365 | Peaches Prattlings

{March 6, 2021} I’m comin’ home!

Mama, I’m comin’ home, by Ozzy Osborne is one of my favorite songs. I just wanted to throw that in there! Today, I am home! Back with PSM and the girls, Ruby and Bee, right where I belong.

I had the best time while I was in Colorado! I was with the dogs in the backyard and chatting with a neighbor, when I told them where I had been, they asked why I wasn’t still there…I missed my family! I will admit, it was tough to leave, but I wanted to be home, if they were with me, I would have stayed all month! Yesterday was really tough, I didn’t ski! I worked in the morning, then headed out. It was so tempting to go to Keystone when the lifts opened, for just an hour or two, then work for a few hours, then start driving. I was good…sigh…I worked until about noon, then took off.

NM and AM left earlier for the mountain to go riding, I finished working, packed up, let the dogs out, let the dogs in, loaded up the car and away we went. Annie II and I, that is. The roads were clear, what a change from my drive in and every day I was there! As I was on the highway heading away from Dillon, I was so glad not to be heading in the other direction, the line of cars was crazy! O M G! I’m sure it was going to take people about 2-3 hours to go 20 miles, no thanks!

I drove about half way, I was in Kansas at this point, sometimes with the top down, fabulous! Got some food and a hotel, settled in, talked to CWB, then crashed, it was nice. Today, got up, made some breakfast, then…I was on the road again, that was exactly the text I sent, by the fabulous Willie Nelson! Made me laugh. The temperature began to climb and it was 60 in no time, and you know what that means…top down on the car the entire drive home! The only drawback…I just realized I think I got a bit of a sunburn!

I got home, played with the pups, they seemed to have missed me! PSM had been out on his bike, came home, I dressed for the weather, jumped on the bikes and headed out to dinner, an impromptu date night! It was nice, we went somewhere new, talked, laughed, caught up, laughed, got goofy, perfect date night for us.

Now…we’re snuggled up, the pups are in the crate, and to quote the most famous Kansan said “there’s no place like home…there’s no place like home…there’s no place like home.”

{March 4, 2021} Outlook on the weather

Or, maybe attitude towards the weather. Today was my last official in Colorado for this trip, heading home to PSM and the pups tomorrow, I have seen them in over a week, very much looking forward to that!

Since today was my last day here that I could ski, I made a reservation at Keystone, mostly because it’s a 12 minute drive from the house! What?! Awesome! I had a few meetings in the afternoon, so I decided to do first run of the day, spend a few hours, come back and work. I know, you’re thinking, what does this have to do with the weather JJ? I’m getting there.

It started snowing, see…sometime last night and went on for most of the day, actually, I don’t know if it stopped yet, I know it was still going about 730 tonight, it will be an interesting drive tomorrow…but it’s been close to 60 in St Louis, so there’s hope.

When I pulled out of the driveway to head to Keystone, I said to NM, “if this was happening in St Louis, I would be saying…again? seriously?” but…since we’re in the mountains and I’m heading out to ski and they’re going to snowboard, I was quite excited about the prospect!

Isn’t it interesting how we think about things, perspective is situational, and from today’s perspective, oh yeah. Tomorrow, I might be like, oh joy, dripping with sarcasm, because…if you recall, last Wednesday evening/Thursday very early morning, the snow was not exactly a welcome site.

That’s about it! I’ll keep you posted on my drive tomorrow!

{March 4, 2021} Breckenridge…here I come again!

Today started like any other, up early, on the pc, writing, work call, writing, then…skiing…then friends! I love my life!

I worked until about 12:30p, I’m really enjoying this new job, I’m finally catching my groove. I don’t know if I’ve told you this, but when I write, it can take me a minute sometimes to figure out which direction I’m going, or want to go in. I have to look at everything I’m trying to put together, get a feel for the flow and then I am off and running to the races. And that is finally happening, I’m getting into the groove with this one item I am working on. And when that happens, I love it, and sometimes I can’t step away.

Today was a day that I was really in the groove and I didn’t want to walk away, just a few more minutes, just a few more minutes, but I know what that means…I won’t get to step away and why am I in Colorado? To ski, of course! I’ll be back home on Monday working and I can hammer away at it all I want.

