One of the best times with my children was going to Spring Training in Scottsdale, Arizona. My son, Matt loved baseball from an early age. I loved baseball from my youth, to when I stopped playing in college. These trips gave us the chance to see our favorite teams, watch the upcoming stars of tomorrow, and to play golf at some of the best courses in the greater Scottsdale area.
For those of you who have never heard of it, here goes. Spring training typically lasts almost two months, starting in mid February and running until just before the season opening day, traditionally the first week of April. Spring training has always attracted fan attention, drawing crowds who travel to the warmer climates to enjoy the weather and watch their favorite teams play, and spring training usually coincides with college spring break. We would meet many people from cold weather climates, like Chicago, and Cleveland.
A typical day for us during Spring Training went like this. My son and I would wake up early, and head out to the golf course. The rest of the family would shop, swim, or relax at the hotel. We got to play of the great Scottsdale courses, like Troon North, TPC, and Karsten ASU. We then caught a cab to the ballpark for an afternoon of baseball.
After that, we headed back to the hotel for a swim. Our dinners out were often at places where the players go, like Don and Charlie’s, and the Pink Pony. We often would be seated next to a group of well known players from our local favorites, the Oakland A’s, and the San Francisco Giants. We would also see some of the older, retired players as well, like Reggie Jackson, Bob Feller, Stan Musial, and Joe DiMaggio.
But baseball was our main attraction. We would try to get strategically located seats so the kids could catch baseballs. We even bought a short fishing net that could be used to trap baseballs. The secrets of getting the balls were like this: We sat in the first row for several reasons. One is that any ball that landed in the bleachers, would ultimately roll down to the first row, where my son would be waiting as he climbed under the stands. Two, he used the fishing net to reach over the fence to capture the foul ground balls running up against the fence. He would often get so many that we had to give them to the other kids.
But the coup de grace was a moment with A’s slugger Mark McGwire. As Mac was finished with batting practice, he started handing out his batting gloves to kids in the stands. When he got to Matt, he handed him his baseball bat!!! That had to be the happiest kid in the stadium. He was the envy of the entire right field stands.
Another highlight was getting to see the up and coming young stars of the future. The one we remember most was Ken Griffey Jr. While he was not signing autographs, he did hold my daughter Sarah in his hands, and give her a hug. I thought that was pretty nice for a twenty year old kid. We would often see some of the players at breakfast as well. If they were staying at our hotel, they would have a late 9 or 10am breakfast when the coffee shop was empty. Matt was able to meet so many of the players this way.
We also enjoyed walking around Old Town Scottsdale, and taking the kids to the Rawhide western town. We enjoyed the food of the southwest as well. We also found a water park one year, as well as an amusement park, with batting cages, and inner tube boats that worked like bumper cars.
Times like this with the kids are special, and live forever inside my memory bank. I hope they will take their kids to Spring Training as well someday.
Sports
I attended the 1984 Olympic Games in Los Angeles, my only one so far. I was not able to get any tickets ahead of time, and had given up any hope of attending. But I was able to find someone whose daughter worked for an Olympics hotshot in LA. I was able to get tickets for the tennis at the new UCLA Tennis Center in Westwood, and the boxing at the Los Angeles Sports Arena, in downtown LA. I passed on track and field since it centered on the decathlon only for that day.
I was able to get a flight down to LA in the early morning. My friend Brad picked me up at LAX, and we headed for Westwood. There was very little traffic, since the Olympic Organizing Committee encouraged people to work flex hours, take time off, or work from home. Much like what you saw in Beijing, the air got remarkably clear and traffic was very light.
The UCLA campus is a beautiful campus, set in the hills of Westwood, not far from Beverly Hills. The new Tennis Center was built and ready just in time for the Olympics. We saw several morning matches, then headed out to Westwood for lunch. Although this place is gone, we had lunch at a nice place that sort of pioneered the concept of a group table. And of course, we had our obligatory beers for lunch. Brad could take two bottles of beer, and down them both in one swoop. It is impressive, and earned us many free drinks over the years. The first time I saw him do it was at the famous San Francisco fern bar, Henry Afrika’s.
Anyway, sufficient lubricated, we headed back to the tennis venue, and spent a pleasant afternoon in the tennis stands. Tennis was a demonstration sport at that time. I can’t remember who played, but the big stars were Stefan Edberg and Steffi Graf, who both happened to win Gold Medals.
