Spaulding Smails

I have about 500,000 Marriott points and about 200,000 Southwest points right now. I've accumulated them through my business by using my cards for business purchases and employee travel. I'm guessing I'll have about double that by this time next year. For Spring Break 2022, I'd like to take my wife and two of my kids on a tropical vacation (probably 5 nights). Thinking Hawaii, Costa Rica or somewhere in the Caribbean. I've done some high-level searches for hotels and flights, but the bottom line is, I'm trying to maximize my points value. Ultimately, I'd love to find a location with nearly direct service via Southwest (we don't mind a 2-hr drive), and a Marriott branded hotel with a points upgrade option to a 2-bedroom suite. I have Ambassador Elite status as well, so may be able to get upgrades, but that's not guaranteed. Seems like the 2-bedroom suite ask is going to be the deal breaker. It either pushes the points threshold beyond the level of value of there just aren't any options there. For example, the Ritz-Carlton Kapalua has a killer 2-bedroom suite... for 5,000,000 points. Any suggestions?

Damn. I slept right through this. That little hook is just north of my house. I fell asleep around 10:30 with a little lightning in the distance, but nothing more. Looks like we had about 0.3" of rain. No wind damage. I'll take it.

Yep. This is who we used. First class operation. Can't say enough good things. They know their shit. And they know that area like the back of their hand. @Born to Run regarding ability, they did a great job of tailoring the trip according to ability. I'm a good, but not great, skier. I can handle blacks and moguls, but I'm not super fluid and I don't do the double black diamond stuff. I had skied in powder before, but not like that. It took some getting used to. For example, I veered off to the side and the chopper pick-up location on one run, and took my skis off and sank to my chest in powder. By the third run, I was more comfortable and started taking more aggressive lines that actually helped all around. If I did it again, it would be a completely different mindset. The group that we were paired with (husband and wife) were amazing skiers. The husband skied competitively in his younger days. We had two runs where the chopper dropped me and my buddy off at the normal launch point, then took the guide and the two of them up to a more difficult segment that ran down to us. It was a blast to watch them carve up those steep areas between rocks. To me, the most critical part is physical aptitude. If you can't ski all day, or if you're out of shape, don't do it. You need to be ready for getting after it to make the trip enjoyable. So, to summarize, if you're a high-intermediate skier in good shape, you'll be fine. Anything less than that, and I don't think it would be very enjoyable.

Haven't been to the ranch in 6+ weeks. Headed back Easter weekend for turkey hunting, shed hunting and maybe dropping an axis doe. I also need to cut up about a metric ton of firewood to replace what we burned back home during the snowpocalypse.

San Juan Mountains. Just north of Telluride. Chopper flew out of Mountain Village.

OK. So, heli-skiing was insane. Legit bucket list trip. But, damn I got my ass kicked. Humbling, breath taking, amazing and about a jillion other superlatives. Will upload pictures tonight or tomorrow.

Ahhh yes. The Palatka Lean. That one is one of the more pronounced of the variety. I was introduced to this phenomenon during a recent trip to Northeast Florida.

Jeez dude. That's awful. What a shame. Believe it or not, the majority of our damage was from the New Years Eve ice storm. We lost some major branches on the big Live Oak grove in front of the cabin. Had a big Bastard Oak fall on the well house. Tons of damage around the ranch. We have enough firewood to last decades. My pops stayed up there during the February freeze. They lost power here and there, but had it on for the most part surprisingly. We keep a generator up there, and my dad had it on standby to run a heat lamp in the well house when the power went out to keep the pump from freezing up. No significant damage for us, thankfully.

Hit Bushwacker. It's a long black trail that gets groomed. So it will be so sweet with that powder on top. No moguls under neath. But with 16 inches, every run will be sweet. Bushwacker is on the list for sure. I'm stoked about hitting Revelation. Only catch is kids are with us today. Tomorrow and Tuesday, they're in ski school. Wednesday together again. Oh, and my wife just surprised me last night that she booked heilski for me Thursday. So, that doesn't suck.

16" overnight in Telluride. Gonna be a good powder day!

Ended up finding a room in Telluride last night, so we made it here. Nice to not have a drive this morning, but it would've been an easy drive. Still no snow. But, this Texan was better being safe than sorry.

Negative Ghost Rider. I would go as far west as possible to avoid bad roads. Do not go through Silverton. Stick to the Dolores route. Roger that. Thank you for the advice.

Any recommendations on travel from Durango to Telluride in a snow storm? We usually take 145 through Dolores, but I'm thinking 550 through Silverton and Ouray may be a better bet. It looks like it adds about an hour, but may be worth it.

We're headed up there now. Wife is driving for a bit. We were supposed to arrive in Telluride Sunday. Switched things around and now arriving Saturday morning. Trying to get to Durango tonight, then get up super early tomorrow morning to make it to Telluride. Telluride had zero rooms available tonight, otherwise, we would've just forged ahead. If we can make it before the snow, the skiing should be awesome. Not as much snow in the San Juans as the front range, but should still be pretty sweet.

Any recommendations for a good custom boot maker in Austin or anywhere within a few hours? I'm not married to custom, but I'm ready for something a notch or two up. I'm a big fan of Lucchese. I have a pair of 1883s and a pair of Classics. Both nice. Both very traditional. Ariat is my go-to daily boot. I need rubber soles for daily use. Looking to spend $1,500 - $2,000. Don't really care about exotic leather. I just want a really, really nice boot that I can keep forever.

Agreed. I didn't think about Cloudcroft at first, but that's a perfect choice for this type of trip.

I second the Clearwater idea. Beaches. Decent restaurants. Bars. Most is within walking distance if you're central.

Any suggestions for a quick daytime activity in Durango? Also need a good rec for a family dinner. We're headed to Telluride for Spring Break. Leaving Friday, staying Friday night in Santa Fe. Planning on getting to Durango by lunch. Spend Saturday there, then leave early Sunday to make it to Telluride when the mountain opens.

I didn't think about the cold killing exotics. Haven't been to my place since the freeze, but headed up next Monday to check it out. Yikes.

Same. I ordered 25 today. Friday, today, tomorrow and all of next week have been capping lines, fixing leaks, etc. Just need to get water to some people. Starting installs March 1 and we're booked through the month. Incredible.

I'm on propane. You always run the risk of no fuel or low pressure. Especially when reliant on NG as opposed to your own propane tank.

We've had power for a grand total of 12 hours since Monday @ 3 AM. Down for most of the day Monday, back Tuesday AM with rolling blackouts, then out since some time early Wed AM. PEC claims there's something wrong with a distribution line and a "part is on order". That's after their automated systems said we'd have power back in "45 - 90 min" before it went to "unavailable" status. Now, we're on a boil water notice. Thank goodness we're homebodies and self-sufficient with a big propane tank, a gas range and a big fireplace. I guess I should've pulled the trigger on that whole home generator this summer...

Yes. Austin. We received 19 incoming leads yesterday for plumbing issues. And, we're not even a plumbing company. We JUST got our plumbing license last week, and I have ONE plumber on staff, so we're prioritizing existing customers. Temps got above freezing yesterday for a bit, and issues started arising. I'm hearing the big plumbing companies are telling folks mid to late March before they can even come out to look at a leak. This is going to dwarf Hurricane Harvey from an insurance claim standpoint. Lots of these issues are NOT minor. We have five in queue that will potentially be $100K+ due to the damages sustained.

75% of the calls we're getting are related to either exterior tankless water heaters or uninsulated copper pipes in attics, specifically those that have blown-in insulation. Spray foam houses fared well and kept attic pipes above freezing temps.