a brief trip debrief

After loading food, one set of skis, two snowboards, three backpacks, three sets of boots, three suitcases, and three people into the afore mentioned xB (see below), we were off to conquer the road.

We swung by Amarillo to see my wonderful friend Bree Wells and headed off to Beaver Creek.

Day One: The girls snowboarded, hurt themselves, one had to quit, the other toughed it out for the day; all while I was off skiing hard stuff that made my heart beat so hard I felt it in my back.

Day Two: The girls didn't ski for health and comfort reasons, and I went with some of the BC staff to tour the mountain. I was a sore rick.

Day Three: I don't really know what happened at BC, because I hopped on a bus to spend Valentines Day in Vail! It was such a glorious day. Around 8 inches of fresh powder and plenty of gorgeous tree runs to keep me and my Vail friends occupied for the day. So amazing.

Day Four: I rested. I found a solitary couch and spent some much-needed time alone with some books. It was like hanging out with Malachi and Philip Yancey in the mountains. Pure. Oh, I also bought a patch for ol' yellow.

Day Five: Drive back to Dallas. Good conversations, good gas mileage, good bye Colorado.

For those of you who are kicking yourself for not taking me up on my offer to join me on a ski trip (again, see below... further), let me add a bit of info that will help you kick yourself harder: my spending grand total. The entire trip: gas, food, lift tickets, patch, everything, cost a total of... ready?... $209.41. That is $41.59 under my goal, and that includes a $15 deluxe edition atlas. I'm pretty sure I could claim that atlas under some other account and bring my total to below $200. Not bad huh?

Special thanks to:
Miguel Mudie for driving,
Breeto for the place to crash in 'Rillo,
Seth Hagar for hooking up the place to stay,
Seth and Erin Tegt for the lift ticket hook-ups,
and Josh Bashaw for graciously loaning me your sick skis.