But the real highlight of the Olympics was the torch lighting ceremony several days before this. The final torch bearer, and the one who lighted the Olympic flame was Rafer Johnson. He won the 1960 Olympic Decathlon in Rome, and he was from my hometown of Kingsburg, CA. He was a great athlete. Many people forget that he was drafted by the Los Angeles Rams, and lettered in basketball for John Wooden at UCLA. He also made the Olympic track team as a long jumper. Perhaps he is best known for being with Bobby Kennedy in LA when he was assassinated by Sirhan Sirhan.
We had the same teacher for World History. Murl Dodson was also Rafer’s track coach in high school. He was the coach who figured out that Rafer had the talent for the decathlon in the first place. If you ever met this guy, you would have a hard time believing he could coach or teach anything. He was a dumpy looking man, who lectured in a monotone. Nice man, but the coach of a world class athlete?
One thing that went on was pretty creative on the part of Olympic ticket holders. A hotel near the Forum in LA was designated as a place to buy, sell, and trade tickets. We went over there and sold a bunch of basketball tickets that we didn’t need. We were headed for the boxing, and the spotlight was on Evander Holyfield, who became the world heavyweight champion after the Olympics.
After dinner, we headed over to the Sports Arena for the boxing. We were able to park on the street and walk just a few blocks to the Arena, thanks to Brad. But first, we had to stop at a sports bar along the way. Brad had to do his two beer bottle chug one more time for me.
When we found our seats, we could see the movie stars had front row seats. The only one I could really see well was Kirk Douglas. But the excitement was similar to the big fights that you see on tv or closed circuit from Las Vegas. Each country had a section with fans dressed in their country’s colors, and waving flags. It was very exciting.
As Evander made his way to the ring, the crowd was in a frenzy, as he was heavily favored to beat his opponent. This was the semi finals, and he was boxing a relatively unknown New Zealander. Somewhere in the 2nd round, chaos broke out. Someone made a sound like a bell, but the round was not over. Evander knocked the guy out instantly. Confusion reigned for it seemed forever, and finally he was disqualified. The referee was from a Soviet bloc country. He paved the way for the Yugoslav in the other semi to win the Gold medal against this unknown New Zealander.
That was a very sad end to my only visit to the Olympics. As we left the Coliseum and Sports Arena complex, we saw all the flags flying over the Coliseum. It really did feel like the Olympics. As Brad dropped me at the airport, we both realized we had seen a slice of history. Time will tell if we get another chance.
One of the best summer vacations we had as a family was in Sunriver, Oregon when the kids were still around. We rented a condo for a week, and drove up there in August. Though it was the height of summer season vacationing, it was a pleasant, restful, and interesting week. Sunriver Resort is located on the dry side of the Cascades. Skiing is available nearby at Mt. Bachelor during the winter. Matt and Sarah would find lots to do there.
It is about an eight hour drive up to Sunriver, just 15 miles south of Bend. We took off early in the morning, and got there in the mid to late afternoon. We ended up with a nice condo on the golf course, and about a half mile from the Sunriver Village. The big deal about Sunriver is the bike trails. The trails lead all over the hundreds of acres of the resort, down to the Deschutes River, and on to Bend. Each condo comes with bicycles, though we rented a smaller one for Sarah. The neatest part is that nobody has to lock their bike, as there are bikes everywhere.
The condo had a nice loft for the kids, and lots of space for us to cook, relax, and enjoy the cool Oregon weather. No sooner did we get there, than Matt headed out to the golf course and met some kids who work there. It turns out that he arranged for free golf for the week, and played anywhere from 54 to 72 holes a day on the 3 courses on the property. Needless to say, that saved lots of money. Sarah found one of the three large pools to her liking, as it had a huge slide.
We ate about half of our meals in, and the remainder in Sunriver or nearby Bend. Bend is a nice Oregon town, that reminds one of Tahoe in the old days. We ended up in Bend, about 15 miles away, several times, both for groceries, and sight seeing, as well as a little golf and recreation with the kids. We found a bowling alley, and enjoyed an afternoon there when it got hot.
