Day 65: Denver and Keystone

I wake up around 8:30, after the daylight savings time change. I wanted to sleep in some! Boo. Jason is not up either so I can't shower. The apartment is weird. Apparently the bathrooms are only accessible by going through the bed rooms. I am not in a hurry and don't want to bother him. I fold my laundry that I washed last night and write some post cards. I read my e mails on my phone and entertain myself.

Jason wanders out of his room a little later. Yay! Now I can shower. I get out of the shower. I get dressed and wander out. Jason is excited. The internet is magically working again!  Apparently he completely reset everything and that fixed things. I spend some time updating my blog and checking things online. I book a hotel out in Summit county for tonight and the next few days.

When I am done on my computer, Jason shows me a ton of cool pictures he's taken. He has pictures from his car racing, from snow boarding, from random vacations, and from work. He then proposes playing a racing game on his X Box. Ohhhh no. I am horrific at these games. I was scared to learn how to drive as a kid because I was so bad at racing games and thought I would never be capable of controlling a real car. He pulls out his elaborate car racing seat he made. He has a real car seat attached to the pedals and steering wheel for the controls.

He plays a round and wins. I play a round and spend most of the time driving in the grass or spinning in circles. At least I don't get lapped by the computer players! We play a few more rounds. I fail to show much improvement.

Around 2, he needs to go off to visit his parents. I should be leaving to head out to Summit anyway. He helps me carry all my crap down to my truck. One of the neighbors pulls up and stares at me. He likes my truck and hopes he has enough money to buy one like it some day. I look at his car. Ummm. He has a pretty nice car. Yup, my truck is an attention magnet....

I thank Jason for letting me stay at his place and say goodbye. Noooo more goodbyes!  I don't have enough time to stop missing the last person I said goodbye to before I have to do it again. If that makes sense. Well, I always miss people but it's always the worst the first few weeks after they or I leave.

Anyway, I head off to find a gas station. I pick a main road and drive. I find a gas station and a Chick Fil A. Yes! Sounds good for lunch. Waitttt. It is Sunday. They are closed. Damn!  I guess that is nice they care enough to stick to their values and stay closed on Sunday. Butttt it is really inconvenient when I am traveling and my last chance to have Chick Fil A is on a Sunday. Oh well. There are other fast food options around.

I spend a ridiculous amount of time trying to figure out how to get to the gas station. I can't get to it from the main road. I have to go on a back road. I then end up in the Chick Fil A parking lot by accident. I turn around and turn onto yet another side road that takes me to the car wash part of the gas station, which is very busy right now. I navigate through all of the wet soapy cars to the fuel pumps. I just need some gas! I make it to the pumps and fuel up.

I set my course for Summit County. It is a nice drive. I am starting to get familiar with it. Everyone is coming back into town from the weekend so the outgoing traffic is not bad. As I drive, I notice that the incoming traffic is coming in waves, each one lead by a sheriff vehicle. I wonder what the purpose of that is.

As I drive, I again encounter more people who do not understand the purpose of the left lane. More cruising slowly at the same speed as the person next to them.  I also encounter a trucker who decides he needs to pass the truck in front of him on an uphill. He pulls out in front of me and proceeded to go a maximum of 42 mph in the left lane. There are signs all over the highway announcing that 55 is the minimum for the left lane. Buddy, you are so not going 55!  Araghh!!! Driving can be so frustraiting.

I make it out to the hotel without further ado. I check in and ask the desk guy about night skiing. Sweet, Kirkwood is nearby and has night skiing like I thought. I got a really good price on a room. Turns out it is a smoking room. Yum! Smells awesome. Buttt it saves me a lot of money and it doesn't bother me that much. Hopefully all my stuff won't smell like smoke......

I get to my room and lay down on the bed. Super soft! I realize that I am not feeling all there mentally. I don't know if I am tired/exhausted, dehydrated, hungry, a combination of them all, or something else wrong with me. I decide to go night skiing. I have to make the most of my time!  Maybe this is why I am exhausted and not feeling so hot.

I drive 10 minutes to Kirkwood. I park and start gearing up. A big group of snowboarder guys walks by and compliments my truck amongst themselves. I can't tell if they are just talking amongst themselves and don't notice or care that I am standing right there or if they are trying to get me to talk to them. I ignore them. I am feeling pretty out of it and don't want to make friends right now. I decide to snowboard today. I grab my gear and head to the lifts.

Nice view!

I walk through the Kirkwood village to the gondola and hop on. Most of the runs are closed since it is night skiing. Oh well!  I get off and strap on my board. I feel like I am a complete noob. I am barely able to get an edge. I catch weird edges all over the place. My body is usually pretty fluid when I snowboard, or ski for that matter. Right now, I am all jerky and just ugh!  I wonder how much of this is due to the runs being pretty icy and how much of this is me being tired. I hear a lot of people complaining about the conditions so I don't think it is all me.

Artistic?

After a few runs, I feel like I am drunk. This is bad. I don't know what is going on! I can't get my balance and my riding is just feeling awful. After the awesomness at Wolf Creek the last time I rode, I can't figure out what is going one. Probably a combination of the snow conditions and whatever is going on with me. Well, at least I get some great views of the sunset!!  It is pretty. Unfortunately, I am on a lift and unable to get a good clear show during the most spectaular part of it. Oh well, I guess I don't need to fully document every sunset I ever see. I need to just chill out and enjoy the moment without worrying about trying to preserve it!

It was pretty! Even if the snow sucked

I do a total of 4 runs before giving up. My first run is usually a little shaky. By the second, I am usually good. It just is not happening today. In fact, I am getting worse. I was seriously concerned about hurting myself. The sun has set and the snow is just getting more and more icy. I stop at a pizza place for dinner on the way out through the village.

Sunset on the ski hill

While I wait for my food, I play with my phone. I realize that when I got my new phone, I did not sign in to my hanging with friends or scramble with friends accounts. I have not been getting updates that people are trying to play with me. Anddd I have now forfeited all of my games because I have not been playing. Oh well, just a game! I sign in and start new games with everyone. My food comes. Yup, that is some pretty good pizza!

Well, it would appear that my problem is not that I am hungry. I still feel like my brain is completely disconnected from my body. Or that I am drunk. Or something. This is ridiculous. I am scared to drive back to the hotel because I feel drunk. I just want to get to a bed where I can rest and relax without running over anything. I probably should not drive but don't know what to do.

I have an extremely nerve racking drive back. Luckily, it is also uneventful. I get back to the hotel. It is much more busy now. I guess everyone was busy skiing when I got in. The parking lot was empty then! I find a parking spot, far away from everyone and park. I go inside, change into my pajamas, and get into bed. I start writing my blog when Tanya calls. She has an awesome date last night and wanted to tell me about it. So we talk for a while about this new boy of hers, skiing, my current lack of mental ability, airplanes, trucks, and other awesomeness. I then finish writing this and feel bad that I am too lazy to upload pictures right now. Check back in a day or so and I will put some pictures on here :)