My day | Peaches Prattlings

{March 11, 2021} A Marvel-ous undertaking!

Oh, how punny! I know, you have no idea, so I’m going to tell you, not to worry!

Last week sometime, while I was in Colorado, I told PSM, this was a whim I had, and I’ve had a few, that when I’m home, we need to do an MCU marathon! And for those of you not in the know…that’s Marvel Cinematic Universe! And for those of you still not in the know, those are the super hero movies based on the Marvel Comics, and the amazing Stan Lee, just one of the many brilliant minds who brought us all those amazing super hero comic books and grapic novels.

I was a kid when I started reading the comic strips in the newspaper, Sunday funnies, those were great, because, depending on the newspaper, those were the ones in color! When it came to comic books, I started with Archie Comics, Spider Man, in high school, I was introduced to X-Men, among others, I could go on and on and on, on this topic and I might just do that…another day. Back to the topic at hand.

I’ve watched a lot of the comic book and graphic novels come to life, like I said, another time, and I remember when the first Marvel Movie came out, Iron Man in 2008, starring Robert Downey Jr, Gwyneth Paltrow, Jon Faverau, who also directed, and Terrance Howard, to name a few…I think I reviewed this movie way back when, but I have a renewed look at it, I could do it again, it is my blog, after all! And that was just the beginning, literally! One of my favorite memories was when The Avengers movie came out, May 3, 2012, I went to the AMC Theater near me for an MCU marathon!

Iron Man, Iron Man 2, The Incredible Hulk, Thor, Captain America, and then…The Avengers. It was 18 hours in the theater! OMG! We had special passes and they let us out for about 30 minutes in between each movie, it was amazing! So…if you had only seen each movie once, which we know was not the case for me, this was an opportunity to see each movie again, and then…The Avengers! What a day it was!

So…where was I? Oh yeah, like I forgot, we’re in the MCU Universe! PSM must have heard me because last night he suggested we do a MCU Marathon, but… not in order of release date, but in chronological order, how you should watch them in the timeline that actually happened. And friends, that’s just what we did!

We started wtih Captain America: The First Avenger, starring Chris Evans, Hugo Weaving, and Hayley Attwell, then we watched Captain Marvel, starring Brie Larson and Samuel L Jackson. Both fabulous, oh, we have got to talk about these two movies soon! Tonight was Iron Man, we started late, so we threw in something else that didn’t take as long, tell you about it later! Tomorrow…Iron Man2 and The Incredible Hulk, with Edward Norton and Liv Tyler, of course! Oh man, I’m getting excited to tell you about the movies themselves! Tangent!

So…that is the plan, go through all the movies, even the ones we weren’t crazy about, only because one of us didn’t like the way it played out, [that would be me], but ya gotta take the good with the bad, so I’m down for some Baby Groot to lift my spirits!

Looking forward to sharing the journey with you!

{March 10, 2021} I killed a what? No…it’s too early!

I know Spring is coming, but it is only the second week of March, and I should NOT be seeing, or killing, MOSQUITOES!!!!

No, March 8th, which is when it happened, is waaaaayyy too early for mosquitoes! I was sitting in my office, with the windows closed, we leave the back door, which opens to the back yard, open now for the dogs to be able to enjoy the warmer temperatures freely, and all of a sudden something was flying around my laptop. I didn’t think twice and reached out and clapped it. I opened my hands and looked and thought “What the H!” [Well, it was a little harsher than that, but this is a family show!] “This is not right, it’s tooooo early!” But…point is, I killed it! Wahoo!

I am a lover of all creatures, great and small, well, I guess that negates that sentiment. There are some things that I feel we don’t really need on this planet, sorry…and there are some things that definitely do not belong in my house! ‘squeeters’ being one of them!

I looked it up and mosquito season begins when the temperatures get above 50 and guess what…it’s been above 50, even close to 70 over the last few days. Wait…we just had snow on the ground up until about a minute ago, Mother Nature, why don’t you give us a minute to get acclimated to the nice weather, give us a chance to prepare for the onslaught of hot weather, mosquitoes and whatever other flying and creepy crawly things are coming our way with Spring and then Summer?!