The most frightening day occurred with the arrival of a huge summer thunderstorm. The wind swept through first, slamming the doors to our condo. It got dark, and the rain came down in sheets. It lasted for only about an hour, but it seemed worse. As we drove to dinner, we could see numerous forest fires started by the lightning of the big storm. All night long, the sky was red from several small, but bright red fires.
The bike trails are a big attraction here. The trail goes through the 3,300 acres of forest, and down to the Deschutes River, where the fish were biting. It was also an easy ride into the Sunriver Village for groceries, movies, or shopping. It really keeps the traffic to a minimum, and makes it safe for kids to ride their bikes. Speaking of traffic, the resort makes use of the roundabout, so it is easier to get lost driving a car than riding a bicycle.
We took another day trip to explore the Newberry National Volcanic Monument (lava caves) near Bend. Since I don’t like enclosed spaces, I had to leave shortly after entering. But Sheri and kids went into the caves, and learned much about Oregon’s history with lava, long before Mt. St Helens. Newberry is still seismically and geothermally active. There are over 400 cinder cones in the area.
The week went by quickly, and before we knew it, we had to face the drive home. Originally, we wanted to stop at Crater Lake, a several hour side trip off of the main highway. But once in the car, we just felt like we wanted a straight shot home. Crater would wait for another time. But Mt. Shasta and Lake Shasta were there for the viewing. Another highlight was the town of Weed. Who would name their town Weed?
Though we took many other family vacations, to places like Tahoe, Monterey, Disneyland, and San Diego, we thought Sunriver was a special place. It is very family friendly, safe, and provides lots of recreational options, for a very reasonable price. The warm summer days always cool off in the evening, just in time for a nice leisurely bike ride through the forest. Although it is an 8 hour drive, it is a vacation we will always remember.
There comes a time in every golfer’s career, that the pinnacle of golf, the holy grail, the numero uno course must be played. It happened for me when I turned 50. My faithful golfing buddy, Mike, was there to join me, and Sheri rode the cart. We have a tee time at Pebble Beach!!!!
We came down to the Monterey Peninsula the night before, and stayed at our favorite Bed and Breakfast, the Gosby House Inn in Pacific Grove. It is another of the Four Sisters B & B’s, and the first one that we ever tried. It is located right on Lighthouse Avenue in downtown PG. If their gourmet breakfast is not to your liking, just go across the street to another of our favorites: Toasties. Their Crab Benedict is superior to any eggs benedict you can find anywhere. They also serve a really good French Roast coffee upon request. Their breakfast burrito, Sheri’s favorite, is also delicious.
We drove through a light fog, through the gate at the entrance to 17 Mile Drive. The park fee is waived if you stay at the Lodge at Pebble Beach or the Inn at Spanish Bay. The excitement builds as we got close to the Lodge and Pro Shop. But suddenly, I realized I forgot my golf shoes. I went inside the Pro Shop to buy a pair, but they were rather pricey. Fortunately, Mike pulled up and had an extra pair (my size) in his trunk.
As our tee time approached, I got nervous, much like at St. Andrews Scotland. Again, I prayed that I could just get the ball somewhere down the 1st fairway, without hitting any of the rooms at the Lodge. I managed a decent 3 wood off the tee, and off we went. We walked, placed our bags on the cart, and had Sheri drive. Needless to say, it was a magical round of golf, one that I will never forget. As we played each hole, we reminisced about seeing the course on TV, during the U.S. Open or the ATT tournament. The sun broke through the fog at about the 3rd hole.
We were playing with two guys from Ireland, of all places. Funny guys, and pretty good golfers too. They got rather excited on the short par 3 7th hole (about 90 yards), when I hit my wedge to about 5 inches of the cup. They thought it was in the cup, and were already building their thirst for the drinks in the Tap Room after. When we reached the green, it was the width of my hand behind the cup!!!
The difficult 8th hole was a treat as well. My tee shot was rather feeble, but my second shot was a once in a lifetime shot. It crossed the cliffs (and ocean) majestically, landed softly on the green, and a par was made. Two of my best holes ever, on Pebble no less. I don’t remember much else about the round until we reached 16 and 17. This well dressed lady appeared on the cart path with a big smile on her face. She asked if we were having a nice day, to which I replied, YES, the best day ever. She replied that she too, was having a best day, since she just bought a home on the 14th fairway.
