wanted to get the full effect of the north east and snow, boy did I get it.
The next day we were able to eventually get out and head into Stowe to explore the city a bit. Vickie had to leave to catch a flight, and Allison never did make it. I scored Chris a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream cook book at a store because that is where they are from and Chris loves to make ice cream (remind me to give you his recipe for pumpkin ice cream sometime). After work we were all treated to a massage at the Stoweflake which is also according to the pamphlet in my room a world class spa. It was only my second massage and it was pretty dang good. Michelle, Cathie and I also soaked in the heated mineral baths afterwards. At this point we found out that Vickie’s flight had been cancelled and she was on her way back to the hotel just in time to miss all the spa goodness. We all had dinner at the restaurant and then off to bed early. Good thing because refer to paragraph one of this blog to refresh yourself on how I was going to need a good nights sleep.
The trip was totally fun and full of adventure and Vermont is so beautiful. I felt like I was living inside a picturesque snow globe. Cold as all get out, but super duper pretty. Plus it was good to see all my friends that I don’t get to see all that often.
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