Days 63 and 64

Day 63: Skiin at Vail

It’s about 100 miles to Vail from Jason’s so we decide to get up and leave early. Like at 7 am. I am up and getting ready at 6:30. I don’t even mind. He advises me to put on some sunscreen. What?!?! Sunscreen is for noobs!  I put some on anyway. My face is still quite red from Breckenridge. We load up his car with all our gear and head off.

We get on the highway and he shows off the turbo engine in his Subaru WRX. It’s pretty sweet! I want a turbo!!  He then picks a reasonable speed to cruise out to Vail. The drive is really pretty. I missed that last time since I was driving. I try to take some pictures of the amusing signs directed at truckers. “Truckers: Don’t be fooled, you are not down yet. 4 more miles of steep grade” Haha. That is a lot to read for a road sign…. Oh well, they are amusing!

We make it out to Vail pretty fast. We park on the road and get geared up. Jason then realizes that it is permit parking only here. Damn. He takes off his boots and we drive down the road a little ways and park again in a non permit area. He gets his boots back on and we head to the bus stop. As he un-gears, a helicopter flies right over the highway and lands. Sweet!

Coming in for a landing

The bus takes us to Vail village. We walk through the village and hit the slopes. We get to the top and find a photographer. Yayy!! Pictures! We then begin navigating to the back bowls. Apparently this is where all the fun stuff is. After a few more photo breaks, we finally make it back. We have some sweet runs. The snow isn’t awesome but I have seen worse. In the beginning of the day, it is pretty crusty. By the end, it is pretty slushy. Spring conditions.

Nice View!

We have some fun with people on the lifts. This is nice having a friend to talk about crazy stuff with!  We get on the lift and talk about whatever, usually really random, and see how people react. Some are pretty cool, and some do their best to ignore us. Entertaining.

On top of the world!

I get Jason to take some sweet videos of me skiing. By the end of the day, we have recorded over 21,000 vertical feet. Yup, we are awesome. It is a good day!  I have noticed that my skiing and riding has progressed a lot. I am a lot more confident in my ability and I can feel it in how I ski/ride. 

Still from one of the sweet videos!!

We stay on the mountain until it is almost closing time. We are both kind of feeling it. We have gone over lots of bumps today and the snow is heavy. We walk out of the village and back to the bus.

We change and drive back to Vail village. Parking is free in the village after 3! We wander around and look in the shops. We find one shop that sells a thong with a double black diamond on it that says “Experts only” Completely hilarious if inappropriate. We grab some pizza and beers and then head back.

It is a little longer ride back than I am used to—100 miles! Oh well. The drive goes by pretty quickly. The stars are pretty easy to see since we are so far out of the city and there are not a lot of lights out here. We are both pretty tired. The conversation is a little less than on the way out.

We make it back around 9:30. The hot tub officially closes at 10. No one will necessarily kick us out, but the gate is automated and no one can get in after that. I transfer all of my gear to my truck and we change. We wander out to the hot tub. It is getting windy. Again. Someone said that Denver is not usually windy. Well, in the more than a week I have been in the area, it has been pretty windy. To the point of it being annoying and cold.

We jump in the hot tub. (Jason keeps making fun of me for saying “hop” and “jump”… Yeah, you can hop in the shower if you really want. I would rather get into it personally… hopping might be a pain. Smart ass!) It feels awesome! I don’t care if the heat is making the inflammation in my knees worse. It makes me think I feel less sore!

We sit in the hot tub for a while before concluding that we are way too hot and it is time to get out. My usual approach of cooling off and elongating my hot tub experience by sitting on the edge is ruined by the wind. It is way too cold with the wind to do that.

We head back to his apartment. I try to get on the internet to blog. Uhhh, Jason, I am really sorry but I think I might have broken your internet. He resets it. Yup, not functional. Bummer. He heats up some food and we watch TV before passing out from exhaustion.

Day 64: Being Lazy and hiking in Denver

I sleep pretty well. This couch is seriously awesome for sleeping on. Jason is up early. Again. I hear him up and conclude that I guess I should wake up. Well, he doesn’t wake me up. His upstairs neighbors are stomping around up there. That is what actually wakes me up. Ughhh!! I make super “I am so happy I am awake” sounds as I wake up. Jason notices I am up. “Goooddd Mornin!” Yup. Good morning. I heart mornings. Sooo much.

Oh well, I am up now. I hop in the shower. Jason again makes fun of me for using the word hop. Ok, I don’t hop. I walk to the bathroom and step into the shower. A time later, as I walk out of the bathroom all clean, I let him know that I am expressing my girlyness today by taking an extra long time getting ready in the bathroom. I grab my brush and my hair dryer and go back into the bathroom and make sure he has no doubt how girly I am.

By the time I am ready, it is almost 11. I have taken my time this morning. I actually got up a few hours ago. We decide to go get some coffee. Starbucks is not too far away so we walk over.

It turns out to be busy. Oh well, we are in no hurry. We eventually make it to the counter and order. “Uhh I would like a mocha with half of the normal number of pumps of whatever you usually put in it.”  That sounds eloquent. I clearly don’t order fancy coffee. We wait for a bit and finally get our coffee. We wander over to some couches to enjoy our coffee.

