Killington Ski Resort

After a super fun trip to San Diego with Ken’s family, we had a relaxing New Year’s Eve dinner with Kristen and Wai-Sing. We were saying how it would be great to go to Vermont before going to Colorado since we hadn’t skied all year – by the time Kristen and Wai-Sing left for the night, we were talking logistics of getting to Vermont for the weekend. By the next day, we were able to rent a car, rent a condo, and get two days of skiing in – an amazing feat since all of the plans were made in a matter of days.

On Friday after work, Ken and I met up at Kristen and Wai-Sing’s apartment and drove from the city to Vermont. We stayed in a super nice condo at Killington – we bought groceries to cook dinner at night, took the bus to the ski resort in the morning, and had a really fun time skiing together. The weather in Vermont was ridiculously cold – even under my three layers of heat-tech and cashmere, I was still freezing! Here I am getting my skis ready for the day:

Ken had a private ski lesson in the morning so Kristen, Wai-Sing and I found the trails we liked before meeting up with Ken after lunch. Look at the perfect conditions:

After Ken’s lesson, we met up with him and he felt a lot more confident skiing with us for the rest of the day:

The snow covered trees were really beautiful – here’s Kristen and Wai-Sing before going down a run:

Look at how bundled up Kristen is!!

After a full day of skiing on Saturday, we went back to our condo, cooked up a really delicious dinner (steak, broccoli and mushrooms), set off the fire/smoke alarm, and played card games and drank wine until we passed out at 10pm. On Sunday, the conditions weren’t as good (not as sunny) but it was another fun day of skiing before heading back into the city. Me and Ken on day two:

We left Vermont around 3pm and arrived home in time to get groceries, do laundry and get ready for the week. It was a really fast trip to Vermont but definitely doable – we plan on going back before the ski season is over!

Pelly’s Fish Market Cafe

After driving back from Disneyland, we decided to drive somewhere for dinner instead of getting room service. We actually drove by Pelly’s Fish Market on Christmas Eve but they were closing up as we were walking in; luckily, they were open on the 29th so we stopped in for dinner:

The cafe is on the right side and the left side has the fish that they sell to customers. You can pick the type of fish you want, the way you want it cooked, and what kind of marinade you want with your fish. I chose the mahi mahi with the Pelly’s original marinade:

Ken ordered the red snapper with teriyaki sauce:

And we also ordered some lobster tacos to share:

Me and Ken with Ken’s parents on our double date:

The food is decent; fresh and no frills, but I didn’t find the food to be that amazing (maybe I was a little let down because I wasn’t a huge fan of the Pelly’s marinade…the cashier REALLY talked it up!) The fish is caught daily and you can buy it by the pound to grill yourself, so that might be the better choice if you plan on visiting Pelly’s.

Disneyland!

After our fun trip to the San Diego Zoo, we planned one more touristy thing to do in California: going to Disneyland! I hadn’t been since I was a kid (around Christmas-time, too) so I was looking forward to the trip, even though the last time I was at Disneyworld, I though the roller coaster rides were kind of tame. We drove to Anaheim early in the morning and got right into Disneyland without too much traffic.

The park is actually really small – it was easy to meet up with Flo, Paul, the kids and Teresa and Adam – we met at the statue of Walt Disney with Mickey:

We were right on time for the morning parade – here we are waiting for the parade to start:

They had a ton of large Christmas trees (we went on the 29th of December):

Ken and Charley waiting for the parade to start:

Me and Ken:

We were lucky enough to get a fast pass to Space Mountain (thanks to Ken being very convincing to the guys in line) and ended up riding Space Mountain, Star Tours, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. The guys gave us enough fast passes so we didn’t have to stand in any lines. Star Tours felt like being in a car accident where you were repeatedly shaken and didn’t have airbags but Space Mountain and Big Thunder were both really fun. The only roller coaster we didn’t have a chance to ride was the Matterhorn bobsleds (they didn’t accept fast passes and the wait for that ride was at least two hours). After riding the fun stuff, we met up with Sammy at the gift shop before heading home:

The ride home wasn’t too bad – we were pretty exhausted from hanging out with the kids but I was really grateful that we didn’t have to stand in line all day!

San Diego Zoo

We wanted to see the pandas at the San Diego Zoo so we spent the day with Flo, Paul and the kids. The drive to the zoo wasn’t too bad (about an hour) but we spent another hour trying to find parking! Parking is free but you should get to the zoo SUPER early if you want any chance of finding a parking space (not even a good parking space, just a parking space in general). Valet parking was completely full and Ken and I sat in the car trying to chase people down as they were going to their cars for a solid hour before I ended up just getting out of the car and trying to buy tickets to save some time. We eventually found parking and met up with the kids inside. The zoo was all decorated for the holidays:

We almost immediately went to the other side of the park by taking the tram – here’s me and Ken on our way to see the pandas:

First, we went to see the polar bears – there were two that were leisurely lounging on their rocks:

Then we saw these animals (I don’t know what they are….and they were just standing between me and the pandas!!):

When we finally found the panda exhibit, the lines were SUPER long. We almost didn’t make it through the exhibit lines because we thought it might take hours! But, I really wanted to see the pandas and it was the only reason we drove to the zoo, so Ken, Flo, Charley and I stood in line while Paul and Sammy sat down and enjoyed a churro. The line was actually not too bad, it just looked like it was never-ending. Actually, they had other exhibits before you got to the pandas, including the red panda and a snake (gross). Finally, we got to the panda exhibit!! Here’s gao gao:

Me, Charley and Gao Gao:

The panda is super lazy and really cute – in fact, one of his ears is larger than the other because before the zoo found him, he had gotten into a fight with another panda and lost part of his ear! I can’t even imagine a panda fighting with another animal because they’re so fat and lazy…I almost think Gao Gao just got his ear stuck on some bamboo shoot and couldn’t figure out how to untangle himself without hurting his ear. There’s another panda at the exhibit (but they’re not together):

And a third panda was born over the summer (not available for public viewing yet, but Ken and I watched a bunch of the videos and they were all really cute). After seeing the pandas, I was down to see anything else so we went to see the rhinos:

Me, Ken and Charley by the rhino:

Across from the rhino: a herd of giraffes:

And then we saw the cutest koalas!!!:

Finally, some very pink flamingos:

The trip to the zoo wasn’t too bad of a drive and it was definitely worth it to see the pandas and the koalas. Next time we visit, I’d love to see the new baby panda! They’re redoing some of the koala exhibit so there will be at least 20 koalas by the end of 2013 – I can’t wait to go back and see them!

Phil’s BBQ

When we were looking for recommendations for San Diego, Ken’s roommate, Joe, told us to go to Phil’s BBQ, a chain with supposedly the best barbeque in San Diego. I was a bit skeptical, but willing to try it since I love the BBQ at another chain in North Carolina, Cookout. We went with Ken’s cousin, Melyssa, and her boyfriend. The place smells like a perfect barbeque pit and is a no-frills place:

You place your order at the counter and pick it up when it’s ready. I ordered the baby back ribs with a side of mixed vegetables:

And Ken ordered the pulled pork sandwich with a side of potato salad:

The barbeque is amazing – the best part is the sauce that is most likely laced with crack because I couldn’t get enough of it! We took the leftovers home because we didn’t finish everything and I kept telling Ken that we should eat it late at night but he told me it was a bad idea – we ended up not eating it before we came home and I still tell him (to this day) that we missed out on some really amazing barbeque.