February 2011

What a truly presidential weekend. The First Lady graced Colorado with her presence, albeit at a more fancy resort in Vail. We went the local route, renting gear at Colorado Ski Golf in preparation for our day trip to Arapahoe Basin, or as locals call it A-Basin. The weather forecast called for clouds and snow flurries on Saturday. I observed the low pressure hovering over the Salt Lake City valley and throwing some moisture towards western Colorado. I expected an inch at the most, but we would be surprised at what greeted us in the morning.

Instead of cooking dinner, we relegated the work to the staff of Sam’s No. 3 on Havana, a local American-Mexi chain that dishes out greasy yet delish food. Knowing we had a full day ahead of us, we stuffed ourselves full. I watched MB devour a cinnamon roll which had nothing on my mother-in-law’s home-made rolls that I yet have to taste.

After returning home, we watched a little bit of Black Diamond Rush to get us in the mood. Of course I can’t sleep the night before a trip to ANYWHERE. There’s no self-medicating or anything so I had to suffer through a night of anticipation. After an early morning cup of coffee and gear check, we headed out under the setting full moon as the sun rose behind us, revealing clear skies all the way to west of the Divide.

I have to say the quickest McDonald’s we’ve ever come across has to be in Idaho Springs. Not even 15 seconds after getting my receipt do I get my full order. Actually it had to be 10 seconds since I was just studying the receipt and didn’t even realize the manager was holding out the bag for me.

All in all, we made great time in getting to A-Basin and ended up in a great parking space on the “beach” right next to the ski lift. Of course it was 7:30. We eventually found ourselves among the first few in line to get on the lifts. It was nice to hit some groomed runs before anyone else got to them. For the first time this winter I found my groove right away and hit the more difficult runs with a new confidence. We ended up exploring Montezuma Bowl for the first time and found ourselves some serious powder. Pow-Pow.

Eventually all these turns took a toll on MB first and she took to basking in the sun while I went back for a few more runs. Even though I told MB I wouldn’t do any black diamonds, I found myself drawn to the lure of the East Wall, which I traversed and found myself in some tracked out powder that proved to be more of a challenge than I expected. There I found the black diamond rush… Of course I must hone my technique and condition my body, but perhaps one day I’ll hike up that wall and carve out my own piece of heaven.

We stopped in Idaho Springs for some Beau Jo’s pizza, which is the best pizza I’ve ever had this side of the Mississippi. Finally we made it home after dropping off our gear. Now the Icy Hot regimen begins.

Here are some pictures to induce feelings of jealousy and envy for those who are reading this. Such is life in Colorado.

On the way down Loveland Pass towards A-Basin.

Helmets are a necessity here.

The view from the peak. Look closely and you can see Quandary Peak in the background right next to MB’s helmet.

Pow-Pow. Idaho Spring’s Bridal Veil Spring from the back porch of Beau Jo’s.

Happy Wednesday!

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I’m sitting here on my comfty red, leather couch with a cup’o java reminiscing over Friday night’s musical performance. When Aaron first moved to Colorado and I stayed behind in Chicago to continue working for a month and a half, he had the opportunity to attend one of Bearfoot’s concerts at RockyGrass with a group of friends. He raved about it, so when his 26th birthday was around the corner, we discovered Bearfoot was playing in Denver. Tickets were purchased and Aaron was excited about me getting a taste of bluegrass music.

I, on the other hand, didn’t have high hopes that I would love this type of music. Yet, I held the “it never hurts to try” attitude. As someone who is deaf pretty much most of the time due to not liking my current implant*, I emerged from the evening with a desire to listen to more of Bearfoot’s music and even managed to leave my implant on until 2:30 a.m. They don’t use drums which allows me to hear both the female and male band member’s voices. I found myself bopping along to the beat all night long.

Who knew I’d like bluegrass music? Instead of the tickets being Aaron’s birthday gift, my growing love for the music is probably an even better one now that we can plan to attend more of their concerts. The night was opened by Haunted Windchimes, which we both enjoyed so we may attend one of their performances in May.

~MBR

*After months of trying to work through the insurance hoops, I have an audiology appointment at the end of February to get the ball rolling in getting a cochlear implant device only upgrade.