Post Trip Summary

I made it to Seattle! Yay!

I would like to thank everybody who made my trip possible. Andres, Triina, Matt, Ben, Brret, Benton, Briana, Kyle, Alex, Sam, hippies, Wyoming locals, etc.

A special thanks to Grant for being my partner in crime and mountain guide.

It was an epic trip and one that really gave me the adventure and relaxation that I needed after such a hectic December of packing, moving, studying, working, and saying goodbye.

I did learn a few things. Saying goodbye is hard, no matter what the situation. Keeping busy is the best medicine. I also learned that I love skiing more than I remembered and that I really really needed that break. I think Benton and Briana have the best idea of taking a season off every now and then to just ski full time.

For the remainder, they say that time can heal most anything. I will be giving that a go with Seattle; all shiney and new with fresh possibilities. I'm super excited but prone to complaining, so I need to just chill and take things in stride. I know there will be adjustments to be made (like dealing with city parking), and making new friends, but the best thing I found out is that I already have great people in my life, even if they are far away.

Day 17: The Final Leg or How I Purchased Studded Tires

The final leg of my trip started off just fine. The roads were in decent condition, a bit more windy than I would have liked, which annoyed Mr. Toad, who on the smooth well rounded hills really wanted to let it rip and enjoy the final day of driving.

The sun started to shine as I transitioned from the small mountains of Oregon into the more gentle hills that are the high desert area of the tri-cities Kennewick, Richmond, and Pasco. This is Matt Dina’s old home and I thought about calling him to see if he knew of a good place for lunch. Then I saw that the clock was still before noon and that as new member of the state of Washington, perhaps I should instead get myself a chai tea latte and coffee cake at Starbucks and save lunch for when I was more hungry, perhaps Yakima or after.

I still hadn’t seen a visitor center, which I intended to completely load up on just about all the information about outdoor/adventure activities as well as winery info as I could carry. I had thoroughly enjoyed my ‘texas bucketlist’ and thought I should do something similar for Washington. I didn’t want to go back to the life of sitting around the house watching tv and doing homework/studying as I had for the 3 years I had lived with Gareth. I figured when I had the chance, I would go through the material and figure out my top things I wanted to do. Not so much a formal bucketlist, but more of a ‘things to do’ list.

I finally found one in Yakima, the 2/3^rd way point on my trip. I got an enormous gift bag of swag, heavily on the Yakima region and the winery region, but a good selection all the same. As I left the visitor center I didn’t notice anything wrong with the car. I did however notice quite the loud repetitive thumping noise as I entered the freeway. It seemed pretty weird, but quieted as I went faster. I turned off my Julia Child memories from France audio book and listened to the car. I decided something was definitely not ok and I pulled off the freeway at the next exit.

I found a closed fruit stand and pulled over. I inspected the tires and found the left back was definitely fully destroyed. I called AAA and started unloading the trunk to get out my donut.

The tow-truck came 20 minutes and 3 hot helpful guys later. I asked about the 55mph rule on the donut. He confirmed. I would have to drive very very slow. I took a look at Mr. Toad, who was very dismayed at the prognosis and asked if he knew of a tire place. I figured we might as well get a new tire now rather than drive over the pass in an inadequate donut.

I stopped at Les Schuab tire place and got a set of new studded tires and continued on my way. I was several hours behind schedule and would now have to go through the pass at night and through the slush storm that was going on.

It was a terrible remaining drive the closer I got to the pass and to Seattle. The final 2 hours turned into 4 and I was hungry since I had missed lunch and it was now passing dinner. When I finally made it to my corporate housing I was exhausted and ready for bed. I emptied the car and figured out dinner.

The concierge (Yes, my corporate housing is so fancy I have a 24 hour concierge) said the pizza place down the block was amazing and would deliver directly to my apt door (no need to go downstairs to pick it up). I ordered a margarita pizza and admired my temporary new digs. The corporate housing was beautifully furnished and completely hooked up. I had flatscreen tvs with cable and internet in both the living and bedroom, a good sized kitchen, and a lovely office that was now my ski den.

In 15 minutes dinner arrived promptly and I enjoyed the remainder of the evening with cable tv and the most glorious margarita pizza ever. I finally relaxed and thought, life is good.

Day 16: On the Road Again

After being well rested, well fed from my free breakfast, and feelin’ good I took off bright and early. It was another bluebird day sunny and crisp outside with the snow sparkling and mountains you could see forever from. I was sad to leave Wyoming and the last decent steak I figured I would have for a long time. I think I had gained at least 7 pounds on this trip due to my gorging on red meat and game.

Leaving Wyoming for Idaho and then Oregon, it was beautiful to see the mountains change in shape and type. Tall craggy ones in Wyoming, to generally more rounded and less defined. After a while, the snow disappeared and then reappeared as I went between ranges.

