Raising the Bar

The view from the top of the Super Bee chair lift we ride each morning.

A couple walks into a bar...(have you head this one?)...it was Miki and me!  (ha!)  After a day of varying weather, we finally gave it up as the wind began to infiltrate our layers where wind shouldn't go...especially when you consider the wind chill!  Lucky for us on Thursdays at J.J.'s Bar, entertainment returns for the weekend.  J.J.'s happens to be not even a short sand wedge from our place, more like a long putt, albeit a miniature golf type long putt.  (speaking of golf, this wold be a good place for a few golf funnies)  I was playing golf with our new pro the other day and I was asking him for advice on how to get better at this game.  He said to go back and take it up at a much earlier age!  Ha!  The game of golf is 90% mental and 10% mental.  (Shannon, take your new irons back!)  HaHa!!

So we walk into J.J.'s and sure enough it is as though we had not left there a year ago when we came out with Miki's brother and nieces for their spring break.  The same guy was singing the same songs and believe it or not, the same "mature" woman that wanted some handsome young men (Marty, Miki's brother and me of course...but mostly Marty) to get up and dance with her.  I still get cold sweats some nights, the closest thing I have to PTSD.  All went well without a scene.  She did not hit on me.  Obviously because Marty, my wingman, wasn't with me.

This may be the same blue top she had on last year.  This time she is after
someone more mature than myself and Marty together.

We stayed long enough for some baby boomer favorites and to start recognizing people we'd  seen around the mountain and actually a family from BINGO the other night.

A dinner of nachos and a game of BOGGLE, with a buzzed Miki (from her two J.J.'s margaritas) pretty much ended our evening early.  Needless to say, I kicked her tequila tainted butt (Miki's, not the woman in the blue top).

Can you spot the glaze beginning to cover Miki's eyes?  I was the
designated walker that guided us home safely.

One person missing from the bar (we thought would surely be there) was a gentleman we met on the mountain (not so much met as cruised by).  Evidently the single digit temperature and quite possibly the negative degree temperature from the wind chill didn't stop this man from getting the attention he was seeking.

See anything out of the ordinary?

How about now?
At least the thong I wear to the hot tub is appropriate for the setting.

AM

PM

Here's to a Good day...good night!

My Zen from the Bar:  It is pretty zenny when like minded souls find each other in the same place, at the same time.  As long as those like minded souls keep to the souls that they came with.  When an entertainer (the bar singer guy) can get 100+ souls all singing "Bye Bye Miss American Pie" as the singer drops out and listens to the audience sing it in unison, that is a pretty cool moment to me.  Imagine what it would be like for like minded souls to come together for something important!

BINGO was it's NAME-O

Snow covered mountains have to be in my top 5 most beautiful landscapes and everyday this week it has been a privilege to wake up to this kind of scenery.  Love it.

Well if it is Wednesday and we are anywhere close to Silverthorne,CO...it's BINGO night at the Elk's Lodge!  We think this may be our 4th visit to BINGO night over the last few years and each visit does not disappoint.  You never know who you will see there, but there are the regulars.  Until tonight the average number of BINGOers we've seen was probably about 10-15...on a good night.  Tonight there must have been around 40+.  

The regulars include the 3 amigos Elks that run the BINGO game itself and a handful of locals that carry in their totes filled with their BINGO supplies...you know, a family supply of Dab-O-Inks (in case the one that should last a lifetime runs out).  For the novice, a Dab-O-Ink is a marker of sorts to mark each box as it is called out (it takes the place of the plastic chips we used in elementary school).  And there are a couple of folks in the the kitchen serving up dinner and desert.

Bingo cards litter the tables as we sit on pins and needles to see who will
win the $20 per game...that's right...20 bucks.  It's a big deal.

Then there are the skiers/visitors that make up the majority of players.  Good for the Elks, but bad for the serious BINGO players.  Mix a chance to win a little money and a little alcohol (and some youth) and you get a few loud ski dudes that can't wait for the caller to deliver "B...1" or "O...69" over the P. A. system.  I figure Miki and I are in line for honorary local status, due to our commitment when in town.  Great place to people watch.

They call these "pickles."  Another way to take your money raise money for
scholarships.  Kinda like instant winner scratch off game cards.

We came home winless after scoring 66% of the time from our previous visits.  But we did donate to some lucky student that will benefit from having some extra pencils for their college classes.

We did ski today and it was most fabutastic.  Mostly sunny and I was finally "feeling it."  For some skiers its about the mechanics.  For me, its about feeling it (along with the mechanics). I try to take what I see good skiers doing, remembering the little I remember about my one and only ski lesson 30+ years ago, and feel it.  You know it when it's right.

