Dinner With Robert Redford

Our family went skiing almost every year when I was growing up. That did not change when my brothers and I started our own families. My parents bought into a timeshare at Powder Mountain in Utah. One year, while we were all there for some Spring Skiing, we took a late-afternoon snowmobile and horse-drawn wagon ride to a restaurant accessible only by such vehicles. My brothers and I rode the snowmobiles while the rest of the family rode in the wagon. We pulled up to the remote restaurant, parked the snowmobiles, and the others climbed off the wagon. Inside the rustic restaurant, warmth came from several wood stoves. It felt good to take off the heavy ski jackets and gloves, in my case, mittens. I always wore mittens so that my fingers would all be together, keeping my hands warmer than with gloves. I do not like being cold. I don’t mind being hot, even sweaty, but freezing temps make me miserable. It always has… but digress.

Back to the story.

This restaurant was more like a cabin, with long tables and benches in the main room, and the kitchen was in the back room. They offered steak and barbecue. I ordered a Chop Beef Sandwich and tea with no ice. I never have ice in any drink. That goes back to me hating the cold, even in everything I drink.

As we all settled down to eat, the door opened. The falling snow blew in through the open door. Two guys walked in, looked around, and one went to the place where they take your order. I looked out the front windows and saw three horses at the designated spot where they could be tied to a horizontal post. One guy was still outside securing his horse to the post. One of the two guys who came inside went back out to tell the third guy something, probably letting him know how many people were inside.

Mom was sitting across the table from me, watching the two guys come in from outside. The two sat at the table behind me, and the one who was at the cash register joined the other two, carrying all their food plates on a tray. Mom’s eyes looked like she was obviously watching these men. She leaned across the table and whispered to me that Robert Redford was sitting right behind me. I tried to turn without being obvious to see if it was. From where I was sitting, I really could not tell since they all had hats on and were busy eating.

We all finished eating and walked outside. Bundled up, I sat down on my snowmobile and fired up the engine. At least the heat from the engine kept me warm while we made our way back down the mountain to our cars about 10 miles away. With the sun now below the horizon, the temps bit through all my cold-weather gear. We turned in the snowmobiles to the rental place, and the others got off the wagon and made their way to the cars.

At the condo, Mom asked if anyone else had noticed that Robert Redford was at the restaurant with us. No one else really noticed him, and I did not get a good look at who she was talking about. I saw the three men, two of whom were looking out for the one who held back, while they went into the restaurant. That third guy, who never took his hat off and wore a poncho, could have been Mr. Redford, but I was not sure it was him. To this day, Mom swears that we had dinner with Robert Redford.