… in Vail/Eagle, Colorado for a day to surprise somebody!

This amazing picture is from Beaver Creek. We were in the Village there when we suddenly came up to this arrangement of multiple skis standing next to each other. They were made of some kind of reflecting material (polished metal?).

Chiko pointed out that if I were to stand in a particular spot, I should be able to see the reflections in each of the skis…

That was pretty interesting!!

… they might be just looking or coffee.

Here is Hullor, Chiko, Alex and myself looking for a coffeeshop in the morning. The catch is that we wanted to find a local coffee shop and talk to the owner. You know, just… because…

We went past the Starbucks and found a bookshop-cum-cafe place. Talked to the lady in the front… and what do you know? Turns out she is from where Hullor did his college (Ann Arbor)!! How about that for a coincidence?

The cute girl at the coffee counter gave Chiko a second look… and I do not think we are done teasing him yet 🙂 🙂

The elevation (8000 feet?), the heat (high eighties) and the steepness of the trail – not to speak of the lack of practice – started taking its toll pretty quickly as we embarked upon the hike that Anannya insisted we all go for. The kids fared much better.

After we came back, I asked everybody their guess of the distance we had hiked. Estimates ranged from 0.75 miles to 4 miles. The right answer was 1 mile !!

The six of us settled down at Hooked Beaver Creek for lunch. I asked for an Old Fashioned – a little on the sweeter side since the hike was hot and draining. When the drinks came around, I took a sip and really liked the taste. However, something else got my attention… It is the King Ice cube. Note how the ice has the inscription INSIDE it!! In fact, it is the logo of the restaurant.

“That is not very easy to do”, I remarked to Sunil and Anannya as I picked the ice up and showed it to them.

“Josh!”
“Yes, sir”
“This ice cube…”
“Yes, sir”
“Did you make it?”
“Indeed”
“That is crazy good. How do you do it?”
“Oh! it takes me a whole day”… and then our bartender, Josh, went on to show how he makes those ice cube.

He first freezes two dozen of these cubes in a standard tray. But instead of filling up the tray holes to the top, he goes only about 9/10th of it. Then he freezes it.

For the second step, he uses an iron rod that has a logo imprinted on it (like a rubber stamp). He heats up this rod by leaving it in boiling water. He brings the cubes out and then using the iron rod, he basically brands (like you brand cattle) the top of the ice cubes. He lets the melted water drain out and then re-freezes.

The third step would be to bring out the cubes and then put some food colorings in the grooves created by the branding. Re-freeze.

As a final step, he fills up the cubes to the top and does the final re-freezing!

Voila! The ice cube comes out with the beautiful etches inside!!

I need to try this!

If you are in Beaver Creek, CO, try out Josh’s old fashioned at the Hooked restaurant!

Sunil tried to delicately give support to Anannya while she tried to balance herself on the tightrope. Almost like a tango.

She, on the other hand, at the slightest hint of falling down, furiously grabbed him by the collar – almost choking him 🙂

The three boys jumped into the lake immediately… leaving the senior adults err… high and dry!!

I asked Hullor, Chiko and Alex to strike some poses so I could take a picture of them. (This is in Vail village). And this is what they could conjure up!!

Celebrating Anannya’s 50th Birthday!!