About Twin Falls I ran out of audio books. The last one I listened to was, “Shit My Dad Says”, which parts of are laugh out loud funny! Other parts are amusing stories and antedotes and a few heart warming moments. I highly recommend the book or audio book. In Boise I stopped at a borders and got two final audio books, “Earth (The book): A Visitor’s guide to the Human Race” by Jon Stewart and “My Life in France” by Julia Child. I started off with Jon Stewart and his Daily Show gang. It was somewhat humorous and kept me going till it was time to stop.

I made it as far as Baker City, Oregon before it started getting dark and snowing and I decided to call it a night. It was a long day of driving that went by fast with the great scenery and entertaining stories. I was glad to stop for the night and prepare for the big day; seeing my new home.

Day 15: This is what Contingency Days are For

I had decided that despite everyone’s recommendation, I should probably start getting closer to Seattle to make the final were days easier. There was only one problem and there is no other way to put this, so I will be straight up. When I woke up I was horribly hung over.This was no good since I needed to check out by noon. Me, my luggage, and the room went to war. It took me the final 2 hours (with multiple nap breaks) to pack and get it loaded in the car.

From there I went straight to The Bunnery since I knew they served eggs and bacon all day long. I got an enormous bacon and tomato omelette with hashbrowns and toast and OJ and a large chai tea latte. An hour later, I was at least starting to feel better. Not good enough to want to drive for 5 hours, but good enough to do something in town.

Clearly I should take an elk sleigh ride at the National Elk Refuge. This was an excellent idea. I got my snowpants on and just chilled till it was time to go.

The elk tour was pretty cool. We had these enormous horses pull the sleigh up to a group of grazing elk and the guide talked and we took pictures. As long as you stayed in the sleigh they were cool with you being there. It was worth the $18 for the tour.

Next I went to the National Wildlife Art Museum, where I learned the history of how wildlife was view by the art world over history. It was pretty fascinating. (Spoiler alter: its pretty much how history viewed nature. If you’d like to read more on that subject I recommend the book, “Wilderness and the American Mind”). I stayed at the museum till close, which was 5pm and I was feeling quite cultured and a lot better. Clearly, I wasn’t going to Sun Valley that day.

I checked into a different hotel, the Parkway Inn, who was running a sale on Orbitz and had a nicer hot tub and pool. I went and had a great meal at the Snake River Grill who had a Wild Boar with apples and chanterelle special for the evening. It was ridiculously good. After that, it was hot tub and bed.

I was only slightly bummed that I missed out on going to Sun Valley, but I think I needed another day in Jackson Hole. There is so much to do there, that it was nice to just play tourist as well as giving my body another day off from skiing. In the end, this is exactly what contingency days are for.

Day 14: Hot Springs in the GTNP

The next morning, at 5am we got up and I brought Grant to the JH airport, then drove back and went promptly back to bed.

Hours later, I woke up to a bluebird sunshiny day. All rested up I went for a relaxing breakfast at the local bakery, The Bunnery. I read the paper and tried to decide what to do with my day. At the bar the night prior, I had heard about a hot springs that you could cross-country ski to and that sounded like a pretty good day. I decided to walk to the local cross-country ski store, Skinny Skis to get their opinion on the distance.

Inside, they were incredibly helpful and told me that the ski was pretty easy, but incredibly long and at this point in the day, I should have already left. Oops. They then recommended that I try a different ski to Huckleberry Hot Spring up in the Grand Teton National Park, which was much shorter and easy to get to. Grant had left me his park pass, so that I could drive to Big Sky through GTNP and Yellowstone NP so I was all set.

I drove the hour it took to get up there and put on my sweet new gloves I had bought at the Skinny Ski shop and headed out.

I met a few hikers on the trail who were just coming back and I got the DL on the springs. It turns out that there are several hot springs, not a single pool, so if one was full, just continue on the trail and there will be another one. I took the advice a skied on.

I got to the first set of pools and a group of college aged girls were getting up the courage to go in the first pool and a lone random dude was in the deeper pool. The vegetation levels in the pools that the sandwich guy I had spoke to about the springs as he made my to-go sammy were pretty high. This was apparently normal, which is why he liked to only go at night. I decided to move and find another set of pools.

On the way to the next set all of a sudden I looked up and there in front of me was a mamma moose and her calf. In my admiration of all the beauty around me, I had skied right up to them. I stopped. We stared at each other. I said, “Hi”. We stared some more as I took off my backpack and tried to find my phone to take a picture. I wasn’t really afraid, just calm. I knew I couldn’t out ski a moose, so I figured I’d just chill till she decided things were cool. A few moments later, she started to walk toward a tasty tree and start eating. I wasn’t a threat. Yay! I started skiing again.

When I told Grant the story later, he said I was lucky I was so small and non-threatening.

