[edit: Nov 23, 2010: don't read this, it's just a really boring story. I tried reading it and couldn't figure out why I had even typed it.]


Well, I am absolutely in love with Colorado all over again.

There is snow on the ground. Right over there. I could go over there right now, make a snowball, and throw it at somebody. I can take a picture of the mountains at sunset. I can WATCH THE SUN SET IN THE MOUNTAINS. But most importantly, more amazing than all of these things, I went snowboarding today. And as has always been the case, I had the time of my life.

But I'm getting ahead of myself.

The story of my trip to Colorado begins on Friday afternoon, with lunch. Michelle and I had made plans to have lunch together before we both left for our respective spring break destinations, hers being home and mine being the mountains. We had some excellent Quizo's, after which she helped me load my car. Not one to be outdone, I then helped her load her car. We had some time to spare, so we walked over to Starbucks in the Garage Mahal and I had my first ever Izze (ih-zee) fruit drink. Very tasty.

So anyway, we walked back to where both of us were parked, said our goodbyes and left for wherever it is the roads were meant to take us. I was supposed to stop in Hinton for a game night with a bunch of people I haven't seen in over a year (some of them longer), but when I got there Nate let me know that the game night had taken place the night before. This frustrated me greatly, as it added a very significant amount of time onto my trip, but in the end I wound up enjoying the night regardless. *shrugs* I dunno. I stayed on Nate's couch and slept better than I have in weeks, knowing that soon I would be Pagosa-bound.

And I was right. The next morning I woke up at 7:45 and talked to Nate's dad about the remodeling job they're doing on their house. After about ten minutes of this, I decided it was time to go; so I made some hot tea (at Mark's invitation), fixed myself up a bit, and I was on the road by 8:30am central standard time.

I was making some seriously good time, having only stopped once in between Hinton and Amarillo and showing no signs of needing to stop until New Mexico, when on the outskirts of Amarillo I passed Daniel Cook, fellow snowboarder and Baylor student. I knew Daniel was also bound for Wolf Creek. I waved to acknowledge the significance and coincedence of the situation, then promptly sped away towards my goal.

In about five minutes, he called and asked if I was stopping anywhere anytime soon, and I figured I might as well stop and say hello if they were stopping soon. Long story short, I ended up joining their caravan and taking on one of their passengers for the rest of the trip. 'Twas a fun trip, but I'm not a very chatty person when I drive, so I'm sure my passenger thought I was some kind of non-talkative creep or something. We got into Pagosa Springs around about 7:00 mountain time. Dang good time, if you ask me, and since you're reading this blog I highly suspect you might have asked me. Don't question me; I make the rules here.

Juan's Mountain Sports opened at 7:30 this morning, walked in, rented some boots, and headed for the mountain. I got in about four or five really great runs before I ran into the Chaloner family at the bottom of the lift. I spent the better part of the day alternating between running with them and breaking off by myself into the trees or just moving at a really fast pace. However, my poor, weak, out of shape body was not prepared for such a thing and now my legs are incredibly sore. Ow. I only went until 3:45 today, since this was my first day back and I've got four more. Don't want to wear myself out needlessly, because that would suck.

So I came back down the mountain, changed clothes, went back to Juan's to buy socks (yes... socks), and then sat outside of this internet cafe in order to hijack their wireless internet connection, which was easy because they seem to not mind people doing that.

So I don't take very many pictures when I go on trips, but regardless here's a link to a page I had iPhoto make for me because I am lazy. They are, for some reason, in reverse chronological order.

Link:
Trip Photos