Some of you will remember my sister-in-law, Ellie Brown, who is in Colorado with Fred's brother, Tom, who is a ski instructor there. Ellie writes regularly to her on-line journal which she sends regularly to her family. On Saturday she told us that she and Tom were invited to dinner by some of Tom's students - a family from Puerto Rico. Tom has worked with them before, and a friendship has grown out of those ski lessons. Here is Ellie's report, written Saturday:

Tonight we are going out to dinner with the couple from Puerto Rico. Tom has been teaching the young children to ski this week. The family has been staying at the Ritz . . . they have five children. He was owner and head CEO of a bank in PR. I think we are going to eat at a place called Zack’s Cabin. I know it is expensive and the food is rated excellent. This will be my first time there.

(Sent this morning . . . )
We arrived at the Ritz Hotel and waited for the group of people who had made reservations at the restaurant to all arrive at the reservation desk. Our friends from Puerto Rico arrived with another couple from San Juan. The gentleman is a lawyer who works with the brother of the wife (with 5 children). He looked like a woodsman, with a heavy beard, ear-flapped Sherpa lined hat and heavy warm coat. He and his wife both speak English without much of an accent. They went to college in the mainland US. And, all the students must learn English at school, from the very beginning. Some learn all the subjects in English, with the exception of Spanish. In most cases Spanish is spoken at home. Thus, the students become bilingual at an early age. Other languages are introduced after the first levels - French, German, Italian, etc.

We exited the Ritz, got into a big metal sleigh dragged by one of the mountain grooming cats, sat on benches covered with blankets and then covered up with more blankets. Off we headed up the mountain slope, along the ski trails, past clumps of aspens and pines, under a sky that was partially covered by clouds, but brightly illuminated by the planet Jupiter which was seemingly guiding us to our destination, Zack’s Cabin.

The restaurant is located on a level area of the mountain, but has two floors, one being built into the mountain level. There were 12 in our group, including 8 members of the family, (one being a cousin of the children – an excellent caretaker for the younger children). Tom and me, Rudy and his wife, Sandra, made up the rest of the group. The food was expensive. I guess I can understand why. All the food has to be delivered to the mountain kitchen. All the employees have to arrive by sleigh and be paid. And the food is exquisite! I had a tasty meal of veal piccata, arugula greens topped with extremely thin strips of crispy fried onions, and fried potato medallions. I also had a house salad with a dressing of champagne vinaigrette and garnished with roasted walnuts and sautéed onions. Delicious! We had crusty bread and both white and red wine. Some could finish the meal with a dessert. Not me. We all enjoyed a wonderful feast and great company.

Salaman, father of all the children, insisted I sit beside him to speak Spanish. We spoke of the Cuban Revolution, Castro, his family’s departure in 1960, settlement in Puerto Rico, his sister in Bogota, Columbia, the economic crisis, President Bush, travels to Paris, art, education in Puerto Rico, studies in the United States, the governor of Puerto Rico, the Yunque, the only rain forest in the United States, and much more. It was a very educational and interesting experience. I enjoyed the company and joviality of the group.

When we descended the mountain by sleigh the sky no longer had one big cloud. This had broken up and we had huge cotton balls of clouds scattered above. The full moon was shining so beautifully. A light snow was falling and it all seemed as if we were traveling through a scene in a movie, like “War and Peace”.

After reading this, Fred e-mail Ellie asking about the Yunque. Here's her response:

I went to Google and found lots of sites to get information and pictures. [When we were there] we saw most of the places in the pictures shown. Go to one of the sites, you will enjoy reading about it. We did not have rain when we went, no mosquitoes and the air was deliciously humid. It felt good. The Big Bath was actually built by the Army Corp of Engineers. It used to be a swimming pool but is now closed because of several drownings. The big ferns, flowers, tall trees and the La Mina Falls are all beautiful. We did climb the tower to get a great view of the ocean and the surrounding valleys and mountains. Nice excursion! Thank goodness we did not encounter the 90 foot boa! The singing frogs called Coquis are super fast and can jump a great distance. They can startle a person who is unsuspecting of their capabilities. More than once I had the frightening experience of a coquis jumping on my head, shoulders and arms and just as fast jumping off. They are really not a danger, just a surprise. Ella

From frigid Vermont, far from the misty wilds of the Yunque, but where moonlit nights surely rival the beauty of Colorado nights, we thank Ella for a glimpse into the lives of a couple of retired native Vermonters doing their "winter thing" in the Rockies. By the way, here's a link to one of the Yunque sites:
El Yunque