I know...I know. I said I would post the photographs from my trip to Colorado weeks ago. Sadly, school causes me to set aside the things in life that are truly important, such as sharing photos via blog. JK
On New Year's Day I jumped in a Toyota Sequoia filled with five guys to make the long drive to Colorado, where we would spend five nights in a condo and six days out on the slopes.
Isn't this beautiful?! As Grant and I were driving into Monarch one evening, I couldn't resist sticking my arm out of the window and taking a photo of these mountains. I think Grant thought I was crazy.
Here is a group of us (Timothy, Wilson, Haley, Jennifer, and me) before we got on the lift. Thankfully our condo was ski in, almost ski out, meaning we only had to walk about a block to catch the lift. I was extremely thankful for the convenience!
This was taken on our first day in Colorado. We left Abilene at 5:30pm on the 1st and got to Monarch at 3:30am on the 2nd. It was about 9am in this photo, and we look surprisingly refreshed. We only stayed in Monarch one day. Looking at the photo, I can almost remember how it was before my view of snowboarding was horribly tainted. Look at me: I look confident. I am loving my board. Who knew that two days later I would be cursing it and saying things like, "Never again!"
The quad lift. During this particular ride to the top of the mountain I remember thinking how ludicrous we must/would seem to people that a) live in tropical regions or b) anyone that lived before the 19th century. We, for some reason, leave our warm houses and our hot chocolate to put on four layers of clothes so that we can ride on a sometimes unstable lift to the top of a mountain, where it's way below freezing, only to ski back down and ride right back up again. We pay quite a bit of money to freeze ourselves to death, and why? Yeah, it's fun. Yeah, it's considered a sport. But don't you think other people look at us and laugh? I bet the first person to ever get rich off of a ski resort did a lot of laughing at our expense, saying things like..."Look at that person with three coats on. Let's see how much he'll pay to ride that rickety lift, and let's see how long it takes him to realize he has the beginning signs of frostbite on his feet."
I like to call this photo, "Before I gave up." This photo was taken during the "honeymoon" stage of my snowboarding experience, but about two hours after it was taken, the honeymoon was over!
This was our condo, the Four O'Clock Run Resort. Many fun times were had here. There were 10 of us in a two bedroom condo, which made for an extremely exciting six days. If you can correctly figure out the sleeping arrangements, you will win a prize. Well, probably not...but maybe.
Haley and I spent many hours throughout the week standing in this exact spot, watching the guys fly down the hill on the sled(s) of death before busting on the "sweet jump". The picnic table behind us, at one point, was used as part of the jump. Figure that one out.
This is what you could find us doing on most nights: lounging around the condo. We sat around the living room and talked, played board games, and watched television. We also ate quite a bit, or at least I did. It's Grant's fault. He brought monster cookies and peanut butter rice crispy treats. You can win my heart with either one...but both?! I didn't stand a chance!
The final photograph ever to be taken of me on a snowboard. I will explain to you why I have washed my hands of snowboarding forever. On the second day Grant and I get off the lift at the top of the mountain and proceed down a blue run. Grant informs me that the run is fairly flat so I need to pick up quite a bit of speed. I say okay. I am doing fine, feeling confident. Grant tells me to switch from toe-side to heel-side. I do. As I continue going I catch an edge that throws me. We did not have any snow the night before, so there was no powder, just this crappy concrete-like ice. I fall hard, first hitting my tailbone, then my head. Grant, because he is a sweetheart, sat with me as I laid there for a few minutes and got my bearings straight. I looked up at him from where I was laying in the snow and said, "Never again", and I mean it. I will never set feet on another snowboard. Grant was kind enough to take me back to Monarch that night so that I could exchange my board for skis. The rest of the trip went without a hitch, no falls...thus preserving my tailbone.
This is the first thing I saw when I got off the lift in Breckenridge: a luau at 13,000 feet. I want to clarify, in case you are confused, that this is still Colorado, not Hawaii. I was tempted to go sit in one of the lawn chairs and ask one of the ski patrol guys if they had any margarita mix, but I pressed on despite the urge.
This was taken one morning before we left to walk down the three flights of stairs to the lift. That night, during a fleeting spell of craziness and ambivalence, Wilson, Jennifer, Grant and I walked down the same flights of stairs and across a snowy parking lot to get to a hot tub, which we weren't really supposed to be in anyway. It was 102 in the hot tub and 13 outside. My body still hates me a little bit for the crazy shock I put it through, especially on the walk back. At least that morning we had enough sense to wear layers.
