Al's Journal ... 5/14/07
May 14, 2007
Anitarae says she has rarely seen such big smiles on me as she did this past weekend. Well, I’m 64 years old and I’ve known about skiing in places like Breckenridge, Vail and Aspen since I was 16, but ever seeing these mountains has only been a wish. Ever skiing them would only fit in the category of dreams. Friday and Saturday the wish came true the dreams became a plan with hope.
Since arriving in Colorado this May, I’ve been hoping to take a ride into the mountains to see the major ski areas I’ve thought about over the past many, many years. The weather promised to be beautiful so we rented a Camry, because we wanted comfort and economy, and headed out Rt. 24 on an adventure. I knew the scenery would be nice, but it surpassed my expectations. Seeing the snow covered mountains in the distance was beautiful and then driving through those areas that were covered with snow was a delight. Up and down the mountains we drove enjoying the majestic vistas in the bright sunshine under blue, blue skies. We passed rural settlements with sparse and rustic dwellings, drove through small fascinating villages with architecture peculiar to western mountain living and so different from what we see back East, wound our way down several roads with hair pin switchbacks, and finally arrived in Breckenridge, CO.
Of course, I had set our GPS locator on the ski area so that’s where we went first. Parking was easy. The hill was closed for the season. However, the mountain was 80% covered with snow and very skiable. We stood at the base by the lifts for awhile just taking it all in. I guess that’s when I was all smiles. I was in awe. While we were there, we had the good fortune of a conversation with two young men, who had grown up in the Syracuse area and had just skied down the mountain. They started hiking up at 7:00AM and had just finished the run. It was 1:00 PM. Such ambition! We learned a lot about Breckenridge and other Colorado Ski areas from these two gung ho guys who ski an average of 80 to 100 days a year. Imagine! It turned out that these guys were just the first of a series of interesting and informative people we would meet on our adventure.
After I satisfied my desire to see and experience all I could, we drove into Breckenridge, had a wonderful lunch on a patio where Jacque could join us, shopped for souveneirs, and walked all over the small and wonderful town. Just about anyplace was a good view of the mountain trails which makes it even more fun. There is actually a gondola to carry skiers from the town to the mountain. Now, that’s special!
By mid afternoon we decided to start for Vail thinking that would be a nice place to get lodging and spend the evening and part of the next day. We still wanted to save time to visit Aspen. Vail was only an hour’s drive and again the drive was part of the enjoyment. Vail is impressive! It’s a ski village spread out across the base of the mountain. I can just imagine it with snow covered streets and walks and with wonderful lights to make it sparkle. Most of the village is free of vehicles so I would imagine it to be very picturesque with people milling about in their apres ski outfits. I’m certain that glamour is part of the scene since most patrons will be quite wealthy. We stopped in at Vail’s Mountain Haus at the Covered Bridge mostly for information, but with the remote hope of spending the night. Like most of the village it was closed for repairs, but a girl on duty asked if she could help us and that turned out to be another serendipitous conversation. She and the manager had just returned from their wedding and were eager to talk. Since we couldn’t stay there, Andrew went to work on the phone and after several calls found a room for us at a goods rate. He knew the questions to ask. While he was working on that, Tracy showed us a condo that had just sold for 1.8 million, which is a typical amount. Some condo owners rent out, and some can afford to just keep it for themselves. Andrew and Tracy said they would give us a good rate when we book our family ski vacation. That’s the dream, now with hope.
Having finally found our rental car, in a very confusing parking garage, we started out for our hotel, which was actually in Glenwood Springs an hour away. That would get us out of Vail, which was dead anyway, and on our way toward Aspen. It was dusk when we drove through Glenwood Canyon and that was a little disappointing because it was possibly the most interesting part of the whole drive. The walls of the canyon seemed to hug the road pretty close and twice we actually drove through the mountain. It’s an awesome and unusual feeling to drive through a canyon so deep. I’m sure sunshine would add another special dimension.
We arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Glenwood and were pleasantly surprised that our AAA card got us another discount off the rate Andrew had already procured. He told us it would be a cut above the normal rooms and it was. We were happy to end an already special day in a special room complete with Jacuzzi. Soaking our old bones and muscles in a hot tub as we watched an amazing story of survival on Discovery was a real treat.