When I finally came up for air, I got dressed and headed out the door. Beauty…Breckenridge is only a 30 minute drive, wah to the hoo! I got there, almost all the lots were open and I found a spot second row from the gondola! What?! And…even better…parking was only $7! Normally it’s $17, but today, I think because it was the afternoon, it was only $7, I’ll take it!

I knew I had about 2 hours to ski, let’s not waste time! Got the boots on, paid for parking and just like that, I’m on the gondola! Up, up, up…there were almost no lines for the lift, I may have waited 5 minutes, not like the weekend, where it’s sometimes 15-20 minutes, I’m good with that!

I lost track of how many runs I did, it was awesome! and today, I stuck to all blues, which was great. It was funny, I went to Keystone yesterday and as I’m coming down towards the lift, I felt like I was higher up the slope than normal, and I was…I realized that I came out in a different spot from where I usually end up and that was great! Today, there was almost no one on the slopes, some of the runs I was the only one, so I could swish, swish, swoosh to my hearts content and I knew I wouldn’t run into anyone. I looked up the slope from time to time, nope, no one.

I took runs I haven’t done in a long time, sometimes you get into a pattern and that’s it. This time, I went left instead of right and it was great! Another thing I noticed, as they say, practice makes perfect, well, there was no perfection going on, but…there was comfort. When I haven’t skied in a while, I might hesitate at the top of a run, not today or the last few days, it was just, let’s go! I only had to stop in the middle when my feet or knees told me to, but other than that, it was wheeeeeeee!

The weirdest part of my day was when I was about to get on the lift and I looked at my right hand and there was blood on it! Pooling between my thumb and pointer. What?! I was already on the lift line, just about to get on the chair, my hand didn’t hurt, so up I went. The people on the chair with me didn’t have a tissue, so when I got to the top, I found some snow, washed it off and went into the restaurant to ask for a Band-Aid. When I finally got it cleaned up, I think I figured out what happened. When I picked up my skis, I think I slid my hand down the edge of the ski and they are super sharp, so…I’m looking at it right now, doesn’t hurt and it’s scabbed over, all in a days skiing!

It was getting close to 3:45, I was done, so I headed down to the gondola, then the car, dropped the top, it was 41 degrees! and headed to the house. Got in, showered and sat down to work for a bit, and then NM and her daughter, AM, came in with the two dogs, Sylvester and Zooey, two doll babies! I don’t know if you remember me telling you when I was here in January, I had dinner from City O’ City with AM and their daughter AM. So, now, I get mother and daughter!

I haven’t seen NM since last year, so this is such a treat! They are up here for a few days riding, that’s snowboarding for those of you not in the know, and we were lucky enough that our plans overlapped so I get to spend a few days with them!

We caught up, laughed, they settled in, I heard all about AM’s projects and what’s happening in school, friends, fun, the usual. We caught up some more, told stories, laughed, and laughed, and laughed some more, had dinner, then hung out and continued all of it! We reminisced about the time we all went to Keystone and they were riding and I was skiing and AM was so young she was telling us where to go, it was great! I was telling NM last week on the phone that it’s been such a long time since she and I have had one-on-one chats, just the two of us. I love spending time with AM and the family, but girl time is something precious and she and I just don’t get that much of it, felt great!

After a few hours of catching up, stories, laughter, and Sylvester getting up and coming over every time she told a story about a dog and said ‘no’ and ‘bad dog’, that was hysterical! then it was time to pack it in, there is skiing, riding, work, and more fun to be had tomorrow! Last day on the mountains for me, it’s been amazing! And I get one more day to spend with family, how lucky am I!

{March 2, 2021} Wearing a mask…

It’s been quite the year, hasn’t it?

When everything started, many of us were on the fence about wearing masks. I’ll be honest, I fought it as long as I could, I just didn’t want to wear one or be told I had to. No one likes to be told what they have to do, and we still weren’t at critical, but we were encouraged to wear one. I carried one with me and always asked when I entered a store if I needed to put it on and if they said yes, I complied.