Jason is fun to hang out with. Neither of us really cares too much what random people we run into think of us. We proceed to have a somewhat loud conversation about random things. Skiing, snowboarding, motorcycles, relationships, random inappropriate in public comments, me sarcastically talking about how I am going to marry a rich man and divorce him while suing for his money…. The people sitting around us seem to be mildly amused. I talk about the humidity in Hawaii and Alabama and how it ruins my hair do. Finally, someone chimes in. She tells me to try using hair spray. Hmmm, I guess that will work. We go back to talking about the latest in ski goggles that have a GPS and speedometer display in the lens….

We eventually finish our coffee and wander back. On the way, we stop at the local indoor skydiving place and watch the sessions. Ohhhhh man, is this awesome looking! If I was not on a budget at the moment….. It looks so awesome!!! Next time I am the area, I will have to do this…..

We walk back to his apartment. Hmmm. Early afternoon… I think I have time for a hike! I tell Jason that I will somehow provide him with dinner as a thank you for letting me stay at his place, either in thr form of cooking or going out. I just need to know before I get back from my hike! We had passed a sushi place on the walk back and he thought sushi sounded good. Excellent, I completely agree. Sushi sounds awesome!  And I don’t have to cook.

I look up some local trails. South Rim Trail in Roxborough State park looks pretty…. I have some water and pack up my hiking bag and set off. Good afternoon truck and Daniel-the-GPS. Nice to see you again after a few days of little use!  I rev the RPMs on my truck up as I get on the on ramp to the interstate. Hmmm… I wonder what my 0 to 60 is in this thing. It is pretty peppy if I push it….

I cruise out to the hiking area. I miss my turn off and enter a check in station. Residents proceed. Visitors stop at check in. I stop. The guy asks me where I am going. That is weird. I tell him the South Rim Trail. He tells me there no such place. I explain that I am going hiking and the name of the trail might be slang or something. He informs me this is a gated community and there is no hiking here. Oh. Awkward….. He tells me to turn around and take the last pull off. That is the state park and there is hiking there.

I turn around and find the state park easily. I soon come upon another check in shack. I pull up. The park ranger checks out my truck. “Sooo what’s with the T Rex plate? It is because it is a sweet truck or something?” Uhh, pretty much, yes. She gets my shortened, I am on a road trip, this was on my old truck, story.   It is $7 to park in the state park. I hand her my credit card. She takes cash only. Damn. The visitor center, however, does take credit. She waves me on and tells me to just find the visitor center.

I drive all the way to the very end of the road. I see no visitor center. I see signs though. I park and start walking in the directions the signs point me. I little ways later, I finally find the visitor center. Well, this is well hidden. I pay the fee and take the parking pass back to my truck.

I set out on the trail. It is a 3 mile loop. Nothing too crazy. The first part is uphill, but not too steep. The rocks in the area remind me of the Garden of the Gods. It is quite pretty, though nothing completely spectacular. I hike along the loop. On the way, I find some deer blocking the path that I eventually scare off, lots of slushy snow, and some mini cacti. I still have yet to see an actual snow covered cactus, but now I have seen snow just hundreds of feet away from one…..

It is is nice hike. As I near the truck, I decide to call my mom. It has been a bit since I have actually talked to her. I get her on the line. We talk for a bit before I lose reception. Boo! At least my phone works now though!  I reach the end of the trail. My reception is better. I call her back. We talk some more. She has to go really fast and make another call. She will call me back. I head to my truck. She calls back. I again have horrible reception and drop the call. As I drive out of the park, I call her one more time. My reception is great and we finish our call on our terms! 

Artistic Shot!

I make it back to Jason’s.  He is watching some TV. Sorry to ruin your serenity!  I sit down and start talking to my iPhone 4s. “Hey, Seri, want to date my GPS, Daniel?”  My phone responds. “Anna, this is about you, not me I think?” So true, I guess. Man, if only I could get my two critical electronic devices together…. Jason and his roommate (Also names Jason) are amused with my conversation with my phone. It is so sad that my phone talks to me….

Jason watches a TV show called Ninja Warrior. It is pretty awesome. It is a Japaneese show where a bunch of guys do extreme feats of physical strength, speed, and dexterity.  I am impressed.  Most of them can’t even complete the course because it is so extreme. Eventually, it is dinner time. I change out of my hiking clothes and back into my jeans.

We walk a short ways to the sushi place. We then eat a lot of delicious sushi and have some raspberry sake. Yup, I love sushi! He seems to like it too.  After dinner, we walk back and watch some more Ninja Warrior.

His friend calls and wants to go to a bar. Sounds fun. Jason and Jason (his roomie) and I head out. Jason drives and shows off his sweet sports car Subaru again. I want a sports car! I meet one of his old friends from way back in high school at the bar. We all hang out for a while. Have some beer and short, talk some, and watch dirt bike races on TV. I have a fun time talking about my road trip to yet another new person I met! Around midnight(/1 am, daylight savings time?), we all head out. Sweet, back at Jason’s and time for some sleep!!