As we walked up the famous 18th fairway, we remarked about all the famous people who preceded us. Over the years to come, I would walk the 18th fairway at lunchtime. Somehow, I had garnered a part time job as a relief pharmacist in the pharmacy at the Lodge. We also got free lunch, free golf, and a company apartment when we were working.
Let me digress a moment. When I worked at Pebble, I filled prescriptions for some famous people. This includes Earl Woods (Tiger’s Dad), Jack Lemmon, Clint Eastwood, Alan Shepherd, Peter Uebberoth, Huey Lewis, Kevin Costner, and Bill Murray, among others. I can also tell you a deep dark secret. Alan Shepherd, the famous astronaut, contracted leukemia while in space. Nobody was told officially, but he told us. So when he died a few years later, his family was allowed to spread his ashes in Monterey Bay. Now you know a deep dark government secret.
As we finished, we said our goodbyes and headed to the Tap Room in the Lodge. Did you know they have the best Portobello mushroom soup? They also have plenty of cold beer and a well stocked bar. Too bad the hole in one did not happen. I would not mind buying in a setting like this.
All we had to do at this point, was to walk over to our room at the Lodge. The rack rate is about $500, but we are able to stay on the Friends and Family rate since I once worked there. The rooms are rather generous in proportion, with fireplaces, parlour, wet bars, huge bathrooms, and some with Jacuzzis inside or out. In the past, we have stayed in the Bill Murray suite over near the 18th fairway. Oh, and no tipping since they charge a resort fee when you check in. We order things all day long, buckets of ice for my champagne, and empty the snacks in the honor bar (no charge).
When it is dinner time, the shuttle takes us over to Roy’s at Spanish Bay. Our friend, Marcia has been waiting on us for about 10 years now. She is from Brazil, and a real charmer. This particular Roy’s is the very best in the chain, and worthy of its place at Pebble. And of course, at 6pm, the bagpiper walking down the 1st fairway, around to the outdoor fireplace outside the lobby, is a nice touch.
Another alternative to staying at Pebble or Spanish Bay is Casa Palmero, just on the edge of Pebble, near the Tennis Club and Beach Club. It is much pricier, but also much nicer. The rooms are even bigger, breakfast is delivered every morning, and cocktails are served in a private bar with all the food you can possibly want. It makes dinner unnecessary. The common area also has game rooms, TV room, library, meeting rooms, pool, and meditation room. It reminds me of an Italian villa in Tuscany or Sicily.
The Pebble experience is a once in a lifetime honor. Though we never tire of our visits there, the first one was the one that got us hooked. Free use of a Lexus is also included. What is not to like?
As a kid, I always wanted to go to a major league All Star baseball game. There was not much chance back then, as we only had the Dodgers and Giants for many years on the west coast. I had the chance in 1989 in Anaheim, when I was able to get some tickets while on a trip back east. My son, then age 8, was overjoyed, and as thrilled as I would have been as a child. We made our plans to fly down, stay in a hotel, go to all the All Star festivities, spend a day in Disneyland, and fly home.
We arrived on Sunday, and went to the Angels Twins game. Monday, we attended the All Star practice, and contests, though they did not have a home run contest at the time. We spent the whole day at the ball park, and got to meet Joe DiMaggio. Little did we know who else we might meet, up close and personal.
The game itself was Tuesday evening, so we spent the day at Disneyland. We heard that the day before, the families of the players got the royal treatment at Disneyland, as many rides were closed to the public. We finally made our way to the ball park in mid afternoon. The excitement was building, since we both wanted to leave Disneyland for the ball park.
A full stadium, decked out in red, white and blue banners, fans cheering for their favorites, and TV personalities all over the field!!! It was very exciting, as the game began. After the Nationals scored a run, the Americans came up, and promptly hit back to back home runs. It was Wade Boggs, and Bo Jackson, and the crowd went wild. It was an exciting game, and many of our Oakland A’s All Stars were playing. The only thing missing were some autographs that my son wanted of his favorite A’s players.
We arrived at the OC airport the next morning for the short flight home to Oakland. Though my son seemed a little sad about the autographs, he was happy that we attended the game. All of a sudden, we realized three A’s players are sitting next to us: Terry Steinbach, Mike Moore, and Dave Stewart. My son was just ecstatic, and started talking to them. He finally worked up enough nerve to ask for autographs. Then the fun really started.