Our condo is above my left ear (as you see me here).  The tubing hill is
seen in the grooves of snow between our heads.  And no, I have not had
a tracheotomy, that is my breathing hole, kinda like a whale.

I have no idea what I am trying to convey with my sign
language as Miki snaps this picture.  I am convinced it is
not hand puppets or being held up by a skiing robber.
If I recall my excited state of mind at the time, I will let
you know.

Until we meet again, think of what BINGO letter/number combinations makes you laugh.

My Zen from the Road:  Remember a feeling, that when it happened, you know it was right.  Could have been something related to a sport (a golf shot in the sweet spot), when you saw someone doing something (a little kid eating an ice cream cone on a hot day), or something in nature like seeing mountains covered in snow.  When it's right, it's right.  Feel it.

sNOw!

Yin-Yang.  Miki-Wallie.  Good ski day-Not so good ski day.  You might say today complimented yesterday as in the Chinese philosophy of yin-yang.  The sky was grey (or gray) with snow coming down this morning as we opened the blinds to see what was in store for us.  The only drawback to overcast skies skiing, is the flat light that makes it hard on your depth perception when trying to avoid bumps in the snow.  But that didn't stop us...oh no.

This is as close to yesterday's sunny day we got.  Yes, that brighter spot in
the sky is the sun, not anther meteor.

On went the layers and up the mountain we went.  We stuck it out for an hour until our visibility became hampered by heavier snowfall.  Like the adventurers we are, we packed it in early and did a little condo chillaxin.

After lunch, I couldn't take it anymore and announced I was heading back out.  Miki voiced she was going ice skating.  With another glance out the window, we noticed some flags flapping very excitedly in the breeze, neither of us had seen earlier.  Skating was postponed when Miki read it was an outdoor rink.  I yin and yanged around on my decision before throwing caution to the wind (ar-ar!) and headed out for a few more runs.

After getting off the lift and trying to remember the right trail names to get back down, I started to take notice of trail names I hadn't paid much attention to so far.  The first one that caught my attention was...

The diamond shape is not significant here, it is just a trail symbol.  What is,
is the color and name.  Black designates EXPERT and the name indicates
you are not coming back up.

The green color represents EASY and those trails have names like Easy Feeling or Windsong.  The intermediate trails are marked with blue and have slightly more intimidating names like, Oh No.  

Since it takes forever to go up the lifts and almost no time to ski back down, I had some time to contemplate some of the names I would give my trails if I had my own ski resort.  The trails would not be color coded, that is for sissies.  I want my skiers to be more involved with their mountain, by having to read the names rather than depending on color.  This would help contribute to their level of involvement and the overall literacy rate of the country.  I would have easy trails like Easy, Giggles, Yes Ma'am, and No Sir.  The blues could be like Intermediate, Smirk, Say What, and Hell No.  The black trails would be called Expert, Frowny Face, Yeah Right, and Don't Do IT.  The double black diamonds would be pretty self explanatory...Good Day to Die, Heart Attack Hill, F#@% You, and You've Got To Be Kidding Me.  This too, would inevitably help the gene pool, by weeding out the impulsive, hasty, and illiterate among us.  See if you can come up with better ones than these poor attempts at humor.

We polished the afternoon off with a trip to the movies and saw "Identity Thief."  It has been a long time since Miki laughed as hard as she did.  Good thing she wasn't drinking any milk at the time!  We recommend it.

We look forward to tomorrow.  The sun stands a better chance of being seen and the temps get warmer each day as we head to the end of the week.  Here's to snow plows and dry pavement back home!

My Zen from the Road:  What balance or Yin-Yang do you have in your wallet life?

YES!

The best ski day ever...so far...and it is only the first of 5 ski days ahead.  When you look at it that way, we have no where to go but down.  Maybe I shouldn't have started this way.  How about this.  It was a great ski day.  Sunny, no long lift lines, great snow, very little wind, hundred dollar bills were falling from the sky, and Miki and I shared a Snickers Bar at a picnic table mid afternoon, because we didn't want to stop for lunch.  There, that sounds better, but maybe too good to be true, or at least the part about the lift lines.  Great day!

               Where's Miki?  There she is.                                     

Miki and a stranger strike a bright sunny pose. 

As this day winds down, at home you are winding up for another snowstorm tonight.  Since we are not there in person, we are there in spirit...a humorous spirit...enjoy the snow.

     Q: What do you get from sitting on the snow too long? 
     A: Polaroids! 

     Q: What do you call ten Arctic hares hopping backwards through the snow together? 
     A: A receding hare line. 