By the time we stopped on a run, got our cameras out, and tried to move closer together for a photo, we typically would lose our balance. I am pretty sure as soon as the flash went off we accidentally knocked each other down. Often times, needing the break, we would just lay in the snow laughing. We decided laying in the snow puts much less pressure on your knees, so we spent a lot of time doing just that.
One of the runs that the snowboarders loathed because of its flatness. Thankfully I was on skis by this point so I had quite enough time to stop, take off my gloves, take my camera out, and shoot this picture before there was any sign of them. Another reason why snowboarding sucks. They should give them a pole or something. I mean, I had two of them, so whenever I could I tried to share the love.
Jennifer and me on our daily trek into town to do some window shopping and hot chocolate drinking.
The streets of Breckenridge. Right before I took this photo, snowballs had been thrown at Haley, Jennifer, and me from a second-story window by a group of guys. To these guys I want to say, "We will be revenged!"
Starbucks became a mecca of sorts to me during this trip. I knew, when I saw the yellow house, I could find warmth and hot chocolate through its doors. I think I have a Starbucks-dar because if there is one within a two mile radius, I can lead a group right to it...without a compass or anything! I love this Starbucks! Isn't it great? It's like the owners decided that the Breckenridge location should go incognito. Is it a house? Is it a coffee shop? Who can tell?
When the slopes close you really only have one option: Rock out!
I know, I look like a "Cool Runnings" cast member and Haley looks like a fashionable diva-pimp, but we had fun. I think we tried on every hat/wig in the store. If you saw us out on the street, admit it, you wouldn't want to mess with us. You would merely whisper as we passed by, "My, my those girls do look fabulous!"
When you walked down the street from our condo and turned around, this is the view you got. Amazing, huh?
Grant, Timothy, and Wilson clicking their boots in at the top of the main lift in Keystone. If you ever plan on going night skiing, here's a tip: Buy clear goggles. Colored goggles rob you of all depth perception. Imagine flying down a slope and hitting mogule after mogule that you can't see at full speed. It's quite frightening. Being with these boys was scary enough. At one point they went under the orange ropes to take a path that was not marked, nor was it lit. This was interesting. Girls would have never done this.
When we went to Keystone, several people in the group decided not to go out. They sat around in a restaurant instead. This was a good idea for several reasons: it was warm and it had good pizza. The only downfall was the loud and extremely strange mix of music. Think Abba meets Aretha Franklin with a dash of extreme techno.
The group (minus Wilson and me) before watching the O.C. The guys actually planned our schedule around this show. Watching the show was great, but the commentary during commercial breaks was even better. There were seven guys talking about the characters like they are real people. Discussing their histories, what they think is going to happen in the episodes to come, etc. It was absolutely hilarious! I wish I could watch the O.C. with them every Thursday.
Timothy on the green saucer of death. Later that night Timothy took the "sweet jump" on the sled and ended up face-planting in the hard snow. Only a few minor abrasions...nothing serious. The guys always said, "Try it", but I don't think they understood how entertaining and exponentially less painful it was just to stand and watch. Haley and I decided that the famous last words of the guys on this trip would be: "I was trying to hit the jump!"
First mistake: "Grant, I want to ride on the sled but I don't want to go alone. Can I ride down with you?" Second mistake: Watching Grant fly down the hill with little or no attention to what he was aimed at, and still thinking it was a good idea to go with him. Sure Grant...I will go with you. You'll put your feet down if we pick up too much speed, right? You can kind of steer this thing, right? The answer to both of these questions: no. How we survived, I am not sure. How we didn't run directly into the side of the condo, truly an act of God.
The massacre that was Cranium. Our last night we played Cranium: guys vs. girls. We, of course, won. The game was awesome and I don't think I have laughed that hard in a really long time. Between Grant trying to spell ibuprofen and Timothy's impersonations, I couldn't stop laughing.
The group the morning before we left, sans Alejandro and me. Check out the snow on the cars; it made for a long trip home. Thankfully Timothy brought his laptop so I was able to watch a few movies with Grant. The drive home, aside from having to drive through New Mexico, was not bad at all. I was thankful for a safe trip and I had such a wonderful time. I made several new friends and got to ski, which is one of my favorite things. This same group may go back next year. If we do, watch out...and whatever you do, don't take the "sweet jump"!
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