The next set of pools had a group of local ladies who were just chilling and drinking wine; and they invited me to join them as they were in a pretty large pool. The pool was located at the top of a series of waterfall pools and looked over the mountains toward where the sun was a few hours away from setting. It was too good of an offer to refuse.

The three girls were all good friends who hadn’t seen each other in a long time and were having a bit of a reunion. We all laughed and talked about different things and enjoyed the cold wine that the snow kept chilled. We stayed until the sunset over the Teton Mountain Range, then it was time to go.

I skied back and went about finding me some dinner to feed the appetite I had worked up. I decided on the Silver Dollar Bar and Grill where I had some of their famous corn chowder, a salad, and New York gorgonzola linguine. It was all so crazy good. I figured I should eat all the beef/game I could since in Seattle I doubted I would get anything that good for a long time (as far as red meat goes).

Afterwards I decided to get dessert in the bar where I chatted up the bartender and my waiter when he got off. We discussed the merits of me leaving Jackson and moving on to Big Sky in Montana or Sun Valley in Idaho. They suggested neither since the snow was so much better in JH than anywhere else right then. I ended up closing down the bar with my new friends and then heading home. Yet another good day!

Day 13: Grant’s Happy Place

Everybody has one or two places that make them really truly happy. Grant’s two places are Whistler and Jackson Hole. The whole ride up the day before, he chatted in an animated manner and his whole face lit up whenever he spoke of it. You could just tell it was his happy place. And he was so excited to show me his favorite mountain.

The next morning we peaked outside the window and discovered that the snow someone had promised at the bar had not fallen. So we rolled over and went back to sleep, we were in no hurry. After an additional hour, it was finally time. Grant also knew of a great shack-on-the-side-of-a-building momo/burrito place called D.O.G. (Down on Glen), that was the local’s favorite. You could get a giant egg, tots, sausage, salsa, and cheese burrito. It was delicious and way too big for one meal. Grant stuck the rest in his pocket for later, a very smart move since food on the hill is ridiculously expensive.

When we got there we headed up to check out the Mountaineering National Championships that had taken place that morning. Grant had competed in last year’s competition and wanted to see the last few competitors coming in. He pointed out the ultra lightweight Dynafit alpine touring gear and spandex just about everyone else had been sporting. Apparently he had raced in his everyday PBR skis and normal green outfit and was not nearly as serious as everyone else (as he pointed out that his time included a waffle stop during the course of the race).

After we got our passes we were lucky enough to get on the new tram that they had built in 2008 to replace the original that has stood since 1966. When they retired the old tram in 2006, I had wanted to go to Jackson Hole then and ride it on one of its farewell voyages, but alas, no one else wanted to go. Everyone was poor and just out of college.

The mountain was beautiful and I was excited to be going up. Grant has kept saying, once I saw the mountain in all its glory, I too would fall madly in love with it.

There were only two problems with that prediction. 1) It was weird misty weather, warm on the bottom, and fierce windstorm on top. No visibility past the immediate ridge. 2) I was tired. After 6 days of skiing hard (4 in a row, this being #5), my muscles were exhausted. Graduate school had done me a great disservice as far as being prepared for a ski trip. For the final month I had been so busy and over extended with school, work, and moving. I hadn’t had time to go running, just an occasional yoga class to keep things stretched out and my sanity. That day they had had enough and my body started to shut down.

Poor Grant had to deal with me skiing ridiculously poorly. In addition the lack of visibility, it was giving me vertigo, where I didn’t know if I was skiing or standing. At one point I told Grant to go off without me and leave me for a while at the Casper lodge, where I tried to load up on sugar and all the caffeine a hot chocolate would provide. It did not help. Finally after a few laps, Grant came in and had lunch. I slept at the table while he ate. It was sad, my body seemed to have rejected skiing for the day.

Magically at 2pm, something happened (sugar?) and my body suddenly woke up. Grant and I headed out to the Saratoga Bowl to find some good snow in the trees. It was far enough that the there was still soft snow, and low enough in elevation to be out of the clouds and out of the wind. It was perfect. Grant and I would bound down the mountain, him whooping and hollering in his happy place, and my legs finally working. We just about finished up all our remaining time on the mountain in that corner. I was finally awake and wished that we now had more time to ski.

We did one lift up to the gondola so I could get a better view before skiing down and with perfect timing catching the bus back to town. This time we made it to the Million Dollar Cowboy steak house in time to get the awesome burger&beer deal. Afterwards we headed back to the Snow King Resort to hot tub and for Grant to pack. Our time together was growing short as he had to fly home the next morning.

It was an imperfect day and one that I don’t consider as having given Jackson Hole a fair shake. A real Jackson Hole ski day will have to be saved for another day. I can only hope to have as great and patient of a guide as Grant again. I had a feeling when I am ready the mountain would be waiting and ready for me.

