A very Merry ski vacation

So much for blogging! I promise, I thought about it so many times in the last 8 days, but alas, we've traveled. Yep, it's pandemic stay-at-home, and we had an amazing ski traveling and friends visiting week. Take that, 'Rona!

We started last Thursday, when we jumped into the car straight from work, and headed to South Fork town, towards Alamosa. We actually have never taken that road, and the views were new and spectacular! Especially of the Spanish Peaks, we we definitely need to scale. We stayed overnight, and in the morning hit the last stretch of the road to Wolf Creek ski resort. This is one of the number of Independent Ski Resorts in the country (a.k.a. not Vail owned, which is what we support, independent), and one that not only we've never been to, we've heard a lot as a great place for the best snow ever. And best snow we had! It was snowing, fresh powder and all whiteout one can possibly hit! The slopes were mind blowing, great skiing, huge, huge area, lots of lifts, and we even (by mistake) hit the downhill inside the trees! Way above our skill level, but we made it, and during that very time the sun shone on us! It was probably the best skiing we've had in terms of terrain, and we got to practice fresh deep powder, moguls and all that entails. 

After nearly full day, we drove THE most scenic and beautiful drive we ever experienced! Hwy 149 from South Fork to Creede and then Lake City presented us with views that made our jaws dropped (and we've seen views)! The sunlight was just perfect for that, too. Creede and Lake City themselves as towns disappointed (we didn't stop, drove through, but still, those are coined as staples of through-hiking community and local gems, yet didn't impress us as such). As the light faded away, the new storm approached, and we gingerly made our way to Grand Junction. Again, would have been nice to spend some time exploring there, it's supposed to be a mecca for mountain biking and (flattish) hiking, but we simply stayed there overnight and hit the roads early on our way to Boise. Saturday was nothing but drive, but we arrived to capital of Idaho by 4 pm, and still had some day left to sightseeing, since we stayed right in the heart of downtown! Capitol, center streets walking, coffee shop, and even a Thai food sit-down restaurant! I say we did our touristy stuff ok.

Early Sunday morning I hit downtown streets for a run, and enjoyed the Christmas lights on houses in Hyde park and North Old End district. Great neighborhood to put a quick 6 miler. Then we drove 2 hrs north to a town on Lake Cascade, where my best friend Theresa lives. It is second (!!) time this year I get to see/visit her, but I'll explore on it later. This time, though, my husband got to meet her and Jeff and we enjoyed each other for the full 3 days! What an amazing hosts they are! And, frankly, they are just amazing people. I love this girl so much, she's been a constant in my life for close to 15 years. Considering that back in September we got to see each other after more than 13 years break - yet we still stayed as close as friends could wish for, speaks volume of our friendship. Yes, indeed, friendship, like any relationship, requires work. And in our case, we both make efforts to stay on top and be true to it. I am forever grateful we have this kind of connection.

Monday was a Brundage ski day. The resort is another Independent, and coincidentally and happily for us, it's on our Monarch season pass as a partner resort to ski for free. Yay for supporting local! It was crazy warm (40F) and another whiteout! In fact, we got off the ski lift, and had no clue where to go, which direction is a downhill run, milky soup allowing to barely see about 3 feet ahead, and heavy wet snow preventing easy turns. Surprisingly, I had a great attitude about it all (and the snow sort of reminded me North East where I learned to ski), so we spent a day acquiring new skills in those conditions, oftentimes (by mistake) taking on the runs above our grade level. We managed not to fall and had a solid time on the slopes.

The later part of day was spent with Theresa and Jeff, hanging out, hiking with Syl, and even hitting their jacuzzi on the back porch under the stars.

Tuesday was totally different at Brundage...and kind of worse, if it was possible to get worse. Overnight the temperatures dropped, so all that wet snow and moguls froze...and in the morning a new snowfall turning into yet another whiteout ensured. What was that with us and totally snowy conditions on our skiing vacation?!? The slopes were sort of covered with fresh thin layer of powder, but under was ice, and the bumps were not obvious...we got our one and only view from the top, and the new heavy snow began to fall for the reminder of the day. It did cover some of the ice as the day progressed, but it was still rather iffy to ski, plus I happened to have a bad attitude. After 2 ski days being all relaxed and feeling like a pro, going back to being scared made a trick on my brain. We cut it short, finishing by 12 pm that time, earliest we ever left. Once the decision was made, last couple of runs were ok mentally, at least. Still, a shitty day in the mountains is better than the best sitting on my ass. 

I redeemed the day by meeting with Theresa in McCall, renting a pair of snowshoes, and going to a local Ponderosa state park, where we spent glorious couple of hours walking the snow and talking. The sun was out for the most part of it, and it was so great to breathe and live in a moment.

We said our goodbyes after dinner, as the next day was yet another mad nearly 12 hr dash of a drive, all the way back to Colorado. It was time to get close to home, or at least to the ski slopes we call "ours".

The weather, while totally clear, continued playing with us on this trip, and Ski Cooper near Leadville met us with -10F. Boy, we couldn't feel our toes! It took 2 hrs to feel somewhat ok, and we warmed up during our coffee break, after what we put another 2.5 hrs of coasting on wonderful slopes of Cooper, long runs of which are always our favorites.

By 4 pm we made it home safely...and what a great feeling it was. Our home is like someone hugs you once you step inside. God, we are so lucky. In an hour we were fully unpacked and drinking our own coffee on our own porch. Because traveling and visiting and exploring is my passion, but home is where we both belong.

Of course, life is not all roses and unicorns, and during this trip I dealt with possibly one of my worst personal crises, although if anybody knows what I am talking about, I am not even sure which one to call "worst". But for that I have a journal - which, speaking of my "coming back to" post, I am back. I quit journaling in mid-April, when I was done whining and complaining about idiocy that was happening, as it magnified my already quite depressed state (personal life and shit). Just like in a 100 miler, I prefer to not have a pacer, so I don't have anyone to complain to. It felt the same, I needed to stop writing negative stuff to turn around and force myself to feel positive. And that's where all that crazy big miles of running happened, which I wrote about already. Now, I am back to writing in my diary, first of all because of the promise I gave myself, and secondly, because I did need to deal with the shitstorm. It's going well, and it is better than laying all the horrible spectrum of emotions to Larry alone. And as it often happens with me, once put down (on paper or on computer), it feels a little lighter.

With that, Merry Christmas to us, and to ya'll. It's a beautiful day outside, great weather to walk in our own downtown, and finding a miracle of an open coffee shop, our favorite pass-time on a date.