The next morning, after a nice complementary breakfast of waffles and sausage, we headed for Aspen. I was beyond the excitement stage knowing I was about to see a third, world class ski area. I think I have a passion for skiing. Again, it was only an hour’s drive and I drove slowly to take in all of the beautiful scenery. Upon arrival, we both immediately agreed we would like to live in Aspen. All hope was lost however, when the Chamber of Commerce guy told us there was no real estate less that a million. Once again the ski area is right in the village or perhaps the village is right at the base of the ski area. You can actually stand downtown and watch skiers descend the trails. Or, you could if it was winter. There was no snow here. We walked through all the streets and many of the shops and just enjoyed being in Aspen. There were no celebrities, but we were told there usually are several on skiing days. We did have a nice conversation with a guy who was just resting on a demo ski lift chair while waiting to go to work in one of the restaurants. He’s in Aspen because he’s a writer and Aspen is a very artful village. He also skiis 80 or so days a year so I’m not sure how much writing he does. He does know the ski areas, and we learned a lot from him. We surely were blessed to meet so many nice people.
It was hard to end our visit to Aspen, but we decided to start the final leg of the journey home, which would complete the rather circular route, but we were in for a surprise. We had plenty of daylight left so we proceded slowly south on US 24 taking in all the sights. All of a sudden we came upon a barrier across the highway. “Road Closed.” How can that be? You don’t just close a US highway! There on the map in fine red print on green background was the answer. “Closed November through May.” It was Independence Pass. Too bad. It probably is gorgeous…. and treacherous. Now we had to turn around and retrace the entire trip. The good part is we got to go through Glenwood Canyon again and this time in the sunshine. We took the faster route home. We went through Denver, but most of the route was still in the beautiful mountains. We thought it was comical that as we drove up and over the mountains we were listening to “Prairie Home Companion” on the radio. We stopped in Castle Rock and ended our wonderful adventure with a first class dinner at Union, An American Bistro. We didn’t know we would choose such a great restaurant, but I think our Heavenly Father did. In fact, I think this whole adventure was a gift from God.
Anitarae says she has rarely seen such big smiles on me as she did this past weekend. Well, I’m 64 years old and I’ve known about skiing in places like Breckenridge, Vail and Aspen since I was 16, but ever seeing these mountains has only been a wish. Ever skiing them would only fit in the category of dreams. Friday and Saturday the wish came true the dreams became a plan with hope.
Since arriving in Colorado this May, I’ve been hoping to take a ride into the mountains to see the major ski areas I’ve thought about over the past many, many years. The weather promised to be beautiful so we rented a Camry, because we wanted comfort and economy, and headed out Rt. 24 on an adventure. I knew the scenery would be nice, but it surpassed my expectations. Seeing the snow covered mountains in the distance was beautiful and then driving through those areas that were covered with snow was a delight. Up and down the mountains we drove enjoying the majestic vistas in the bright sunshine under blue, blue skies. We passed rural settlements with sparse and rustic dwellings, drove through small fascinating villages with architecture peculiar to western mountain living and so different from what we see back East, wound our way down several roads with hair pin switchbacks, and finally arrived in Breckenridge, CO.
Of course, I had set our GPS locator on the ski area so that’s where we went first. Parking was easy. The hill was closed for the season. However, the mountain was 80% covered with snow and very skiable. We stood at the base by the lifts for awhile just taking it all in. I guess that’s when I was all smiles. I was in awe. While we were there, we had the good fortune of a conversation with two young men, who had grown up in the Syracuse area and had just skied down the mountain. They started hiking up at 7:00AM and had just finished the run. It was 1:00 PM. Such ambition! We learned a lot about Breckenridge and other Colorado Ski areas from these two gung ho guys who ski an average of 80 to 100 days a year. Imagine! It turned out that these guys were just the first of a series of interesting and informative people we would meet on our adventure.
After I satisfied my desire to see and experience all I could, we drove into Breckenridge, had a wonderful lunch on a patio where Jacque could join us, shopped for souveneirs, and walked all over the small and wonderful town. Just about anyplace was a good view of the mountain trails which makes it even more fun. There is actually a gondola to carry skiers from the town to the mountain. Now, that’s special!
