It's Mountain Time

It was wonderful seeing my friends in Parker, Colorado and I realized quickly that it was a whole 40 degrees outside (insert excitement and wearing summer clothes). Angela, our host and my family friend, had made wonderful biscuits and gravy for breakfast while her daughter Abby and I caught up with each other. Chad spent the morning working, devouring food and mapping out the next destination points.

After Chad was apparently “dragged” to Colorado with my request to see my friends, he quickly took an interest in the nearby mountains and ski resorts. He immediately called his ski patrol friends back home at Hyland Hills Ski Area, Bloomington and gathered suggestions for locations to spend a day skiing/snowboarding on a mountain. In my mind all I was thinking about was the location of my insurance card and where the nearest hospital is for when something crazy happens while skiing on a real mountain. This would be our first time skiing/snowboarding on a mountain as we are both are accustomed to the “mountains” Minnesota has to offer at our ski hills. But first, the Garden of the Gods in Colorado Springs. Saying thank you and goodbye to our Colorado friends, we packed the car. Once on the road, Chad was instantly ready to camp in the car and was looking forward to sleeping in the evening. I find this funny because with his current choice of Patagonia attire and facial hair, he totally fits the part of a wanderer and the temperament of all of the tree-huggers in the area. My attire consists of Patagonia and athletic gear to wick away moisture and hold off the body odor as long as possible. Showers are truly amazing and cherished . The Garden of the Gods was quiet with little tourist traffic. I was oh so lucky to drive through the park, a privilege apparently, since I am notorious for killing the manual car. Chad has now started a tally of how many times I will kill that car on this trip. So far I am up to 11 times….but to be fair, I have not had much practice and have recently upgraded to the highway and handling inner city traffic.

Garden of the Gods Highlights:

• Hardly any people because of cold temperatures (40 degrees)
• Seeing the sun was wonderful
• Cowgirl boots don’t have traction and make for a hilarious site while walking on snow and rocks
• Chad doesn’t appreciate tourist photos as much as the other tourists around him
• Chad also noticed a lot of people chilling in their cars on the top of large hill (marijuana dude)
• Climbing the rocks was a true challenge

Arapahoe Basin Ski Resort was next on the list, but we would be skiing in the morning with the plan to sleep in the resort’s parking lot. It was near dark when we started our 3-hour drive into the mountains and I was thankful Chad was driving for this part of the journey. He loves adrenaline and I enjoy adrenaline spurts, making the curvy mountain roads with tight corners fun for him and nerve-racking for me. We missed most of the beauty as we focused on the icy roads and avoided looking down the deep caverns that hosted small twinkling lights of homes far below. I loved all of the encouraging signs on the side of the road that cheered us along while we skidded around corners: Avalanche Area, Falling Rocks, Icy Before Bridges, 20 MPH Corner and my favorite Avalanche Blasting Area. I have never been so thrilled to sleep in a stationary car after driving what felt like +12 hours through the mountain slopes. When we could see the mountains during the day we were both astounded by the sheer size and texture that cannot be captured to their fullest by camera. According to Chad, if we had purchased a really nice “technical” spotting scope all of our sight-seeing problems would be cured.

Onto the next adventure!