Jackson Hole 1,
Jan 28, 2024,
Hi Everyone,
This is probably the 30th or 40th time that I have flown out west for a medical-ski conference. As a urologist, I am some what spoiled by the fact that there are/were 4 conferences held in such illustrious places as Jackson Hole, Aspen, Whistler, Vail, Ferny, Kicking Horse, Lake Louise and Revelstoke. Each year I get to choose my destination usually depending upon my kids school breaks or holidays. For the first conference I took Antoine to Whistler. For the second conference I took Melanie. I think that I took the twins and Dominique for the 3rd conference. Eventually the whole family came. As the years past, we added the boyfriend, the girl friend and of course the husbands and wives.
At first we stayed in the conference hotel. Eventually it proved more practical to rent a condo and a Suburban to get us around. Each couple was responsible for cooking the meals. My job was to pay the bills, eat and drink. The kids skiing improved to the point that they became equal or better than me. The last time we went to Revelstoke, Marion remarked to me ‘ don’t worry Daddy, Alyson and I discussed it, and we decided that one of us will always stay back and ski with you ‘. So nice!! This year I am here alone as the kids have small kids of their own, are pregnant or have career responsibilities.
I don’t know why but my trips are always plagued with airplane travel problems. It took me 46 hours to return from Hamburg last year. My skis arrived back in Montreal 2 days late. Today was no exception. My flight was delayed for 3 hours due to ‘an electrical problem’. I guess that I should me happy that it didn’t occur in mid flight. That caused me to miss my connecting flight. They re-routed me to 2 other connecting flights. I went to the United Customer Dis-Service Counter to find out what could be done. You can always find the United counter in another terminal. There is usually a long line of customers shouting and 1 poor over worked employee saying ‘please be patient, I am doing my best.’ Today, I must say was an exception. In spite of the line up, the lady was quite helpful. My door to door travel time was 21 hours. I was up at 3:00 am to catch a 6:05 flight as it takes several hours to get through American immigration. My ski bags arrived 4 hours ahead of me. I don’t understand why I could not have been place on the earlier plane. I thought that it was illegal to have your baggage on a plane without you.
I will be up bright and early tomorrow to catch the 9:00 tram. My photos didn’t upload yet, so here is one of Louis at Mont Habitant.
Love,
Brian
gobriantravel 