As things progressed, PSM started to wear his more consistently and shortly after we had a conversation and I decided that I would wear my mask full time. I kept one in my pocket and put it on when I got to the door of wherever I or we were going. Now, it’s the new normal, as they say. And people not wearing masks is more noticeable to me, it reminds me of former smokers who sometimes get more sensitive when someone around them is smoking. I’m not here to talk about people wearing or not wearing masks.

One thing that hasn’t been bad is wearing the mask keeps my face warm in the winter, so that’s been a plus. What hasn’t been a plus is having to wear a mask when we do yoga, it gets hot, sweaty, wet, and it’s hard to breathe, especially when it’s hot yoga. When I said it gets hot, sweaty, and wet, I wasn’t kidding. The mask itself is wet, and when you’re sweating, the straps get wet, ick! Ha Ha! I always wear a different mask into and out of the yoga studio, and if I forget, ugh.

PSM and I both have multiple masks, he’s bought a few, I’ve bought a few, PSM works for Bayer, and they sent us a set with their logo on it and those are the ones we wear for yoga. They are soft and silky and fit just right, soft enough to wear when we do yoga. I’ve tried the cloth ones, they don’t breathe as well and wearing the disposable, medical masks with the metal bridge get wet during yoga and when I bend over, they ride up into my eyes. We’ve definitely tested!

With all the safety precautions at the ski resorts, I believe I told you, masks are mandatory. Actually, in Colorado, when you step out of your car, you should be wearing your mask. I wear a mask that my sister got me, a Beatles Hey Jude pattern and a Turtle Fur neck gaiter. I was talking with a friend who said it must be great, the mask keeps my face warm while I’m skiing, but…it’s like when I’m doing yoga, and it’s actually the same on the motorcycle when it’s cold and I have to wear a face cover to keep warm…when you ski you breath out of your mouth and nose, which is covered, and when it’s that close, and you’re active, you’re breathing heavier and guess what happens? It gets wet. ick. So…as it gets wet and cold, and the temperature drops, sometimes it freezes, how’s that for ya?!

I know there’s an end in sight and I look forward to it. Until that time, masks up!

{March 1, 2021} Work, catnap, dinner out

Happy Monday! It was a fabulous weekend! I got to ski at three mountains, two that were new me, you would think I would have been exhausted…

Yeah, well…I got back from Vail, took a nice hot shower, did some work, then grabbed some grub, the second half of a really tasty frozen pizza, believe it or not! It had beet sauce, butternut squash, and goat cheese! I have to say, frozen pizza or not, it was tasty! Yes, I know, it had goat cheese, but I took a chance, and…y u m!

After I ate, I hung out and watched some tv, started watching His Dark Materials, I’ll tell you what I think after I finish it. As of right now, it’s not that different from the movie, The Golden Compass, please, no one jump on me over this yes, let me finish watching the entire series or at least season 1 and then we can talk again. About 8pm, I think I nodded off for about 30 minutes, I’m not actually sure, but I think so. Eventually, about 11, I went downstairs to get in bed and guess what happened…

If you guessed that insomnia reared its ugly head, you would be correct. I kept looking at the clock…1 or 2am, that’s ok, that’s normal, but 3am, 4am, seriously?! It was somewhere between 530 and 6am, I was actually able to force myself to go to sleep, thank gawd! I really needed some sleep so I could work. I fell into that deep coma like sleep and the 7am alarm was cruel. I snoozed twice, knew it was time to get up, so I motivated, or whatever that was that passed for motivating. I brushed my teeth and got fully dressed, no easy feat! Up stairs, made breakfast and go to work by 8am local time.

I was pretty good until about 2pm and then I looked around the room and couldn’t focus, so I set the alarm for 30 minutes and laid down on the sofa. Let me tell you, I sat up like a shot, thought I missed the alarm, it was literally ten minutes into the nap, wow! So…I figured, I have 20 minutes left and fell right back into it, woke up at 230p ready to go! I worked until about 5p, then headed out to meet LJ for dinner at Beau Jo’s Pizzeria in Idaho Springs, Colorado.

