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February 1-7, 2003
February 1, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
I was up at 5:00AM in order to go get the RV from its remote parking spot. I walked half way there before I finally was able to hitch a ride. There isn’t much traffic at that hour. The cold RV fired right up and we had it loaded with everyone’s luggage before 6:00AM. We reached the airport before 8:00 and dropped off Megan and Keith, having the earliest flight. The rest of the group checked in and got their boarding passes, but had enough time to kill that we drove back out to share a pancake breakfast together. We’re already talking about next year’s trip. Perhaps a return trip to Park City, UT may be next year’s destination.
Christine and I stopped in Denver for a little shopping but made it back to Breckenridge by late afternoon and checked into our campground for the next month. I had drained the RV of fluids before our week in the condo, and had filled all the plumbing with RV antifreeze. Now I had to de-winterize it so that we could live in it again.
February 2, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine and I chose not to ski today. We took the bus into town in the afternoon to look at the final outcome of the snow-sculpting contest. There was quite a crowd taking in the sights. The sculptures had been judged yesterday. The winner was “Winter Comes” by a Canadian team form British Columbia. It captures the image of a giant snow owl wrapping its wings over a small snow covered town. The detail on this one made it the winner. This is the same team that won the competition last year with the bass-violinst carving.
Second prize went to the U.S. team from Minnesota. Their swirling geometric image named “Whirled White Web” had captured everyone’s imagination during the week, but its thin weak structure finally succumbed to the heat shortly after being judged. It was just a pile of snow when we saw it today.
Third prize went to the local Breckenridge team. Their image of a cat reaching into a fish tank named “A Fishing Tail” was quite impressive. We all wondered how the team would capture the glass fish bowl. The glass is transparent, so it just isn’t there.
Special recognition was given to two teams. China arrived with a team of only two members. The rest of their five-member team could not get travel visas approved. The Italian team had their block of snow break apart the wrong way on the first day, yet they persevered to complete something close to their original design.
Christine and I both agreed that last year’s assortment of sculptures were more impressive then this year’s, though the work was still very pleasing. It really is a special opportunity to watch this competition.
By Christine: It was very hard for the sculptures this year because of the weather. It was too warm and the snow was melting. To see the pictures of this years sculptures, click here.
Monday, February 3 – Wednesday, February 5, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
The snow finally began to fall Sunday night and continued intermittently through Thursday. We got 20” of fresh dry light powder, accompanied with a lack of wind and colder temperatures to help keep the snow in place. The skiing improved considerably, though we struggled with the flat light and colder temperatures.
We drove into Dillon Wednesday evening for Christine to attend a career workshop directed at women. We then enjoyed some beer at the Dillon Dam Brewery.
Thursday, February 6, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
We did some of our coldest skiing of the season today. We returned to the RV and changed clothes to return to town for the annual Ullr Festival Parade at 4:30. It was in the single digits as we lined the parade route awaiting the stream of goofiness that makes up the annual parade. There was quite a crowd of people braving the cold to share in the event. I was again amazed at how scantily clad some of the participants were. Christine and I shared some laughs with the crowd.
As the parade ended, Christine and I hurried up to the warmth of the Breckenridge Brewery and Pub. We thawed our toes there while enjoying a meal and several beers. The walk back to the RV was a cold one.
By Christine: I tried to get Joe to take a picture of me today. I had no skin showing and I know our parents would have been asking themselves, "That's fun??" One part of the parade I found interesting was that almost every float and group of people had anti-war signs. The anti-war opinion seems to be the majority up here in the mountains both in the paper and through other forms of media. Another reason to live here.
1) This is a great shot showing how much snow we've been getting. The white trees and street with all the people waiting for the parade. 2) Mr. and Mrs. Ullr. 3) This car would stop and then when it had some room take off with the guy on the keg flying behind him. 4) These dog teams ended the parade. They were good looking dogs and lots of fun. 5) The Budweiser Demo Ski Team, these guys were pretty funny they would go down the street doing ski maneuvers without skis. The parade also included the usual amount of crazy and cold people in hot tubs and wearing very little clothes.