I guess that storm door with a doggie door in it is coming sooner than later! Now you now what I’ll be doing with my first paycheck! Last year, we had a mesh, magnetic screen door, it was great! It attaches with Velcro to the door frame and there are magnets in the middle that click close after you pass through it. The dogs took to it pretty quickly. The tough part is sometimes the one half of the velcro comes off the house, loses its stick, good thing there’s more velcro out there! But…it would be nice to have a storm door there with screens and a doggy door, so we don’t have to worry about the velcro coming off…the big idea…let the dogs out, and in, but keep the bugs out.

It is TOO EARLY for flying things in my house! My allergies are bad enough this early!

{March 9, 2021} Happy [belated] International Women’s Day!

My plan yesterday was to celebrate women and talk about International Women’s Day and Mother Nature and my allergies said, yeah…no. Sorry…

From Wikipedia: International Women’s Day (IWD) is a global holiday celebrated annually on March 8 to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. It is also a focal point in the women’s rights movement, bringing attention to issues such as gender equality, reproductive rights, and violence against women.

What I truly enjoyed was seeing all the fabulous posts online, LinkedIn [I’m sure there were quite a few on FaceBook, I’m just not there very much, sorry], and so many places just celebrating women. With everything going on in the world, it’s comforting and empowering to see us lifting us each up in positive ways, isn’t that what we need more of?

This year’s [2021] theme: Choose to Challenge! Change comes from challenge, “A challenged world is an alert world”. Wow, how powerful is that?! It makes me proud to be a woman!

Can we keep this up? Not just today, but everyday. For my friends, family, nieces, daughters, granddaughters, seestah-friends, I wish only this and so much more for us. Let’s keep lifting each other up. I wish you love, strength, and peace.

{March 8, 2021} It’s Spring alright…Achoooo

I know, it’s not actually the first day of Spring, that would be March 20th of this year, which is only a few weeks away, but…my allergies have kicked in and they are already kickin’ my arse!

I have been scratching my eyes like crazy today, my nose won’t stop running, if you see it, please catch it! When my eyes get like this, I can’t focus, it makes me incredibly sleepy and groggy. I actually had to close my eyes for 30 minutes earlier today! Oh brother!

I didn’t have allergies growing up, just smoke. Then…I moved to Georgia…someone told me that if you don’t have allergies, after you move to Georgia, you will! It didn’t happen to me for at least 10+ years, then all of a sudden, I’m allergic to everything and every spring…I had a mantra…I hate Spring. I know, hate is a strong word, I have said it a million times, but oh brother, I mean it! I even use Flonase every day, when it gets like this, it doesn’t matter! I used to user bioAllers Outdoor Allergy, it was dissolvable and I took it every four hours. It was crazy, it literally was like clockwork, if I went over four hours, I was sneezing. Eventually, it didn’t work very well, so I stopped. I’ve taken Zyrtec, that tends to make me sleepy, so does Claritin, even though they are both supposed to be non-drowsy.

When I moved to Colorado, wow! No allergic reactions to anything, except smoke, wow! It was crazy…I’d visit the Northeast and as soon as the plane doors would open…sniffle, achoo. Oh well, when I moved to Boston, hello, then Hawai’i, no different, now Missouri, it is what it is. Usually it only lasts this bad a few weeks, then it tapers off to manageable annoyance, then…in no time, it will be Autumn! Ha ha!

I remember last year, when the mask mandates came down, it was Spring and I was walking through the grocery store sneezing, and I would say loud enough for the people around me to hear “I loathe Spring!” That was all I could think to do to let folks know it was allergies and not anything else! Geesh…

I’m glad you can’t see me right now, my eyes are red and puffy, itchy and I can’t stop sniffling! I was so happy the snow melted…until now!

{March 7, 2021} First group ride of the year…ahhhh

I think I told you last week, while I was in Colorado, that there was a group ride on Sunday, and here we are! I told you that PSM and I went out on the bikes to get some dinner last night, after we both got home and it was brrrr…chilly! Today, the official group ride. Wah to the hoo!

We belong to the St Louis Indian Motorcycle Riders Group, or IMRG. When we lived in Hawai’i, we joined the IMRG HoloHolo chapter, well, we actually still belong to the group, we have the 2021 patches to prove it! Man, I still need to get a vest to put my patches on! At this point, I need two vests or something to put the patches on. I absolutely LUV my motorcycle vest so much, I don’t want to put anything on it! Is that terrible?! I’m looking, I’ll do it eventually, promise!

