Radio Free Aspen - March 23, 2009

Today Colleen and I hit the road bound for Aspen. Not knowing what to expect, I predicted a ritzy ski town with big buildings and where I might run into TomKat. I knew they either hung out there or in Vail. Not sure which. The trip there was a little hairy - with plenty of snow on the highway around Vail. Luckily, that didn't last too long. Before we knew it, the radio dial started picking up Aspen radio stations, including our favorite "Radio Free Aspen. No talk, just music." Question - aren't they talking when they play that announcement?

Anyway, we survived the traffic circle and the famous S-curve and the street grid which just happens to be 12 degrees off of true north (silly elevation screws everything up). We checked in at our hotel, which was very cool, accommodating for Shannon and had about 100 music channels.
Our 1 hour walk around Aspen featured about 4 different weather conditions, snow flurries, clouds and cold, bright sun and warmth, followed by white-out blizzard like snow. Luckily when the blinding snow started falling, it was time for Apres Ski - aka free wine and cheese at the hotel. Good thing our hotel host, Kyle, was laid back. He didn't mind that I kept going up for refills. Hey, it's free.
After a little rest at the hotel, we ventured out to see the movie Knowing. Ironically, I didn't KNOW a thing about this movie going into it. It thoroughly scared the crap out of me, especially since the movie was set in Massachusetts. Despite being scary, I was riveted by the movie, but at the end very unsure of what to take away from it. Apparently the guy behind me felt the same way, "I want my ten dollars back" he said.

Other observations about Aspen.

Everybody has dogs. In fact, we saw the same one 4 times during our stroll through downtown. Golden retrievers add curb appeal... and they only bark in Golden.
I didn't see any celebs or big buildings, just lots of foreign travelers helping stimulate the US economy. Tell your friends!
About 20 percent of residents have snow tires - which sound so cool.

Jerry Springer drivers a Chrysler.
Trust me, it was him. My camera-taking was just too slow to catch him.

Radio Free Aspen: B+ (can't go wrong playing Lady Gaga's "Poker Face" on loop
Free wine and cheese: A+
Knowing: C-
Snow Tires: A

--POSTED BY JON