Friday, February 7, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
We woke to –15 degrees and several frozen water lines. It took me over two hours to isolate the six different freeze points and get water running through all the lines. It was a frustrating morning. I decided not to ski (I already have 19 days of skiing this season), and instead focused on catching up on some homework and maintenance.
By Christine: The job search is in full swing and because of that it is the majority of what I think about. This is causing me to put skiing as the second priority as I try to meet my weekly goals of contacts to make and jobs to apply for in my search. I am in this job search for the long-term and have long-term goals. I don't expect to have any quick results but I am sure that as I continue to make contacts the right opportunity will come about.
Saturday, February 8, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
We had another morning of frozen pipes this morning. I figured why we’re having more trouble this year with the freezing. The prevailing wind comes out of the north, and we are parked so that the RV’s most vulnerable side (where the water lines run) faces north.
Sunday, February 9, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
It wasn’t quite as cold, and we didn’t have as much freeze trouble with some new precautions that we are now taking.
Monday, February 10—Tuesday, February 11, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Quiet cold days in the mountains.
Wednesday, February 12, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine and I both skied today. I spoke with Mike, a motorcycle buddy of mine from Atlanta this evening. He arrived today with his wife, Lorena, and their two young kids, Jason and Marissa. They are being joined by two other couples on Friday, but are here on their own until then. Mike and I planned to take a lesson together tomorrow and then all of us would get together for dinner later.
Thursday, February 13, 2003
Breckenridge, CO
Mike and I met up as scheduled at the base of the mountain and had a great lesson with an imaginative instructor named Rick. There was only one other fellow in our lesson, so we all got a lot of individual attention. This was my very first lesson of the season and I was disappointed that I had taught myself a bunch of bad habits that I needed to unlearn, but I’m a determined student, so I listened eagerly.
Mike skis very well and it was great to have him in the same lesson. We had a lot of fun just catching up with each other. After skiing, we all met up back at their condo. Christine rode the bus into town with a change of clothes for me. We soaked in the condo hot tub and swam in the heated pool before retiring to their condo for a relaxing evening. The kids are so young that we decided to keep it simple by just ordering in some Chinese food. It was really a pleasant evening.
Friday, February 14, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine and I met up with Mike and Lorena at the base of the mountain after they dropped their kids in ski school. Mike and I took off to ski together leaving Christine and Lorena to explore the mountain together. Mike and I had a great day as I took him to a lot of fun terrain.
Christine and I later returned to the RV for a private Valentine’s Day celebration. Christine treated me to an amazing evening of gastric pleasures. It began with an appetizer of warmed brie topped with brown sugar, cranberry relish, toasted walnuts and other seasonings. This was served over slices of pear and crackers. Dinner was venison filets topped with bleu cheese, and shredded cheesy potatoes. The evening was capped off with a dessert of sweet potato pie with fresh whipped cream. Christine really knows how to take care of me. It was all fantastic.
Saturday, February 15—Sunday, February 16, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine and I kept a pretty low profile this weekend to avoid the heavy crowds here for President’s Day Weekend. We did our normal shopping and such.
Monday, February 17, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
We hooked up with Mike and Lorena again, along with their friends. The men and women split up. I led the men across the mountain while Christine led the women. We hooked up for lunch, but mostly skied separately.
Tuesday, February 18, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine and I skied together today with Mike, his last day of skiing. Lorena was stuck in the condo with a sick child. The three of us skied until early afternoon, when Mike went to offer Lorena some relief. We all rejoined at the condo and repeated the hot tub/pool routine from last week. We all got dressed up and went out for a fun dinner at the Breckenridge Brewery. It had been a great visit with Mike and Lorena, and I especially enjoyed skiing with Mike.