The atmosphere is rustic and western, high ceilings, wooden posts or tree trunks in the middle of the restaurant, exposed beams, very old west feel. Best part, for me anyway…they have a plant based menu! We had vegan chicken bites and then I had the Dude Ranch, a plant based pizza with chick’n, bac’n, bits, spinache, Italian seasoning, non-dairy cheeses and vegan ranch dressing. The crust was a bit thick, but overall, the pizza was really good. I had two whole pieces, out of the eight, guess what’s for lunch or dinner tomorrow! Hey, maybe even breakfast, ya never know!

It was so good to see and catch up with LJ, we got to see each at the end of January. She’s one of those friends who gets excited to try new vegan with me, she’s not vegan, but she’s always up for going with me and I appreciate that. We had so much to catch up on! Her hunt for a new apartment, new job, current job, family, friends, her first time skiing a few weeks ago, and so much more! This trip didn’t work out to go skiing together and after this trip, I probably won’t be skiing again this season. It’s getting towards the end of ski season and that means…motorcycle season! PSM and I have our first ride this coming Sunday! So…I’m hoping next year, when I come out to ski, she can go with me! It would be so much fun to have a friend to drive up with and ski down with! I can introduce her to some of my favorite places!

It was fun talking about her first experience, some good, some bad, both of us lamenting about how much work it can me, not just skiing, but getting the boots on and off! HA HA. I’m really glad she lives here, I have another friend to see!

Before we parted, we talked about maybe meeting in Chicago when PSM and I go to see the Immersive Van Gogh Exhibit. I cannot wait to tell you all about that when we go! It’s going to be similar to the Sistine Chapel Exhibit that we went to a few months ago. I need to tell you about that one too! We hadn’t reconnected when we went, so that will have to be another post. How great would it be to meet up in Chicago for a weekend and the exhibit, especially since we’re talking about riding the bikes there! Wah to the hoo!

Anyway, overall, it was a good day, really productive with work, then a fabulous dinner with a good friend, which, just like you and I, we picked up where we left off! And now friends…I am going to put on my jammies and chill!

{February 28, 2021} A new resort…to me. Vail!

What a weekend! Friday…Breck. Saturday…Beaver Creek…Today…Vail! I do lead a charmed life, I admit that!

I got up leisurely, no pressure to go out there and ski all day, just when I get there. I got dressed, made myself a sandwich for lunch and headed out the door, about 9am. It was about a 30 minute drive, such a change from yesterday, almost no snow on the roads, it was as if someone had a giant hand dryer and poof! And gorgeous, as always!

I got there and drove around Vail Village looking for parking, finally decided on the parking garage, which, turned out great, covered parking with ski gear! Not freezing sitting on your car trying to get dressed? Possibly no snow under your feet in case you happen to step down before you get your boot on? I’m good with that!

I followed everyone else through the parking lot, out to Vail Village. What a charming place this is. It’s a charming, adorable alpine village, like walking through some of those towns in Europe with PSM. You get that Winter Holiday feel all around. It’s hotels, restaurants, and shops, lost of shops, of course! Not just clothing, but, as you can imagine, ski and snowboard equipment and accessories. It reminded me of Keystone, but the streets were more narrow, like a European town or city, whereas Keystone’s lanes are much wider, just as charming!

Headed through Vail Village to the gondola line. That line…well, that was a long line, but it moved. When it’s your turn to get into one of the gondola cars, you put your skis in one of the holders outside the car and only take your poles in with you. As I’m standing there waiting for my turn, I get to look around. It’s a beautiful place, the slopes coming down to bottom were wide and bright. I could see on one of the slopes that there were a lot of moguls, which I discovered as a kid, were not my thing. Moguls are those bumpy places on a slope, a lot of people enjoy skiing them, I don’t happen to be one of them.

What I did notice throughout Vail, on the runs that I did, a bunch of the blue squares and most of the black diamonds were all moguls. I knew what I would be avoiding! I got out of the gondola and walked over to the first lift line, put on my skis and up, up, up, and away I went! I got off the lift and looked for green dots, which, I believe we talked about, is what I tend to do on mountains I have never been on, just to get a feel for it. And today, I stuck to mostly the green dots, threw in a few of the blue squares, but the green circles were just fine for me!

