Editor's Notes

We've been up in Breckenridge this week and I can definitely say that the cold has kept many people off of the slopes. Even Jeanette has yet to go out, but I don't blame her when it's probably -10F at the top. I've made it out a few times and today on 4 of the 6 runs, I didn't see anyone else on the majority of the run.

It was definitely one of those surreal days when you only see two or three lifts in front of you when the wind blows the snow around. It's nice though. Peaceful.

And yes... my ski goggles have holographic piranhas in them

I can't wait till Benjamin can get out here with me!

Today was one of the oddest travel days I've ever had.

I started out in San Rafael, attempting to make my way back to Denver. I had booked an earlier flight because I've spent too much time away from home lately. Things started out a bit odd when I tried to check in online and was told that there was no ticket for that record locator. I looked in our travel site and everything looked OK, so I sprinted my way down to the airport because I was a little late.

When I got to SFO, it turned out that, indeed, travel services had never ticketed my return trip. With only a half hour to go before my flight, it seemed a bit hopeless so I got in the ticket line and called travel. Just as I got a representative on the phone, I looked up and saw a HUGE black widow spider crawling on the upper back of the passenger in front of me in line and about to crawl onto the skin of his neck. I yelled out and swatted it away with my hand, then had to simultaneously explain to the man and to the travel agent on the phone what had happened. The agent booked me on a slightly later flight and the man, an Australian, exclaimed "Thanks, mate! You saved me from a sucky start to an holiday weekend!" We later found the spider crushed on the ground by some unknowing passerby.

I was then able to get my ticket from a kiosk instead of standing in line and I made it through security and through the terminal, stopping for a quick lunch and a chat with Jeanette. When I made it to the busy gate, I looked to my right and noticed I was standing next to one of Jeanette's friends! We chatted for a while and then she allowed me to tag along with her higher priority ticket to get onto the plane. Very nice.

On the plane, a passenger near me pointed out that I had just walked past former president Jimmy Carter and his wife, Rosalynn! I peered into 1st class from my seat and, sure enough, he was right there. Within a few minutes, the president left his seat and proceeded to walk the entire plane with 2 members of his security detail to shake every one's hand. What a nice guy. To top it off, when he was completing the circuit around the plane, he made a point to stop and kiss his wife's head before continuing around to the last few hands.

The flight was mercifully uneventful with some nice conversation from my aisle-mates and I arrived home not too much later than I would have on the original flight. Amazingly enough, had travel not failed to book me, none of the events of the day would have happened!