By mid afternoon we decided to start for Vail thinking that would be a nice place to get lodging and spend the evening and part of the next day. We still wanted to save time to visit Aspen. Vail was only an hour’s drive and again the drive was part of the enjoyment. Vail is impressive! It’s a ski village spread out across the base of the mountain. I can just imagine it with snow covered streets and walks and with wonderful lights to make it sparkle. Most of the village is free of vehicles so I would imagine it to be very picturesque with people milling about in their apres ski outfits. I’m certain that glamour is part of the scene since most patrons will be quite wealthy. We stopped in at Vail’s Mountain Haus at the Covered Bridge mostly for information, but with the remote hope of spending the night. Like most of the village it was closed for repairs, but a girl on duty asked if she could help us and that turned out to be another serendipitous conversation. She and the manager had just returned from their wedding and were eager to talk. Since we couldn’t stay there, Andrew went to work on the phone and after several calls found a room for us at a goods rate. He knew the questions to ask. While he was working on that, Tracy showed us a condo that had just sold for 1.8 million, which is a typical amount. Some condo owners rent out, and some can afford to just keep it for themselves. Andrew and Tracy said they would give us a good rate when we book our family ski vacation. That’s the dream, now with hope.
Having finally found our rental car, in a very confusing parking garage, we started out for our hotel, which was actually in Glenwood Springs an hour away. That would get us out of Vail, which was dead anyway, and on our way toward Aspen. It was dusk when we drove through Glenwood Canyon and that was a little disappointing because it was possibly the most interesting part of the whole drive. The walls of the canyon seemed to hug the road pretty close and twice we actually drove through the mountain. It’s an awesome and unusual feeling to drive through a canyon so deep. I’m sure sunshine would add another special dimension.
We arrived at the Comfort Inn & Suites in Glenwood and were pleasantly surprised that our AAA card got us another discount off the rate Andrew had already procured. He told us it would be a cut above the normal rooms and it was. We were happy to end an already special day in a special room complete with Jacuzzi. Soaking our old bones and muscles in a hot tub as we watched an amazing story of survival on Discovery was a real treat.
The next morning, after a nice complementary breakfast of waffles and sausage, we headed for Aspen. I was beyond the excitement stage knowing I was about to see a third, world class ski area. I think I have a passion for skiing. Again, it was only an hour’s drive and I drove slowly to take in all of the beautiful scenery. Upon arrival, we both immediately agreed we would like to live in Aspen. All hope was lost however, when the Chamber of Commerce guy told us there was no real estate less that a million. Once again the ski area is right in the village or perhaps the village is right at the base of the ski area. You can actually stand downtown and watch skiers descend the trails. Or, you could if it was winter. There was no snow here. We walked through all the streets and many of the shops and just enjoyed being in Aspen. There were no celebrities, but we were told there usually are several on skiing days. We did have a nice conversation with a guy who was just resting on a demo ski lift chair while waiting to go to work in one of the restaurants. He’s in Aspen because he’s a writer and Aspen is a very artful village. He also skiis 80 or so days a year so I’m not sure how much writing he does. He does know the ski areas, and we learned a lot from him. We surely were blessed to meet so many nice people.
It was hard to end our visit to Aspen, but we decided to start the final leg of the journey home, which would complete the rather circular route, but we were in for a surprise. We had plenty of daylight left so we proceded slowly south on US 24 taking in all the sights. All of a sudden we came upon a barrier across the highway. “Road Closed.” How can that be? You don’t just close a US highway! There on the map in fine red print on green background was the answer. “Closed November through May.” It was Independence Pass. Too bad. It probably is gorgeous…. and treacherous. Now we had to turn around and retrace the entire trip. The good part is we got to go through Glenwood Canyon again and this time in the sunshine. We took the faster route home. We went through Denver, but most of the route was still in the beautiful mountains. We thought it was comical that as we drove up and over the mountains we were listening to “Prairie Home Companion” on the radio. We stopped in Castle Rock and ended our wonderful adventure with a first class dinner at Union, An American Bistro. We didn’t know we would choose such a great restaurant, but I think our Heavenly Father did. In fact, I think this whole adventure was a gift from God.
Comments
Amazing story, sounds tremendous. Let's make the dream a reality.
oh my gosh- you guys are on such a wonderful adventure!! i'm glad your such a great writer, al, i feel like i'm watching a short film of your trip. it's so interesting..... and beautiful :0)