One thing I found that they had, in abundance, at Vail, were catwalks, which is a narrow trail connecting one slope to another or going all the way down the mountain. What vail has… are flat catwalks! Oh no! I tend to ski with my poles in one hand, but…I am ever so grateful to have ski poles when I end up on a catwalk! Oh my! Now…if you can get enough momentum when you get going, you can sail through a flat catwalk, but…if you stop at the bottom of one hill, to take in the splendor and a picture, and lose your momentum…there is a lot of walking, using the poles to try to push, skating, and a few four letter words. Let’s just say, I know why professional skiers are so skinny! O M G! I was sweating! I wasn’t sure if I had enough layers on when I left the house, since it was -2! Nope, I was fine! I had to unzip my jacket and take off my gloves just to get a breeze going! And…I didn’t make that mistake again!

This is that first time I realize that you cannot lose your momentum!!!

Between the gondola ride up and the catwalks, my first run took me almost an hour to get down! I did learn my lesson though and the rest of the day, there was swooshing and swishing to my hearts content. The cool thing with the catwalks was that if you chose to do a run going down, you could go for a piece, then take a catwalk and start the process over again.

I went up in a chair, then skied a short distance and got on another chair that went up, then skied down, the went up and it was like that for about four hours, at least, non-stop, it was great. I remember going up and up and up on one chair and as I’m looking down, it’s mostly moguls and steep slopes and I’m thinking not my bag, and as we get to the top, I look to my left and see black diamond and double black diamond signs, uh oh, what did I get myself in to? I would go down if that’s the case, it might take me a while, but I’ll do it. Then…a sigh of relief, I looked to the left and there were my green circles and blue dots, whew!

I skied a few more runs, somehow made it to the bottom to where I needed to be and it was like everyone was having the same thought, they were done. So, I kicked off my skis, well, not kicked, and walked through Vail Village a bit, I got a zipper pull, a t-shirt on sale, and a sticker for my helmet, not very exciting, and this was all in one store, I was good to go!

I headed to the parking lot, found the car, got out of my boots and ski pants, and away we went! Headed back to the house for a hot, hot, hot shower, some dinner, work, and chill. Not a bad day. I’ve been to Vail and I really liked it, I know I’ll go back! But I think tomorrow, might be a day off from skiing, we’ll see!

{February 27, 2021} It’s Saturday…let’s go to Beaver Creek!

I was excited today, going to a new resort, Beaver Creek. I think I mentioned the other day one of the things I like about having to make reservations to ski is the opportunity to explore other mountains. I was thinking about it, I think the reason I only go to Breckenridge and Keystone when I visit Colorado is that I’m usually only here for a few days, so I think I stuck to what I knew. In addition, Beaver Creek is about an hour from Dillon and Vail is 30 minutes, which is not bad, while I stay here, but if I am staying in Golden, which I usually do, that adds almost 2 hours each way and while I don’t mind driving an hour and 20 each way, the longer trips don’t always seem worth it, especially if I’m only going for a few hours. Driving 2 hours there isn’t bad, but driving back, after skiing a few hours, exhausting. Well, that makes sense to my swiss-cheese brain!

I must be getting comfortable with the altitude and time difference, I have been getting up a little earlier every day! 530am is too early, but it is what it is! Even though I was up, didn’t mean I had to get out of bed! I leisurely lounged, watched some Netflix, and made it a lazy Saturday morning, sounds good to me. Eventually, I got up, motivated, dressed, made some breakfast, and looked outside…snow…and lots of it. I’m in the mountains of Colorado, what did I expect?! Let’s get the car packed and go!

I left the house, the streets had a new layer of snow on them, made it almost to the highway and almost couldn’t see the cars in front of me, hmmm…do I still want to go? I called PSM and we looked at the weather together, well, he looked, he’s much better at it than me!

We already know Annie II can do it! Not worried about her at all, and she proved that she can drive in the snow and we made it to Beaver Creek. Let’s just say it was a little crowded, all but one of the parking lots was full and when I finally got to the parking lot that was open, it was closed, huh? As I’m driving back down the hill I asked someone and he let me park on the side of the road, with everyone else in the same boat, which was great because we were pretty close to the lift!

