Monday, March 8, 2010

Colorado (Keystone, Breckenridge)

I've been itching to get back on the slopes for months now.  I went from skiing every weekend when I lived in Tahoe...to flat, boring Kansas.  My skies in my garage just keep staring at me, calling my  name.  I swear.

Since I couldn't find anyone to go with me, and I didn't really want to go by  myself, I decided to use my credit card points - that were set to expire in a month - to buy flights for my brother and I to fly out to Denver for the weekend!

My friend, Angie, picked us up at the airport and took us to pick up our ski and boot rentals for the weekends adventures.  We made reservations online and literally just had to walk in and pick them up.  Sweet.

We dropped our stuff off at she and Luke's awesome apartment (Serioulsy.  Awesome)  and walked to a little place nearby for dinner called My Brother's Bar.  They had girl scout cookies lining the stairs.  Weird.  But the burgers were good!





The next morning, we took off for a day of skiing at Keystone!  It's a short drive from Denver, and we got there early enough to beat most of the rush.  We hit the slopes and skied pretty much all day.  It was cold and snowy in the morning, but after lunch (at a mexican place in the village), the sun came out here and there. 

In the parking garage - leaving for Keystone

       (Such a good brother, carrying my skis for me!)







This picture took a long time and a lot of work to get!

 



Tony and I getting ready to race down the hill! (I won)
 We found some people taking professional pictures at the top of the mountain, so we had some fun with that.  First, she was trying to put my brother and I in some awkward poses -- until I told her he was my BROTHER.  Pretty sure she thought he was my boyfriend or husband...  Anyways, I ended up buying two 4x6 pictures for like $30.  Such a rip-off, but it was such a good picture (one of Tony and I).






(I think these were right after I told her he was my BROTHER and not my boyfriend!!)



Once the sun started to go down and the snow got icy, we decided to head down the mountain.  We stopped at aa little pizza joint for dinner, checked in to our Days Inn hotel room, and then hit the mountain again for some night skiing.  We're hard core! ;)



*Funny story:  My brother was seriously struggling with his boots and was so frustrated he was about to say screw it.  (He was PISSED.)  So, trying to be helpful, I knelt down to help him and looked at them...after he struggled for a LONG time and was kicking and cussing...they were on the wrong feet!!  I dont' know if I've ever laughed so hard...




Night skiing is really a trip.  It's just weird not being able to see everything, and the lights make the snow look way different.  Plus everything is icy.  We didn't last too long, but it was pretty fun and we were all glad we at least tried it!

Looking good after skiing all day (and part of the night)
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We were up bright and early on Day 2 for more skiing - this time at Breckenridge!  We stopped at a little scenic overlook place on the way for some pictures.  Of course.



Once we got to Breck - and the giant parking lot - we had to hop on a shuttle bus to get to the gondola.  There we bought our ticket for the day and then headed on up the mountain!




It was a gorgeous day - much better conditions than the day before at Keystone.  It was almost WARM! 

 


Breckenridge really has some great trees, so we had some fun with that.  Even Angie braved them a few times!  No injuries, so it was all good...



At some point, Tony and I decided some black moguls looked "fun."  Ha - bad decision.  Neither one of us made it more than a few feet before practically sliding/rolling the rest of the way down.  I think we steered pretty clear of those the rest of the trip. 

 (We hurt from laughing so hard as much as anything else after these spills...)







We again skiied most of the day at Breck, taking off during the afternoon for the drive back to Denver.

Leaving Breck
The drive back to Denver wasn't too bad.  We were lucky to miss most of the bad traffic. 

Dinner that night was at a little Indian place not far from their house.

The next day, Angie and I set out on foot to explore some of Denver.  We shopped downtown, and I ended up with a cool new Nike watch (of course I bought another watch).  I sat on the steps of the capital at the one mile above sea level spot, and eventually made our way over to Luke's North Face store...where I did some damage.  He gest 50% off - I couldn't resist!

Great weekend of fun in Denver.  And a big thanks to Ang for putting up with us - and driving us aruond - the whole time!

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