Michelle Obama Does Her Part to Help Economy

Secret Service guards the First Lady and children

Vail, CO, Feb 22, 2011. First Lady Michelle Obama's visit to Vail caused the resort to shut all three of its runs for security. 

This left just one open for Michelle her entourage to go tubing without running into ordinary people who were skiing. 

A special tube had to be brought in to accommodate Mrs. Obama's sizable hips. One observer said it seemed to be from a Kenworth tractor trailer.

This was the Ski Resort's busiest time of year, forcing them to turn away paying customers to accommodate the First Lady.

The family appears to have flown to Colorado on Air Force Two, and then took a private jet to the regional airport, followed by a cavalcade of private limos to the resort.

She is staying in a private suite costing in excess of $2,000 a night, with room service extra. Rooms for her staff of handmaidens start at $605 a night, and daily ski passes at Vail without a deal can cost as much as $350 a day, not including ski rentals. 

The First Lady, who has spearheaded a campaign to change American eating habits, ate ancho-chile short ribs from a restaurant next to her luxury ski hotel in Vail, Colorado. 

The Obamas have already come under fire for the vacation, with the President accused of double standards after appealing for Americans to sacrifice their holidays just days before his wife and children went on the costly skiing trip.

The first lady went to Restaurant Kelly Liken in Vail Village on Saturday night, dining on a braised ancho-chile short rib with hominy wild mushrooms, the Vail Daily reported.

Conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh hit out at the First Lady for her choice of food on Monday. Speaking on his radio show he said: 'The problem is, and dare I say this, it doesn't look like Michelle Obama follows her own nutritional, dietary advice.

'And then we hear that she's out eating ribs at 1,500 calories a serving with 141 grams of fat per serving ... I'm trying to say that our First Lady does not project the image of women that you might see on the cover of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Issue or of a woman Alex Rodriguez might date every six months or what have you.

'She's a hypocrite. Leaders are supposed to be leaders. If we're supposed to go out and eat nothing, if we're supposed to eat roots and berries and tree bark, show us how.'

The family are staying at the upscale Sebastian Hotel on Vail Mountain, where rooms start at $650 a night and range up to more than $2,400 for multi-bedroom suites.

Pictured on the first day of their holiday, the First Lady's cream ski jacket was open, perhaps indicating that temperatures were not as bitter as they are in other parts of the country