I walked up to the lift, put my skis on and headed up the mountain. I really enjoyed Beaver Creek, just like all the Vail Resorts I have been to, the slopes are wide open and manageable. I find that when I haven’t been to a mountain before I tend to stay on the green circles, which are the easiest, for the first few runs, then I venture into some of the blue squares, more difficult. I haven’t reached the point this year that I want to ski the black diamonds or double blacks, most difficult. I used to, I just don’t these days and I’m ok with that!

I think I mentioned the snow that started sometime in the morning, continued on the drive and…most of the day, there were times you couldn’t see too far ahead of you, the snow kept coming, and the wind picked up, there were even a few snow swells and swirls, not quite snownados, but looked like it! If you look at my pics, it looks like of black and white, doesn’t it?!

Despite the view, or lack there of it, there was still much swishing and swooshing, and smiling while doing it! All that snow made for nice fresh powder in a lot of places. I had a few very nice companions on the chair lifts who gave me some advice on runs to do and they were spot on, thank you!

I lost track of how many runs I did, but I took a break at one point at one of the lodges, hung out by the fire and was thinking it might be time to head out, I had been there a few hours, but when I asked someone how to get back to the gondola, their answer didn’t fill me with warm fuzzies, the other resorts I have been to had ways to get back to the bottom, wherever I needed to be from wherever I was. Thankfully at that, because half the time, and I know you won’t be surprised, but I don’t know where I am half the time! I was telling someone that I admired all the skiers and riders that knew the runs and what they were called and where the ended up. You laugh, but it’s true! I remember when I would stay at the Doubletree in Breckenridge, a fabulous ski in/ski out hotel and I would have to remember the run that would take me back to the ski in part!

Anyway, she told me that I would need to go back to the top and ski to where I needed to go. That’s a tough one when your mind has told you your done. You have to kind of trick yourself, ok, let’s do another run! Well, two more and then skip the last one! I went to the top where she told me and I couldn’t figure out where she was telling me to go, so I asked someone at the top and they said, no, go this way, which I did and whew, I ended up where I needed to be! When I got to the bottom of the hill, I was a little confused, but…I found the exit, it was actually a nice run to the bottom, the lift that I came up on! That was very cool, at some other mountains, you ski, then get on a gondola, or you’re at the bottom and you walk out, this was ski to the bottom to where the hotel entrance was, a very short walk to the car, that was fun!

I got to the car, it had stopped snowing at some point and the sun came out. I thought, ooh, I’ll go into Beaver Creek Village and look for something to eat. I should have kept my car there and taken the gondola into Beaver Creek Village. I was not paying $30 for parking for the very short time I was going to be there. I wanted to walk around, get a bite to eat and maybe a t-shirt and sticker for my helmet, not worth the money. So…I started back to the house.

The drive was sooo much better on the way back than coming up there! It was a breeze. I stopped at the grocery store and picked up some supplies, then back to the house. Into the house, and I told you how nice that was to be able to put my stuff up in the garage/house! I even memorized the codes for the garage and door! Go me! Shower, pizza, movies, and you. What could be better! Tomorrow, Vail, another mountain I haven’t been to and I’m so looking forward to it!

{February 26, 2021} It’s Fri-yay! Let’s go to Breck!

Apparently I got enough sleep last night because I was up about 6am, so I settled in to work, I had some playing to do too!

I think I told you I made some reservations at some resorts so I can ski while I’m here and today’s reservation is Breckenridge. I worked until about 1230p, got dressed, loaded up the car, and headed out the door. I have to thank AM and NM for letting me stay here, it’s been so great to be in a house, be able to keep my stuff in the house and just walk into the garage to load up, instead of having to gather everything and head out of the hotel. Being in the hotel isn’t that bad, honest, this is just really nice. There is a closet right inside the house from the garage, I don’t have to lug everything from the room, down the stairs, out the door, find the car in the parking lot, just nice.

