2008 TD Banknorth Craftsbury 27th Annual Race and Tour

February 2, 2008

I remember five years back I signed my husband up for the 25k cross-country Nordic Ski Marathon at The Craftsbury Nordic Center. I was helping him make good on a New Years resolution to start racing again after a twenty-five year hiatus. A 25k marathon was not exactly what he had in mind at the time of verbalizing his New Year's resolution several weeks earlier, but I had complete faith that he could handle it!!!

That is how it began. Not only did Dan handle the 25k marathon but placed a respectable ninth in his age group. He has been participating every year since. And this year, yours truly is entering the tour portion of the race!!! The date for this years event is February 2, 2008

The Banknorth Craftsbury Annual Race and Tour is
"a point to point cross-country ski adventure traversing Vermont's Northeast kingdom presented by the Craftsbury Outdoor Center."

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Although the race is in its 27th year, It has just been in the last seven years that the tour segment of the race has been added to combine skiing with gourmet food. And for the first time, this year the food stations will be competing with one another to be the most creative.

"Seven years ago John Brodhead, the Craftsbury Outdoor Center's Director of Skiing, proposed a partnership among several Craftsbury and Greensboro inns to produce a marathon with special food stations along a linear course stretching 25 kilometers from Greensboro to Craftsbury, Vermont. To his surprise they eagerly agreed and participation has since increased almost 700% to 1000 participants including racers and tourers."
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If you are interested in joining me or participating in this event, please go to The Craftsbury Nordic Center site and register. Below is a list of the food station participants and a map of the course and food stations.

Note, You can see the location of the stations on a course map and a course profile at http://www.craftsbury.com/skiing/marathon/course_map.htm

Food Stations:

Highland Lodge Willie Smith, highlandlodge@verizon.net, 802-533-2647 (1^st station before start).
Craftsbury Inn, Bill Maire, cburyinn@together.net 802-586-2848 (5^th station in Craftsbury Village).
Craftsbury General Store, Dave Stember, dstember@aol.com, 802-596-2893 (2^nd-4^th stations, Skunk Hollow, Rocking Rock, and Craftsbury Road Stations between
Highland Lodge and Craftsbury Village).
Craftsbury Outdoor Center, John Brodhead, johnbrod@craftsbury.com 802-586-7767x26, (6^th-8^th stations for the last 25 kilometers).

Look for complete coverage of this event in February. Let's pray for nice weather! I hope to see you on February 2nd!!!

Air Travel in 2008

Just read this interesting post on air Travel in 2008 on the blog site Gadling...go there.

The news is not rosy for air travel in the U.S. for 2008. An article by Jeff Bailey in today's New York Times covers the predictions that make air travel sound like something people are REALLY going to be miffed about. If we thought there were hassles in 2007, watch out. We haven't seen anything yet.

The changes make me think we ought to rethink how we see air travel woes in order to trick ourselves into feeling better about them. Here are some psychological strategies I've thought of that work in other areas of life. Let's see if the same strategies can work in this air travel situation.

To read more

We all may need a bit of this twisted thought process to acclimate too the unsavory air travel environment

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Howard Frank Mosher

Years ago, long before I even knew of the existence of a place called the Northeast Kingdom, my book group introduced a short novel called Northern Borders by Howard Frank Mosher. I fell in love with it. Little did I know that Mosher's piece of heaven would become mine. I have recommended this book to many friends over the years, but it was just recently that my brother Geoff reminded me of the book again. He found it on our shelf in Vermont on a recent visit and I told him, "take it... you'll love it". We talked the other day and he said "by the way that book was great", so great in fact, his daughter is now reading it and he has moved onto another one of Mosher's books....and there are plenty to choose from. Last count, I believe he was up to ten books written. Many of his books are set in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont with the most strikingly unique set of characters you could possible image. In Northern Borders, Mosher's storytelling about the life of a small boy sent to live with his grandparents in the wilds of Northern Vermont are so incredibly fascinating and twisted you can't help but to hope that they are actually based in some truth from Mosher's own experience. Each chapter reads like a short story as a collaboration to recount one grand tale.

You will not be disappointed by Northern Borders or any of Mosher's books for that matter.

Burke Mountain

View From Burke











From the warm waters of Costa Rica to the snowy mountain tops of Vermont....that is the life we have been living this past month!!! Living the Dream as we like to say, and what a dream it has been. If you have been following along, you know that we have just arrived back in the states from a great surfing and language trip to Costa Rica. This past weekend we put the waves behind us and headed up to one of our favorite winter destinations, Burke Mountain, in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont.

New England has had a much needed dump of snow this December and the owners of ski areas across the six states are praising mother earth for her generosity. The past few years have had minimal snow fall in the months of December and January. So little snow in fact that this year we went to Costa Rica instead of Vermont for Christmas!!!

Here are a few snapshots of our first ski of the season at Burke Mountain, located in the Northeast Kingdom of Vermont. The snow was incredible and with mild temperatures in the high twenties we had a fabulous day.

Although Burke is on the smaller side, it does not lack for diversity or challenge. We discovered this gem about five years ago and have been coming back ever since.

From Burke Mountain's website:
Renowned for its breathtaking views and ski racing heritage, Burke Mountain is the best kept secret in the Northeast. Home of the Burke Mountain Academy, the preeminent ski academy in the country with 40 Olympians to its credit, Burke Mountain features sweeping, winding trails, an average of 248 inches of snowfall each year, 45 trails and glades on 250 acres of terrain, and a vertical drop of 2,011 feet. A unique blend of friendly, genuine staff and traditional terrain define the character of one of the last remaining Vermont ski classics. With major upgrades to its snowmaking system in recent years, Burke Mountain features 80% coverage on a variety of trails accommodating skiers of every level with 25% novice, 45% intermediate, and 30% expert trails. Burke also has four terrain parks to keep the freestylists in your family busy all day long..

We thought that we were in pretty good shape after the battled we waged against the barrels and tubes of Costa Rica, but much to our dismay, as good as the snow was we didn't make it past three. Our quads were screaming for us to stop.

Get out and ski!!!
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Go Surf Costa Rica

Surf Outfitters
Tamarindo, Costa Rica
Okay....for all those surf wannabes and surf guru's , we would like to introduce you to an outfitting group out of Tamarindo, Costa Rica.

Go Surfing Costa Rica was established by two individuals, one Costa Rican and One American, who have worked to combine their experience and knowledge in creating the perfect surf vacation for you , your family or your friends. In their own words, " We offer organized professional management, with all the comforts of home, in a laid back environment, which never lets you forget…you’re on vacation! Both Eduardo and Erika have extensive experience with surf instruction, travel and adventure, but equally as important, they are two people that you will truly enjoy meeting. We are quite confident that their hospitality, knowledge and enthusiasm will result in an outstanding surf vacation for you, your family or your friends.
My family met both Eduardo and Erika last March when were were surfing in Costa Rica. Eduardo was in charge of the surf instruction and tour program at another well know surf camp that we were staying at. Fortunately for us, we bumped into both of them on our last night in Tamarindo this past December. He gave us a quick update on Go Surf Costa Rica and I am ready to sign up. If all goes well, I hope to book a trip with Go Surf Costa Rica and check out one of their surf packages in February or March of this year. With a little persuading, I might even rope my brother Bob, know in the surfing world as Tuna, to pack his board and join me. We will keep you posted.


Check them out!!!