We got up, took the pups for a walk, had some breakfast, geared up, well, you have to put your gear on, every super hero does! ha ha. Because we’re riding, we start with jeans, I’m sure you’ve seen people wearing shorts on a bike, not me, ever. Ok, I can’t say that…the last staycation we had in Hawai’i, we went to the Big Island and rented motorcycles. The last morning, when we were returning them, we both wore shorts the 2 block ride to return the bikes, but I promise, there is no way I would ever ride in anything by jeans. Short sleeves, definitely, especially when it’s hot, and I’m usually wearing a vest that helps protect my chest, but my legs, no way! I have to tell you, I was so happy to be completely covered the day I wrecked my bike, years ago! Wow, digressing now! You wanted to hear about our lovely ride!

So…back to our apparel. Jeans, long sleeve shirt, thin sweatshirt I got last summer at the Looney Bin Bar & Grill. I will be telling you all about it this summer when we go on our annual motorcycle ride with the guys in New Hampshire, cannot wait! Then, I have a heavy denim Indian Motorcycle jacket, it’s quilted on the inside, so it keeps me warm, but it’s not too warm to sometimes wear in the summer. Yup, I wore my Chucks, and got grief from our Ride Captain, it was awesome! I showed him the picture I shared with you from KN, “How to spot a biker chick”, he still rolled his eyes at me! I had my black gloves with red trim that I got at Harley Davidson in Seattle, WA, I had to go a long way to find those and those…saved my hands when I wrecked, I will never give them up! Neck sleeve that I got with sunflowers that got at the Van Gogh museum in Amsterdam, headphones, goggles, and helmet…we were good to go!

We met the group at the designated QuikTrip, gives us a chance to greet each other, this is the first time a lot of us have seen each other since the last ride in the Fall, I think it was October, get something to drink or a snack, gas up the bikes, and get our riding instructions. When you’re riding in a group, it’s important to know the rules and hand signals, all that good stuff to keep everyone safe. There were about 25 of us, it was great! There are male riders, female riders, as you might guess, couples, Indian motorcycles and two Can-Am Spyder Roadsters.

After all that, we were off. We ride side by side to get started, then we ride in staggered formation, you’re on the left, I’m behind you on the right, and so on, and in some places, depending on the road, we ride single file. It’s quite the site to see a line of bikes coming down the highway. We try to stay together, when we’re at stop lights and stop signs, acting as a tractor trailer, so to speak, trying to keep any cars from getting in the middle of our group. That’s common for most group rides.

We rode to Sandy Creek Covered Bridge Park, a beautiful park with, you guessed it, a covered bridge. It looked like a great park for walking, together, with the dogs, a picnic. There were signs telling you the history of covered bridges and where to find Missouri State Parks and Historic Sites, something to strive for. And every ride…a group photo, have to commemorate the ride!

After the ride…lunch! We rode to Cafe Smok N Pi in De Soto, MO. I always look up the restaurant we are going to go to that day to see if there is anything I can eat, I finally got smart! This time, I really got smart, I had made myself a sandwiche to bring with me. It was a cute place with character and everyone seemed to enjoy it. Cafe Smok N Pi was our final destination and some people took off after lunch. The rest of us went to the Dew Drop Inn in Bloomsdale, MO, PSM said they were known for their bloody mary‘s, but did he have one? Nope, but the ones I saw, wow, they were like a whole meal! Celery, bacon, pickles, olives, pulled pork, really? Wow!

We had a great time, drinking, laughing, telling stories, getting to know each other, making new friends. The biker community is like no other, when you have a bike, you respect each other and look out for each other. If a biker is on the side of the road, other bikers will stop to help. I remember one day, I was coming out of a gravel parking lot and my bike dropped, immediately, bikers pulled out and stopped traffic in each direction and two bikers helped me pick up my bike and made sure I was set and the bikers stopping traffic waited until I was back on the road before they started moving again. It really is something.

After the Dew Drop Inn, we got back on the road and headed home. I have to tell you, it was a little chilly in the morning while we were going to meet the group, then it started to warm up when we got to the Park, some people started taking off their jackets as we were heading to lunch, and progressively, it headed up to almost 70 degrees, it was fabulous! It started to even out my sunburn!

How fabulous, skiing on Thursday, convertible Friday and Saturday, riding a motorcycle on Sunday, my life is full! I can’t wait for the next ride!

{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!

{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!

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What was I thinking?