They introduce Matt, first to Mark McGwire, then to Reggie Jackson, who was retired by then. After getting their autographs, they all stood around Matt, talking, teasing him, and asking him about his baseball exploits. I don’t think I ever saw a happier 8 year old.
When it was time to board, we said our goodbyes, and boarded. When the players entered the plane, they all walked down the aisle and waived at Matt like old friends. I don’t think his feet touched the floor the entire flight!!!
Over the years, the story gets a little forgotten. But at that time, it was magical for my son. Though his love of baseball was replaced by golf, I hope he always remembers that weekend, and that day so that he can pass it on someday to his son.
Golfers and students everywhere! North Carolina is the home of the well regarded University of North Carolina, and the famous sandhills golf made famous by the Pinehurst Resorts about 2 hours south. I was in NC for a post graduate course, and decided to take advantage of the trip out to Tobacco Country. The first things we noticed upon landing: too many people still smoke!!
The drive to Pinehurst is a beautiful, lush, green road to golfing nirvana. We opted for the smaller Holly Inn rather than the larger Pinehurst Hotel. All of our meals would be provided by the Pinehurst Hotel, either in their magnificent dining room, or at the Donald Ross Grill located at the famous Pinehurst #2 Golf Course. Pinehurst #2 has hosted the U.S. Open twice, with Payne Stewart winning the first one, and Michael Campbell of New Zealand the second one. There were 8 courses in the complex at the time we went.
Sheri decided to tag along on this trip, and then would leave for home when my classes started. She joined me for many of the rounds of golf, and the exploration of the quaint village of Pinehurst. We found that the village is a great way to kill time, shop, and eat. We found lots of art galleries, golf shops, and restaurants. We had lunch at an excellent Greek place. In fact, we spent the morning there our first day until the rains subsided. It was exactly how I envisioned the Old South to be in the 1800’s.
So, the golf started out on a high, as I was able to play the famous #2 course my first day there. Donald Ross, the course designer and pro, was a Scotsman who believed in very traditional golf courses. The course proved that it can stand the test of time when it hosted 2 U.S. Opens that were great successes. Unfortunately, after a birdie on the very first hole, I was lucky to come out alive. Many of the greens are shaped like inverted saucers. Though I did not 4 putt, my playing partners managed to do this several times. Also, the caddies wear white overalls, like they do at the Masters in Augusta.
It takes a while to get accustomed to southern cooking. Breakfast had alot of pork products and gravies. Lunch was okay with the usual sandwiches and soup. Dinner was more of the south, with barbeque, fried chicken, fried veggies, and more of the breakfast gravy. But they serve some excellent drinks, and their desserts were outstanding. The wait staff could not be nicer, and we began to feel more comfortable as the week progressed.
I got paired up on the next few days with some stock analysts from New York. At the time, Viagra was the rage and it turns out they were specialists in the pharmaceutical companies. Needless to say, we had plenty to talk about, even with Sheri riding in my cart within earshot. We played for some money, though they were all better than me. But, as luck would have it, I won most of the money, and had to buy the drinks at the end of each round. I played two more rounds with them. They even invited me to play a couple more days, but I had to head up to Chapel Hill.
When it was time to leave for Chapel Hill, we drove back through country roads rather than the freeway. We saw a lot of the poor south, nestled between a world famous golf resort, and a well known University. We were going to find out more as the week went on.
There were about 40 in my class, so on the first day, they made us do a campus wide scavenger hunt. Grown up pharmacists, looking for things like grave markers, Dean Smith’s office, and curios from the student bookstore. It served its purpose to build some camaraderie and competition, which would continue through the week in class. Our team actually won, so it only meant we got to eat our Carolina barbeque first. The next day, I took Sheri to the airport, and had a half day to kill before classes formally started.
Rather than bore you about the class, let me tell you more about North Carolina. First, and most obviously, they live for basketball and tobacco, not necessarily in that order. Michael Jordan is a god, and Dean Smith (the coach) is like a saint. All other basketball players are royalty as well. Even the profs on campus live and die by the basketball team’s success and failure.
It is hard to find any place in town that is not smoke filled, or smells like old smoke. Every bar, restaurant, meeting room, bus stop, grocery store, and park. Smokers everywhere, all the time, day and night, old and young. Even then, we knew we were spoiled in California.
