The Denver trip was a success – I know because I have a bad case of the “I wish I was still on vacation” blues!
On Friday we drove to Estes Park and into Rocky Mountain National Park. We saw some elk up close, which I thought was pretty exciting! Their antlers are HUGE!!!
The Elk at Rocky Mountain National Park
I was amazed by the beauty of the park. I would love to go back when it is a bit warmer and do some hiking or camping there.
We started skiing on Saturday at Keystone. Steven and I took a one-day beginner’s course while our friends, Eric and Abbie, skied on their own. We learned the basics, like how to put our equipment on and take it off (good to know!), how to form the “wedge,” how to walk uphill, and how to turn. I thought the course was VERY helpful and necessary, but I was feeling a bit anxious to get out on my own. I was disappointed that I wasn’t all sweaty and sore that night when we got back!
Yes, I realize I look like a dork! I was afraid we were going to slide down the hill backwards so I grabbed onto Steven!
On Sunday, we started out by warming up on the very mild practice slopes. Eric and Abbie were SUPER patient with us and stuck by the whole day! They gave us very helpful advice that we didn’t cover in class. It was like we had our own personal ski instructors! I was very thankful that Abbie taught me how to get up when I fell over, and that Eric taught me how to form a big enough wedge that I could stand at the top of a large decline and not immediately start sliding down.
A super cute photo of our free personal instructors friends Eric and Abbie.
One of the mild slopes we warmed up on.
We did A LOT of crashing on Sunday. Maybe one of us a bit more than the other… no, not me, for once! Steven had epic wipe outs – tumbling and turning, skis and poles in all directions – a few times I thought he seriously injured himself! He has huge bruises on his legs from his wipe outs. I only have tiny little bruises, so I guess I wasn’t crashing hard enough!
After we went down this hill, Steven said, “Turn around and take a photo of how steep that slope is!” Can you tell?
We spent our day on the green (easy) slopes. Even though the Saturday class was necessary, I had so much more fun on Sunday, actually spending time going down the slopes. The view of the mountains and forest is just spectacular. And it is constantly changing as you make your way down the slope. Every view feels unique and different.
Even riding the chair lift was fun… if not a bit scary.
A view of Breckenridge.
Us inside of a gondola, riding to the North Peak.
It took me a bit of time to get into the hang of things on Sunday. But once I did, I was hooked. I am a bit of a reckless/fearless/”adrenaline rush seeking” person, so I think that helped a bit. You can’t really let the slopes intimidate you, or you’ll be thinking more about that and not be able to let your body do its thing. On Saturday, I realized I was over thinking what the instructors were teaching us during class, and that was limiting me. But when I got out there, and just followed the instinct of my body, it went a lot smoother.
I wish we could have had ONE more day on the slopes. I would have liked to try a more challenging (!) slope or even just take longer runs. We did a lot of skiing and stopping on the green slopes, which I definitely think we needed, but once I started going, my body wanted to keep going. Except for my quads, which were burning like nothing I’ve ever felt before. I definitely got the workout in that I was missing on Saturday – I can still feel the burn in my calves, quads and hips a bit today!
I hope this becomes an annual trip. We had such a wonderful time skiing and sight-seeing (aka, gawking at the local beauty that is Colorado), but also hanging out with Eric and Abbie and Eric’s parents. I felt like staying with Eric’s parents was staying at a five-star hotel. Steven and I had our own little guest house over the garage (complete with welcome sign!). Every night, Eric’s parents cooked wonderful meals for us, and had snacks out waiting for us when we got home from skiing (they hand-dipped strawberries in chocolate for us on Valentine’s Day!). They were just incredibly accommodating and made me feel so welcome! I feel as comfortable around Eric’s parents as I do around my own (enough that his mom jokingly said, “I don’t remember Kim being such a smart aleck!”). We had wonderful conversations with them. Eric’s family is into health and fitness, and Eric and Abbie just signed up for the Disney Half Marathon, so I was able to blab and blab about our running without feeling stupid (of course, as I ate enough food for 10 people… oops). I can’t wait to see them all again.
Interesting story – on our way to economy parking at O’Hare today, I kept seeing a police helicopter hovering over the lot. I was trying to figure out what was going on, and then, as we drove out, Steven said, “Is Obama here this weekend?” Right after he said that, I looked out the car window and saw Air Force One! We saw the plane sitting on the runway, then take off. After that, we noticed all the security and police vehicles on our way out. Apparently he was on his way to Denver. We just missed him!
Please bear with me this week as I get back into the swing of things with blogging, blog-reading, and emails. That will be me, leaving comments on your day old posts, because I’ve been away from the internet since Thursday!
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Recipes + Food
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beans, chili, cold weather, cornbread, egg replacer, Fall, flaxseed, Vegan, vegweb, warm 
Last week I only ran ONE DAY. Not because I was lazy, or not in the mood, but because all of my nights were occupied with painting our bedroom, being sick, or having a migraine (wonderful week, right? And yeah, I still owe you some photos of the new paint).
Themocracy