It’s also nice staying about 30 minutes from the resort, and when you stay so close, you don’t worry about how long you’re going to be there, even when I stay in Golden, I don’t mind the 1.5 hour drive. And I think I told you, since I have the pass, I don’t feel like I have to stay all day, and I’m at that age as well, I can go for a few hours and I’m good.

The drive to the resort was nice, it was a crisp, clear day, good visibility and always fabulously scenic. So much better than my drive here Wednesday night/Thursday morning. I got to the resort, found a decent spot in the usual lot not far from the gondola, paid for parking, walked to the shuttle and away we went. I got on the gondola and headed up the mountain to the lifts.

All the Vail Resorts are doing their best to abide by social distancing, there are mandatory mask signs everywhere, the gondolas and chair lifts have seating suggestions, people even putting their own stickers on things and for the lifts, I didn’t realize, but if you stand with your skis touching someone else’s skis, that’s about 6 feet, I hadn’t thought about that, well, unless it’s a kid, then it’s a little shorter!

The lift lines were a little long, but they moved and when you talked to people on line, it moves faster. It’s fun to look at what people are wearing, the kids and their colorful and fun ski or snowboard outfits, the helmet covers, and then…the group of 8 in front of me, all wearing different furry ski/snowboard outfits. Let’s see, there was an elephant, crocodile, engaged couple, both unicorns, hers said ‘Future Mrs. Somebody’ and his said ‘Fiancé’, they were quite the gathering.

Up, up, up, and away we went. As I said, the day was clear and crisp, the slopes, as always, never crowded, and there was fresh powder from the Wednesday/Thursday snowstorm, it was wonderful! There was swishing, swooshing, and more swishing. I lost track of the number of runs I did, I just went until I was a bit peckish, I grabbed a chai latte and a fabulous piece of coffee cake, it was heavenly!

Swish…Swoosh…Swish…Swoosh

One more run for me. Up I went and swished and swooshed my way down and realized I was done, so I wrapped up my skis and headed for the gondola line and oh my word, the line for the gondola was ridiculous! They even came up to move us into a more formal line, helping up avoid getting hit by any skiers, happy for that! It didn’t wrap around like that when I headed up for my last run. It is what it is.

As I was waiting on the line, a woman and her daughter walked by and I asked if they wanted to stand in line with me, mom was ever so thankful, she was done, and she was carrying her skis, boots, and her daughter’s skis. Very nice people, mom and I got on really well, it turns out we had a lot in common, and her daughter was a five year old cutie! At one point, I offered to help her and carry something and her daughter told me I could carry her skis, thanks! Bottom line, it made the line move faster and that’s what matters.

I got to the bottom, headed for the shuttle, got to the car, took off my boots, ahhh, back to the house, shower, a little more work to round out the week, dinner, and chill. Sounds like a pretty good day to me! Looking forward to tomorrow!

{February 25, 2021} To ski or not to ski…not today!

As we talked about yesterday, I got to the house in Dillon, Co, early this morning. When I say early, it was 330am. I got in the house, unpacked the car, crawled into bed and couldn’t fall asleep right away, go figure!

I finally nodded off sometime after 4/430am and it was deep when I got there! I got up about 7am local time, which is 8am Central, yeah, it gets confusing! Imagine trying to keep all that, and other times zones, straight while you’re on the road! It was something.

I got up and got to work, played with the idea of going to Keystone to get in a few runs, kept working, toyed with the idea, after all, that’s why I’m here, to ski and work, work and ski, then ski some more. I got my Epic Local ski pass when I first moved to Colorado and I renew it each year, and I always think that if I can ski 6 or 7 days each season, the pass has paid for itself. I already skied three days last month, I’m here for about a week, let’s see what I can do.

That being said, since I’m going to be skiing a bunch while I’m here, do I really need to ski the day I arrive? After driving 15 hours and getting about 3 hours of sleep, nope, I’m good. I worked until about 630/7p, had some dinner, then sat on the couch and watched some tv, ok, I laid out on the couch and started watching tv. About 2 glorious hours later I got up and headed to bed, where I couldn’t sleep, go figure again! I love naps, but they kill what little sleep I get!