The area of Raleigh-Durham and Chapel Hill is known as the triangle. Many pharmaceutical and high techs companies have moved there to take advantage of the brain power. Duke, UNC, and Wake Forest are there too. They think the world revolves around this triangle. I think they need a lesson in geometry or astronomy. Most of the east coasters thought we were a bunch of flakes from California. We even sneaked out one afternoon, and played the golf course at Duke University.
Speaking of Duke University, the rivalry between Duke and UNC is a lot like Stanford-Cal or USC-UCLA. However, back here, it extends beyond sports to include academics, research contributions to companies in the triangle, and the alumni that populate the area. The Dukies from Durham wear a shade of blue almost royal or darker. The UNC Tarheel bunch wears baby blue. I am sure the Duke lacrosse scandal received a lot of snickers in Chapel Hill.
I made several really good friends in class. We met fairly regularly at pharmacy seminars and conventions throughout the country. One invited me to Guatemala to do a week of volunteer work. Others extended job offers, and a place to stay when we visited. Somehow we made it through the course and were able to get our certificates on the closing night dinner. The head prof mentioned that he hates kids who wear their baseball caps backwards. So, when he got up to speak, and give us our certificates, we (on our table only)all stood, placed a baseball cap on our heads, and on the count of 3, placed them backwards!!! The place was roaring, and he gave us a reluctant touché’.
The Chapel Hill environment does create a great learning environment, even for those of us who have been out of school for a while. The profs have a lot of energy and great ideals. It really is a labor of love, since most of us easily make more money than any of the professors. However, they seem to lack the one thing I found so prevalent in the sciences, as an undergraduate. The one thing is real life experiences. I guess that is why they brought all of us in to the classroom. We challenged their theories, mostly with our own professional experiences. It provided for a very interesting give and take.
Our hotel was the classic old Carolina Inn, about a block from campus. We were told all of the visiting teams stay there since it is the best hotel in town. It seemed very formal, even in the bar, where we met each afternoon after class. Most of our meals were at the hotel, except for the golf outing, and the awards dinner. Southern cooking gets very boring after 2 weeks of it. We started asking for vegetarian, since one of our friends was Hindu. His food turned out better than ours.
Every class has someone they pick on. Our class chose a woman named Lori, from the University Hospital at Ohio State. So, when we went out for pizza one night, guess who got the bill, after each of us sneaked out to the boys room? She was a good sport, and got even during one of the many competitions in class. We also spent one evening at the bar, trying to figure out why certain people were selected to attend this class. We decided that our little group of eight was the most worthy.
If you ever get the chance to go back to school, however it occurs, please take it. I remember telling my kids that if I did not have to work, I would choose to go to school the rest of my life. Even for a few weeks, it is invigorating, and challenges the thought processes and belief system. One of these summers, I plan to take some more courses at Oxford or Cambridge, AFTER attending Wimbledon. See you there!!!
Postscript: One of my grad school classmates from UC Berkeley is now the Chancellor for Health at Duke!!!!!
and common sense took over. Actually, I stopped when my back started giving me trouble in the early 90’s. But I loved to ski, and to race and was fortunate to ski all over Colorado, Utah, and California. But Aspen is the best, because it offers a lots of everything: outstanding skiing, great food, crazy people, great shopping, well known celebrities, and lots of night life.
I actually went to speak in a series of continuing education (Pharmacy)seminars for a friend of mine. He called himself the mayor of Sausalito, and would pay my way or so he said, and I would conduct the seminars, and collect the money. I had just gotten a new job, but they allowed me to take a paid week off since this trip was educational and planned well in advance of my start.
Landing in Grand Junction, CO is one of the biggest disappointments ever, as it is on the western slope of Colorado, very desolate, and pretty dreary. It is not at all how you picture the famous ski resorts and towns in the Rockies. But as the van made its way to Aspen, things started looking up. We passed a few smaller resorts, a golf course covered with snow, and finally reached Glenwood Springs, the gateway to Aspen and Snowmass.
Much to my surprise, they had my buddy and I room with a crazy guy we called Rapid Robert. He was a ski racer, amateur photographer, and had the worst stutter of anyone I have ever met. He headed out for the first run of the trip, which was the last run of the day, as the lifts closed. We headed to the nearest bar, and started the party. We met up with some of the other seminar participants, who later became good friends over the years. Most of them were from Denver, and were actually there to learn something.