And finally:
The Indians asked their Chief in Autumn if the Winter was going to be cold or not. 

Not really knowing an answer, the chief replies that the Winter was going to be cold with lots of snow and that the members of the village were to collect wood to be prepared. 

Being a good leader, he then went and called the National Weather Service and asked, "Is this winter to be cold?" 

The man on the phone responded, "This Winter is going to be quite cold indeed." 

So the Chief went back to speed up his people to collect even more wood to be prepared.  A week later he called the National Weather Service again, "Is it going to be a very cold winter?" 

"Yes", the man replied, "it's going to be a very cold Winter." 

So the Chief goes back to his people and orders them to go and find every scrap of wood they can find.  Two weeks later he calls the National Weather Service again:  "Are you absolutely sure that the Winter is going to be very cold?" 

"Absolutely," the man replies, "the Indians are collecting wood like crazy!" 



My Zen from the Road:  Take time to feel the sun on your face.

Let's Go!

One of the activities Miki and I have shared over the years is going skiing and until we retired, it was primarily carried out over a long weekend or a spring break.  Once we had time back on our side, we decided to dust off our ski goggles and see if we still had it.

That was three winters ago and we've been each year since.  The new question wasn't should we, but how often.  This trip was the second time (the first being about a month ago) and we wanted to see if it was something we want to do more than once a year.

Plans were made, ski rentals reserved, a condo lined up (after three tries), and we were preparing to take off Sunday morning, bright and early.  As we I was sitting around Saturday evening around 6:00, as Miki was cleaning and making last minute food prep, the phone rings.

You might remember a friend of ours, Greg, from previous blog entries from 2011.  More specifically from the Canada Parts I-VI entries.  Upon answering the phone, Greg had some concern to his voice and asked if we had checked the weather in Denver for tomorrow (Sunday), the day we had planned on driving out to Copper Mountain to ski.  After responding with a lackadaisical..."no, not recently"..., he brought to my attention that they were expecting blizzard conditions Sunday.  After picking up my jaw from the floor and replacing it, I thanked him, got off the phone with a sense of urgency, looked at Mik...at which time we looked at our options.  And of course, we (I) said...LET'S GO!  How soon can you be ready?  We were on the road at 7:30, pointed west.

A little background:  I had some struggles landing a condo, but eventually got it figured out...after getting charged for one TWICE that we did not even get.  Got ski rentals set, then had to change them slightly, due to the condo fiasco just mentioned.  Things seemed to be stacking up against this being an effortless adventure.  So, we get the car loaded, house sitter squared away for an earlier than agreed to date, we head out on I-70, and in no more than a minute, we are in a sea of slow moving red lights.  AAaaahhhhhh!!!

Just passed Woods Chapel Road heading towards Little Blue Parkway.
All I see (besides red! in more ways than one) is the blizzard we were trying
to avoid.

Luckily, 15 minutes later, my speed was restored, but the sense of urgency had my blood a-pumpin'.  Some of you might remember that Miki and I (years ago) spent an eternity over 3 days stuck in Wakeeney, Kansas, after being forced off I-70 during blizzard conditions.  That was not going to repeat itself.

After a less than auspicious start, we slipped seamlessly out of Missouri and cruised all the way to Hayes.  Kansas was covered in a blanket of snow, giving the night run across the prairie a new look.  The fields of wind machines generating energy were barely visible in the darkness of the night, if not for their blinking red lights.  These pulsing lights were in unison rather than what I would have thought would have been a random pattern, like fireflies on a summer night.  Dozens and dozens of them, all blinking together.  Kinda cool.  After filling up with gas in Hayes, Miki took over at the wheel and almost immediately we found ourselves enveloped in fog...WHAT?!  The nearly full moon's glow was scattered by the snow and gave us a night light to travel by, but the fog was thick and lasted for over 100 miles.  

With A LOT of imagination (yes I took a picture of the lights), you might
be able to see...well maybe not, but if you find yourself traveling through
Kansas in the middle of the night, it is something to see.
You probably had to be there, huh?

I must say that Miki did not take my encouragement to drive faster, so we
would get out of the fog faster as a good plan.

We outlasted the fog and made it to the outskirts of Denver in the wee morning hours, where as predicted, the snow began to fall.  The snow by itself was okay.  It was the blowing blizzard conditions we were trying to avoid.  The whole trip was made worthwhile, just getting to travel through Denver alone (almost) on the road.

We headed into the mountains and quickly found ourselves on packed snow.  With little if any competition for space on the road, I hogged the center of the two lanes and plowed on toward Eisenhower Tunnel.  Before long we made it to Silverthorne, CO by 4 in the morning.  With nothing open and nowhere to go, having met our goal of not getting stuck in a blizzard, we found a covered parking garage and took a nap.