By Christine: The last few days have been really nice. I really enjoyed meeting, skiing with, and spending time with Lorena. Joe and I are great together, but I always enjoy spending time with other people, especially women!
Wednesday, February 19, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine stayed behind to work on her job search while I took in another lesson. My lesson was not a lesson at all. The instructor had no business teaching people how to ski. He was just out to have fun himself. He led our oversized group across the mountain never taking any time to actually watch any of us ski. I will never take another lesson from this bum.
Thursday, February 20—Monday, February 24, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
We each got in a couple days of skiing and enjoyed a pretty quiet weekend.
Tuesday, February 25, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Christine and I finally decided to give cross-country skiing a try today. We drove into Frisco and stopped at the Frisco Nordic Center. We rented very modern equipment and purchased passes to the extensive network of groomed trails there. Christine has memories of cross-country skiing in Upper Michigan as a kid, but that was a long time ago. I, on the other hand, have never been cross-country skiing.
There are two primary disciplines of cross-country skiing. The Classic form is the familiar straight-ahead motion with the skis always staying parallel. The Skating form uses shorter skis and longer poles, permitting the skier to move faster by using the skis as long skates. We opted to start with the Classic discipline and work up from there. We were directed to a trail that had the fewest hills, and then we got underway.
The narrow lightweight skis felt so different from our wider, heavier alpine skis. The boots however, were incredibly comfortable. We had a lovely day on the trail as we tried to get used to the awkward movements of cross-country skiing. In my opinion, we did very well for our first two-hour outing. We discussed trying the Skating form next time, but emphasized that we would want to take a lesson instead of trying to figure it out on our own.
We ended up catching Temperature Tuesday at Ti Amo Ristorante in Frisco for dinner. On Tuesdays, your first cocktail only costs as much as the temperature in pennies. Today that meant our first drinks were 34 cents each. We each had a great half-price pizza for Happy Hour. We had earned the meal.
1) Christine Cross-country skiing; 2) Joe Cross-country skiing.
Wednesday, February 26, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
I took another lesson today, hoping to hook up with Rick, the instructor that I enjoyed so much from two weeks ago. He wasn’t working today, so instead I got into a lesson with a new instructor from Bulgaria. Gavril was excellent. He didn’t teach any of the 20-year-old methods that seem to anchor so many other instructors in less effective lessons. Ski equipment and technology has progressed so much in recent years that newer teaching methods are needed to optimize the use of the gear. Gavril’s instruction was so fresh and progressive. I really responded to his approach. It was a great day for me.
Thursday, February 27, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Today is our 4th wedding anniversary. We began the day with some great skiing together. After coming back to the RV and cleaning up, we drove into Breckenridge and enjoyed an excellent dinner at the Briar Rose Restaurant. Christine had the gorgonzola-encrusted filet mignon and I had ostrich tenderloins in blackberry sauce. After dinner we drove into Dillon and attended a Broadway Revue at the Dillon Community Theatre. A music theatre ensemble performed a variety of Broadway show tunes to the sold out crowd. It was a very professional production for such a small theatre. We truly enjoyed it. It was a special way for us to celebrate this special day.
Friday, February 28, 2003 Breckenridge, CO
Today was my 33rd day of skiing this season. I spent it taking another lesson with Gavril, the Bulgarian instructor that did such a fine job with me Wednesday. There was only one other student in my class, a Brit from Cornwall. It was an excellent lesson.
The highlight of the lesson was when Gavril offered to exchange skis with me. My skis are quite long by today’s standards at 190 cm, and have a built in turning radius of 21 meters. Gavril’s skis are only 170 cm long and have a much tighter turning radius of 12 meters. They turned and carved so much quicker than mine. Don’t get me wrong—I have really loved my new skis this season, but those short ones were a lot of fun. Tomorrow I may shop around at the second-hand sports store in Frisco to see if I can find a cheap pair of shorter skis to play with.
Continue onto March 1-31, 2003