The airline points dilemma resolved

Chris and I are going away for a week (all by ourselves, no less!) and we had planned to use our airline points to do so.  Chris, however, had been having some misgivings because of the terrible environmental impact of airline travel.  And yet....we have an obnoxious number of points at our disposal.

I had wanted to go somewhere warm for a week since I'd never been anywhere warm when it was cold here.  Chris and I both wanted to go to Taos New Mexico but for some reason using the points seemed a waste.  We thought about driving (3.5 days each way) but our trip would be limited to one day there and 7 days driving!

We actually went around and around and around in circles without deciding anything.  We thought that maybe because for once in our lives we weren't "escaping" the stress, that we just weren't motivated to get away.

Surely goodness as the parents of three kids we could motivate ourselves???!!!

So we traded in about a third of our points and rented a condominium at Sun Peaks Resort (one hour drive away) and we intend to ski all week (nordic; we have season passes).  We intend to cook our own dinner a fair bit and I've been gathering a lot of Indian ingredients (our kids won't eat Indian food) and we will sample the wonderful cooking of the resorts many restaurants, for about half our dinners.

We're loading up on books, DVDs, CD's and plan on relaxing for most of the time.  There's even a  private hot tub...not very environmental, but I will force myself to enjoy it every day after coming in from the trails...

We both feel pretty good about this decision.  What we really wanted all along was a chance to simply spend time together without the usual distractions.  The bonus is that it is a frugal vacation money-wise, but rich in value to both of us...as long as Chris still does his share of the dishes!