I’m happy I made the executive to skip skiing today, tomorrow is a new day and I made some reservations. No, I don’t have reservations about skiing, ha ha, I made reservations to ski! The interesting thing, I’ve gone to one or two other mountains that are included with the pass, but I’m usually only in Colorado a few days, so I tend to stick to Breck and Keystone. With Covid restrictions, you have to make reservations for the resort and that has forced me, so to speak, to look at other resorts based on availability. I’d say that’s a plus!

I’m going to Breckenridge tomorrow, Beaver Creek on Saturday, and Vail on Sunday, two resorts I’ve never been to, very excited about it! And you know I’ll tell you all about them after I go.

Gotta get some rest, work, then ski tomorrow, night!

{February 24, 2021} My car is not a 4-wheel drive…shhhh don’t tell her!

PSM kicked me out of the house…to Colorado to go ski! He’s so harsh! Ha Ha! He knows what it means to me and with my new job, I can do it, serious work/life balance. Besides, sometime in the next few months, he’s going to do the same to me, take off work and disappear to parts unknown. Works for me.

I packed up the car with my ski gear, it all fits in the car! and cleared out the fridge and freezer of al the things I knew PSM wouldn’t eat, I didn’t want it to go bad, besides, this helps me not eat out every meal, win-win. Even had the leftover ovo-vegan lasagna from Thanksgiving, it’s been in the freezer, and it’s still good! Here we go!

It was 59 degrees out, you know what that means! Yup, sweatshirt on, butt warmers on, drop the top! It was gorgeous! Eventually the top had to go up as the temperature dropped, which was alright, I could hear people on phone if they called and eventually it would be too cold for the top down. It was a good thing too, NM told me there was a snowstorm coming to Denver, it wasn’t predicted earlier in the week, I checked the weather. Ok… we could do it. I don’t know if you remember me telling you that we, Annie II and I, drove through the a bit of a snowstorm a few weeks ago coming back from Denver. Now…we’re getting on going to Denver, oh joy!

Annie II is a beast! I had her when I lived in Colorado years ago and she drove through the snow all the time, she even had to do some snow and ice driving in Atlanta when I lived there. So the snow started somewhere in Kansas, it is a very big state! I know it was after Topeka, but I couldn’t tell you where I was, only that it was Kansas.

It started as just snow coming at the car, then it progressively got stronger, slicker, and started to build up on the ground. I was able to keep driving in my Chucks for a long time, there was cover at the gas stations, and I would have to start kicking some of the snow from the wheel wells. Eventually, as I was driving through Denver, people were starting to skid out, the work trucks and snow plows were out in force. I had a few moments of “don’t use the break”, “go with the skid” nothing major, but I remembered my experiences while I was growing up in New York, driving, even learning to rock a car out of a snow bank, driving in Western New York, learning what to do when you start to skid. The skid warning light or traction control indicator came on a few times, but we were fine, just go with it.

One of the last time I stopped to get gas, I had to put on my wonderful, furry, winter boots, love them! I got out and got A LOT of snow from the wheel wells, that’s the only thing I worry about, it builds up so quickly and can mess with your driving abilities. As I was getting back on the highway, we spun a little, slowly, but we spun, not sure if it was lucky, but the snow was thick and soft, we righted and got back on the highway.

By now, the roads had cleared and it was just me, Annie II and the work trucks and snow plows, that was kind of interesting. Eventually, we got to Dillon, we made it to the house and into the garage, safe and sound. The trip took a little longer than it should, 13 hours turned into 15, but…

My car, my little beetle bug convertible, a car that is not known for driving in the snow, conquering the skids, mounds of snow, and slippery roads, but…Annie II is a champ and seems to love it, so…don’t tell her she doesn’t have 4-wheel drive, why crush her dreams!

Ok, so….I have to correct myself…sort of…I just looked up Beetles driving in the snow, and I had forgotten all about this and now I la la la love my car even more and know why she is a champ! She has front-wheel-drive, this gives her a natural advantage for dealing with snow and ice, it’s the weight distribution. Go Annie II! Oh yeah! Could I love this car any more?!

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What was I thinking?