Jan 3, 2011

Coldest place I've ever been.

I had already told everyone that I was heading out to Colorado this week. 

We made it!!

When I say "we" I mean... My mom, dad, brother John, Friend Riley, brother Hank, Hank's girl Kathryn, me, and Josh!

Half of us were shipped to Dallas and the other half were shipped to Chicago. We all met back up in Denver and headed to Breckenridge in our little rental cars! I slept most of the drive, but my ears popped the whole way. When we parked the car... we were at 9100 feet. We went to the condo and unloaded the two cars that were packed down in only a way the beverly hillbillies could have packed. Then we headed back to town to get our skis and stuff! We went to leave the ski place and both cars got stuck on a hill. We pushed and pushed and pushed.... no luck. We Finally got them out after 3 or 4 guys from the ski place helped us. We ate dinner at a steakhouse and sleepily went back to our condo.

I think I missed the New Year come in. Well, I know I was awake for the GA new year.. but not the CO new year!

The next day when we woke up we all got our ski gear on and went to find the slopes. 
 We found that our condo is nestled right off one of the main slopes. All we have to do is walk 100 yards or less and we are at the ski lift. It's pretty amazing. 

This is a view from the ski lift of the lodge that is near our condo. Peak 8 is in the back.

Since Josh has never been skiing before, we stayed on the greens all of day 1. He fell a good bit the first day. I told him everything I knew about skiing and he finally picked up on the turning on the last couple of runs we did. I fell one time and he clapped... how nice of him!

Around lunch time Josh said that his feet were killing him. We decided that he needed new boots, so dad took him to get refitted. While Josh was gone with dad, I went with mom, hank, john, and riley. Well, we rode up the ski lift by our condo that goes to the greens. Once we got off that lift they (the boys) said let's go up that other ski lift right there that takes us to the blues! Ok sounds good.
 Well, we're riding this lift.... and I'm not seeing a stopping point. I'm starting to get really cold. Did I mention that the temperature was about -12 degrees? We start going up the mountain... we go up even more and more and I see no end point. I see the chairs coming back down... but I can not see where they turn around. We finally reach the top. I'll mention here that the windchill was -35 degrees. I RUN into the 'warming hut' that God has so graciously placed there for me and sit down. I rip my gloves off and my fingers are on the verge of being purple. I finally warmed up. Mom and I got up to go look at the map to see which blue we could take down. All that came out of mom's mouth was "I'm going to kill those boys!" (ok she didn't really mean that.. haha). I look at the map... I could have died.  Black after Black after Black... oh and a couple of Double Blacks.... Holy bejeezes.  How in the world am I supposed to get off this mountain!! I have never in my life been down a black. Not even a Boone, NC black. Much less a Colorado Black! People die on these things... well, we finally settled on a Blue/Black... let me tell you that thing was steep, I was cold and miserable and I was ready to go back home!

Well I lived... obviously. 

I won't be going down anymore blacks on this trip!

On day 2, Josh was a little rusty in the morning. He fell a couple of times, but got his ski legs soon after the first couple of runs. I would follow him a few times and try to give him a few tips, then he would follow me to get the turning down. After about a half of a day, he finally figured out that the faster you go the easier it is to turn! I was even having a hard time staying up when I was following him when he was going slow. Late in the afternoon we were flying down those slopes with no falls!!

View of the green slope (peak 9 and 10)

We have had some interesting mishaps. Kathryn happened to be the lucky on to get picked on by the altitude. She was sick the whole first day and ended up going to the ER that night really late. They gave her some medicine, 2 bags of fluids and potassium and she was good to go. Day 2 she was fine and skied with us. Then around dinner time it hit her again. Back to the ER later that night. They gave her more medicine and she is all good again. They gave her a prescription this time so hopefully she'll be able to sleep tonight!

Kathryn isn't the only one that has been feeling bad. Dad and mom have gotten some headaches due to the altitude, Hank and John are starting to get a cold, and Me.... I have had a cold for about 4 days now. I started getting it about 2 days before we left and it was full fledge the morning we left for Atlanta. I'm not sure where I got it from, but Blair got it about the same time I did. Lucky for her, hers didn't last as long as mine has! Today is the first day I actually feel improvement.

Josh and me on day 2!

We ended the day with some Bubba Gump Shrimp Co. Food.
 It was really good!

I had the Pear and Berry Salad. Delicious.

Me and Joshua at bubba gump!

Our waitress was precious. She asked us some trivia questions about the movie. See if you know any of them!

1. What book was Forrest carrying in the beginning of the movie that held the feather?
2.  Where was Forest from?
3. Who were Forrest's 3 best friends?
4. What body part did Forrest get shot in?
5. Who were the 3 Presidents that Forrest met when visiting the White House?
6. What war did Forrest fight in?
7. At the White House, what was Forrest's preferred drink?
8. How many did he drink while he was there?
9. What did he say to the President after he drank all those drinks?
9. What lawnmower did he prefer?
10. What two sports did he play?
11. What country did he got to play ping pong in?
12. What hand did he play ping pong with?

And if you haven't ever been to one of these...
They also have these signs that you flip for service.
The red sign says "Stop Forrest Stop"

Today is Day 3. We decided to take it easy and eat lunch before we head out on the slopes! Josh said that he's going to try blues today after 1 run on a green. I hope he does good! We will see!

Hope everyone had a Happy New Year!!



4 comments:

jmluckie said...

Way to go Josh.thanks for the update.Seen any Mule Deer?

CHERI said...

Sorry so many of you are feeling bad but sounds like you are having a good time anyway. Be safe!

The Chic Country Cowgirl said...

Ok, first of all, I'm going to sit here most of the night and catch up on your blog. Because I love it. And I've missed it!

And secondly, I also love Colorado--especially Breckenridge! Isn't it such a cute town??? Breckenridge has been an almost yearly vacation spot for my family and I for as long as I can remember. I just love the darling downtown area! And, ironically enough, I'm sitting here wearing one of the Bubba Gump shirts I got at that same restaurant the last time I was there. My brother loves that place...

Speaking of my brother, I've got to make it down to Georgia sometime soon! I'm dying to have him show me around. Someday, you and I are totally going to have to meet up in Atlanta--that'd make for a great blog post! =)

Hope you and your family had a great holiday season and are off to great start in this new year!

Anonymous said...

It definitely looks like fun was had!