The ski town of Aspen has it all, with several resorts, fine restaurants, gated communities, expensive boutiques, and glamorous people. It has a vibe that excites and thrills, no matter who you are. We found that people there are very friendly, and even friendlier in the many bars and dance halls of downtown Aspen. We never felt alone after that first night there. Time to party hearty.
We warmed up the first day at Snowmass, as it is a little smaller, and less intimidating than Aspen or Ajax, as the locals call it. We found the famous run, called Big Burn, named because in taking the run from top to bottom, your legs will burn, burn, burn. It is one of the longest and best runs I have ever skied. We ran into more of the seminar folks, many of them excellent skiers and racers.
That evening was our first seminar, but nobody was there. They were all in the hot tub, so we decided to order drinks and start there. After several hours, we decided to adjourn to a nearby restaurant. Several unregistered people just showed up, paid their seminar fees, and left. They just wanted a tax write-off, and some kind of proof they attended. Needless to say, this provided a good pot of money for our drinking and dining adventures in Aspen.
We all looked forward to Ajax, and its legendary runs. It is a spectacular mountain with all kinds of runs, and jumps. We skied through the trees, where it is so quiet you can only hear your own skiis cut through the snow. We did not want to stop for lunch, but we needed some fortification, if you know what I mean. That night we invaded the famous and old Hotel Jerome until closing time. It is a must stop in Aspen, any time of year. It has lots of character and is full of characters. Some locals say it is haunted!
The next night while shopping, we ended up in a swanky leather and fur shop. A couple of nice ladies walked in, and as we saw no one from the store, we pretended to help them shop. We finally got them to try on the most expensive furs, and told them how fabulous they looked. Then their boyfriends or husbands came in, and they shared the excitement. But then the store clerk emerged, and we got the big stare down from the guys. Needless to say, they were really pissed off at us. We left in a hurry, laughing all the way down the block.
We seminared and skied the next several days, in beautiful weather, on magnificently groomed slopes. At night, we always had some kind of group dinner after the lectures. We stayed out late, had alot of laughs, and met some really nice people. We shared a table at one famous restaurant with the only 4 members of the Latvian American Medical Society. They joined our seminar the next day, just to make sure the trip was tax write off worthy. We also saw some of Aspen’s more famous residents, like John Denver, Claudine Longet, and some of the Kennedy and Ford kids.
This Rapid Robert character was really something. He raced every day, and took photos at night. We met up with several women who lived and worked in Aspen year round, through a friend of one of our seminar participants. Rapid had talked or stuttered one of them into posing for some nude photos. Later, they joined us in the hot tub, and had a party for us at their Aspen apartment.
The final day of skiing was upon us. Rapid had bought a huge ski trophy for our pharmacist only race to be held on Ajax that afternoon. We were reluctant to race, since many of the skiers, especially the Denver guys, were excellent skiers. Rapid gave a couple of us a crash course in racing, and told us that racing fast and winning was not related to one’s skiing ability, but to one’s racing ability. We ran the NASTAR course on Ajax, and most of the other skiers in our group had raced down the course. I was next to last in line, and felt like backing out. But I was able to muster the courage, and took off when they told me to go.
When we finished, Rapid comes up to me and says that I won!!! He hands me this huge trophy and tells me that I have to ski down the hill with it and take it back to our condo. I was floating on my skis. He volunteered to take the trophy back, while the rest of us decided to celebrate down the mountain to the bar. It was the most enjoyable run of my life, as we laughed, and slalomed through the Aspen trees to the famous Little Nell’s Bar. I bought the first round, and the rest was history, as they say. I still have a photo of me racing down the hill, framed and covered with dust in the garage. It was a great memory of a great trip. Aspen will always be a magical place for me.
Back to the seminar, as we were able to get a lot of drop in physicians to sign up and pay for our courses. I ended up with enough money to pay for my trip and lots of drinks and dinners, since the guy who sponsored the trip did not reimburse me. I made some ski friends in Denver for life. I stopped in Denver many times over the years on trips from back east. They took me to Bronco games and a Springsteen concert. I even kept a pair of skis and boots there. John, Bill, Art, Ed, and Kurt would become good friends, fellow skiers, and drinking buddies over the years. I returned to ski in Colorado dozens of times after this trip. But none could match my first trip to Aspen and the most exceptional ski trip of my life.