We have arrived!

We made it.  But we are about 10 hours early.  We've got no where to go, no real plan, other than hoping to get into our condo early.  Check out isn't until 10 and who knows how long it will take to clean it.  So, what is a young couple in love to do, to pass the time?  (Clean it up!)  We went to breakfast!

The Butterhorn Bakery and Cafe was the only game in town to take us off the street.  Up to this point we had slept in a small parking garage, cruised Walmart (when only the stockers were there stocking shelves), drove around with the heater on... homeless was starting to appear on our resumés.  Thank goodness for the Butterhorn.

Miki's bagel and lox.  Looks kind of RAW to me, but she rreeaallyy
liked it.  It is missing something...like syrup or sugar or a yellow yoke.

It was biscuits and gravy with a couple of fried eggs on top for this homeless man

I did it justice.  The waitress' tip was not for her service at the table,
but helping deliver me to the car afterwards.

The rest of the day until around 2 was filled with more homeless stuff, at which time we took up residence in our condo.  Interestingly enough (or not) it is located next to the building we stayed at a month ago on our first ski outing.  This time we have the mountain side view rather than the parking lot.

The Super Bee Ski Lift is center left and JJ's Bar is just out of sight below it.
Our nieces have fond memories of JJ's from last spring, when they were
surrounded by baby boomers (and older) reliving their youth through song
and alcohol.

Well, another day, another adventure.  I think it has been about 48 hours since I've slept...the parking garage didn't set the right mood for me to sleep, but Mik had no problem with it.  Slumberland awaits me.  Miki has already taken her place there, so it is time to put this blog to bed.  Tomorrow being another day...well, that means another adventure and even though this trip struggled to take place, we're on it.



My Zen from the Road:  The field of wind turbines, as seen only by their red blinking lights, sitting on top, going off and on together, really did grab something emotional in me last night...which is kind of weird by itself, but there were a few machines that seemed to be listening to the beat of a different drummer.  Of the dozens and dozens and dozens of synchronized lights in the distant night, a handful were lighting up one by one, alone.  I think what got to me about this was that while teaching, I saw a number of lights that flashed, not with the group, but individually on their own (for you literal people, I am comparing the lights to my students...ya with me?).  It wasn't bad, or good.  Stupid or smart.  Slow or fast.  It was just their light.  You don't have to be a teacher to see this analogy, but sometimes it may take something unusual or weird to bring it to your attention.  I think we all have our moments when we blink out of unison and it makes for some pretty spectacular night viewing.

It's All Good!

Our last day to ski dawned to not clear skies, flurries filtering down from the heavens, and our good buddy that clears the roads with his backup beeper particularly piercing this morning.  If the movie "Groundhog Day" had not already been done, our script from the last few days would have fit right in.  But there was something a little different about today.  It was a little brighter out.  The wind had subsided, for the most part.  And I was feeling it!  Miki, not so much.  She caved to whatever subliminal stuff I was working her with and we layered up.

Last night's 7 inch accumulation brings our 3 day total to about 15 inches.

It took a few hours, but the sun broke through giving us a partly cloudy/sunny afternoon.  The temperature was in the 20's rather than single digits, the weekend crowds had not arrived yet, and the snow made for better than normal conditions to ski.

After our $20 lunch of a baked potato and a bread bowl of cheesy chicken tortilla soup (thank you resort food scalpers) we continued our day and tested out some different trails we had not attempted, due to previous conditions.  One green (beginners) run named "Woodwinds" was on our list to do and we ran it a couple of times without incident (foreshadowing).  I had noticed that it had an open area that had not been groomed (the fresh powder had not been packed down by the snowcats last night).  I ran in and out of it on the previous run to get a feel for it.  Skiing powder is a different animal than skiing "packed" powder.  I decided that I would test the waters a little further in next time.  Woodwinds has some groupings of trees scattered about that are fun to ski around (nothing dangerous) and the area that was calling me, with the 7" of new powder, was just beyond some of these trees I was skiing in and out of.  I spotted my powder point of entry.  Pointed my skis in that direction.  As I entered the powder with my ski tips up, about 10 yards into it, something very wrong took place.  My recollection was I continued to move forward (just like Newton's Laws of Motion say), but my skis evidently slowed down that in turn set a series of events in motion that resulted in the photo below.  Miki was on the other side of some trees and missed my aerial assault on the ground.  I must have cart-wheeled downhill, leaving my skis uphill from where I came to rest. All I remember was hoping that my skis would come off at some point, so as to not wrap my legs into some type of painful pretzel shape.  And that I would be required to be strapped into a sled, wrapped in a yellow blanket, and end up with some kind of plaster cast on some appendage after being towed down the mountain for all to see.  Thank goodness everything wiggled appropriately and nothing hurt, so on we went.

