My family decided that we wanted to celebrate the holiday over at my parents’ mountain home on the Western Slope. My sis and her boyfriend flew in from Hawaii and after a rousing night at the symphony, we all woke up bright and early yesterday. You see, there is *another* massive storm blowing into Colorado and we all wanted to conquer the 5-hour drive before the snow hit.
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| Between Christmas gifts, skiing, snowshoeing, and my Park City trip next week, there was barely room for Tals! |
I chose to drive solo so that Tals could sit in the front seat with me. Yes, this sounds absolutely ridiculous (and it is), but she is so much more behaved when she is in the front. She doesn’t whine, whimper, pace, or generally annoy me like she does when she is stuck in the backseat. I wasn’t sure how icy the roads would be, so I figured it would be worth my mental sanity to go a couple hours without any conversation. Besides, I had some wonderful audiobooks and spectacular views to keep me company!
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| Glenwood Canyon |
The roads weren’t too bad, and other than a mini-squall at the top of Vail Pass, I made it to the cabin safe and sound. I was ecstatic to see the beginnings of serious snow on top of the Grand Mesa!
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| In the dead of winter, those piles on the side of the road will be taller than my Pathfinder |
My parents have been in and out of their house all month, so they had already trekked up to the Mesa and chopped down a Christmas tree. There is an area that allows legal cutting so my parents paid the $8 for a permit, donned their snowshoes, and headed into the woods with a saw. Granted, when you self-cut trees, they aren’t quite as full as the ones that you’d purchase at a tree stand, but it’s cool… the experience is a lot better this way. Plus, they were able to find one tall enough for their massively vaulted ceilings. Score!
Even better? We’re gonna try this whole skiing thing again today! Powderhorn is within 20 minutes of their house and since none of us have ever skied there, we decided to give it a try. The best part is that my sister’s boyfriend is a native Hawaiian so he has never skied in his life. Obviously, my back can’t handle serious shredding right now, so I volunteered to put my instructor skills to good use. Mom and my sis are gonna do their skiing while I spend the morning working with Sang. I’ll probably take off around and lunch, but I may bring my snowshoes. How can I just pass up all this glorious snow?! Another 6-9″ of the fluffy stuff are supposed to fall between now and Christmas morning, so not only do we have fresh conditions for skiing AND shoeing, but we will also have a white Christmas. P-E-R-F-E-C-T.
Happy holidays to you and your family!
What’s your favorite holiday tradition?