I presume Miki asked if I was okay first, but she couldn't wait to get a
photo of me where I landed.

I was no worse for the wear and we skied the rest of the day with no further incidences.  We both were feeling pretty good about how we were skiing at this point (barring the gymnastic portion of the program), but the lifts close at 4 and we said goodbye to the sun as we skied our way back across the mountain to the condo.

Last lift of the day. 

It is all down hill to Missouri from here (I mean that in a good way),  Blue Springs or Bust!  Maybe I shouldn't say that with my luck with flat tires!



My Zen from the Road:  Did the trip go according to plan?  No.  Did we get to ski?  Yes.  Are we healthy and safe?  So far!  I kind of wanted to get pissy about the weather and not skiing that 4th day, but it's all good.  We'll be back to play another day.

P.S.  I choose to think we were rewarded for our patience by the alpine glow in the mountains as the sun set.

Not Your Child's Snow Day

Heading to bed last evening, we were open to whatever weather nature would throw at us today.  We were both teachers.  We've been thrown up on, hugged by children while burying their heads in places that would make a normal person blush, and had our ages estimated well over the real number.  What could nature possibly do to compete with 2nd and 3rd graders to block us from fun on the mountain today?  How about 0 degrees, with random 25 mph gusts as a chaser?  We opted to find an elementary school that could abuse two old retired teachers, rather than taunt the mountain.  What it really boiled down to was some good old cabin fever.

Our wake up call came in the form of heavy equipment clearing the snow
from the road and parking lots outside our place.

Miki, the early riser she is, was the one to learn of and then share the weather outlook for the day.  Once that was conveyed, I rolled over and began practicing proper skiing form and technique in my mind for tomorrow.  Visualizing is an integral part of any successful athlete.  She chose to document my work ethic in action.

No, it had not snowed in our bed, that is my winter skin color and the remote
served as a weapon after the first photo was taken.

Hanging out in the condo for twenty-four hours didn't seem like too big of a deal.  That lasted until about 11:00 am.  Miki thought it would be good to visit the Habitat for Humanity Restore store in Silverthorne we saw on our way in.  Since Miki started volunteering at ours back home a few weeks ago, she has big plans for them!  To town we headed.

This was between white-outs as we headed to town from Copper Mountain.
The closest we have been to seeing the sun for what seems like weeks.

We hit the Restore and a favorite coffee shop of Miki's and then headed back for round two of cabin fever.

I have a feeling that this will be the first of many documented photos of
Restores we encounter on future travels.

Miki, with locally supported coffee in hand.

Home again, home again, jiggity jig.  The ski runs are almost visible as we get close to our covered parking below the condo.  The parking itself was premo, as they actually have a heater above the ramp that takes you down under the condo complex that keeps any ice and snow from making the incline unsafe (way cool).  

Foxpine Inn...our condo.  Our room is behind the middle pines just right
of center.

Miki made a wonderful stir fry lunch.  Then while she drew, I pretended to be an Alaskan State Trooper as I watched drama after drama unfold on the National Geographic Channel (of which I don't have at home thank goodness, cause the Alaskan State Trooper Academy in Sitka, is taking applications I'm sure). 

As the sun began to set (I am only assuming it was setting because of its past history since we haven't seen it in awhile) we set our sites on town again.  Because, if its Wednesday, there must be BINGO at the Elks Lodge in Silverthorne.  Being repeat players (that's right... players), we knew that a little snow wouldn't inhibit mountain bingo aficionados from a 6:30 start.  Plus we have our winning reputation to uphold.  To not disappoint and keep our winning streak alive, we had to give it a shot.

"Icy Roads" (glowing on the left) signage does not deter true bingo goers.

Our reward for risking life and limb... have you met Mr. Lincoln?
Took it on a diamond bingo pattern, but had to split it with another good bingo.

We returned home safe and sound to a big bowl of buttered popcorn and the ending of "Lords of War," again...on the National Geographic Channel...I have got to start collecting civil war guns, WWII Jeeps, and Samurai swords.

The weather for tomorrow?  We are expecting the worst and hoping for a little better than that.



My Zen from the Road:  The Elk's Lodge in Silverthorne, CO on a cold and snowy night, gathered 13 BINGO minded souls.  Each one appeared to be on the other end of the spectrum from the next.  Yet we laughed, some shared stories (others just listened), and some won a little cash.  You never know where your next fun will come from.