Day 12: Time to Head North

After the big party night in Park City and three great days of skiing, it was time for Grant and I to start heading north again. Well north and east. Next stop was Jackson, Wyoming.

Jackson Hole is a place I’d visited with my family when I was about 10 or 12 years old. Every year my family would load up all the kids into the mini van and we would see America. For two weeks we covered a different region of the country and my dad would drive and my mom would read. My father loves a good roadtrip, he isn’t happy unless we are driving and seeing the countryside go by. It’s a great way to see America, all its small towns and people. I think that is where I get my love of roadtrips.

That year we had done an out west tour of the Rocky Mountains. (We had seen a great play in town called, “You can’t take it with you”, check it out if you get the chance) The reputation of Jackson Hole was well known to me even at that tender age and my dad took me to see the mountain. It had a gondola and a 4 mile long run. 4 miles. That was like 100 miles to a 10 year old. I was so impressed by its size and beauty I vowed to come back and ski it one day. That day was approaching.

Both Grant and I were sore from skiing and the drive made us a more stiff than anything. We had found a deal on Orbitz at the Snow King resort. Originally we were supposed to couch surf with some of Grants friends, but the plans had fallen through. It was nice though to stay at a resort with their hot tub and free shuttle to the mountain and the fact we got a nice soft bed to sleep in and could throw our stuff all over the room (ok, ok, my stuff all over the room).

After we check in, we stretched out our legs with a surprise ski at Snow King Mountain. Since we were staying there, we got a free ticket for night skiing that evening and we needed it since we were so stiff from being cooped up in the car. It was a cute mountain, not many runs, and mainly for beginners/intermediates, but it was exactly what we needed. By the end of our 2 hours of skiing we were all warmed up.

After a quick shower and change, we went for a night on the town (transportation courtesy of the free city shuttle, woohoo!!!). Grant knew a place that had a $6 burger and a beer deal in the basement bar right on the square; that we discovered that we missed since it was no longer happy hour. We did however have a wonderful elk steak dinner though, which was incredibly delicious. I love to eat elk and make a point to eat it whenever I can. Afterwards we looked for a place with live music, which we were successful to find except that it was the worst music we had ever heard. The billboard had said R&B dance music, but it was straight up elevator music. They even played ‘My Sharona’. So bad.

Luckily we were able to get into the Million Dollar Cowboy Bar where they had both kinds of music, Country and Western being played by actually a pretty good band. I don’t care for the country music but I like live music. Grant and I had fun time attempting to two-step together, (if that is what you can call what we were doing). I enjoy a guy who will bring it to the dance floor even when neither of us know what we are doing

Day 11: Party in the Canyons and Park City

Our third straight ski day in Utah was to the Canyons, Utah’s largest resort and by far the most commercial. Going to the Canyons is like skiing in luxury. They have heated seats and orange bubble wind shields and a new Gondola and beach chairs and gourmet food, etc, etc, etc. You see people skiing in fancy non-ski brand clothing and donning furs. It was full up swanky.

Benton had a set of friends Alex and his gf Sam who had previously worked with him and Triina in Teullride, and was currently working and skiing at the Canyons. He was able to hook us all up with ticket deals and show us around the mountain

.

We had a pretty large group, 3 ladies (me, Briana, and Sam) and 4 dudes (Grant, Benton, Alex, and Kyle); one completely full gondola. Benton and Grant had loaded their coats and backpack with the couch surfing gifts we had brought (aka full-strength PBR) with the intention of doing a beer lift. This meant that the party started right at 10:30am.

I on the other hand, had an unsettled stomach from all the greasy food we had had the night prior and had to sit out the warm up round. I relaxed for a run in the warm morning sun and then was ready to go when everyone came down for the next lap.

The Canyons isn’t as challenging of a mountain area as all the ones we had skied earlier in the trip. This seemed to be a more up-scale family resort, so there were large sections of blue and green runs that the black diamonds would frequently meet up with. However for day 3 of Utah skiing, it was nice to have shorter difficult runs with less difficult areas to rest in before finding another black diamond run and continuing to the lift.

Everyone was in full ski party mode with the beers going fast and after lunch a resupply expedition had to be sent back to the car to restock. The sun had warmed the snow to ‘fat kid snow’ (snow that is so heavy, only the fat kids who have a lot of mass can go down fast) several mogul runs and I attempted to play ski instructor and try to give some pointers to the Sam and Briana since they were relatively new skiers and I was too tired and stomach weary to do the hike with the guys. Grant broke his pole on the bubble chair and went to the lodge to get a new one, so he missed out on the hike as well. Sam, Grant, and I finally met up for a final few runs before closing the day down and everyone returning to the base.

Note: When guys say they are doing a tree run, do not follow them. They are NOT doing a tree run. They are really just taking a leak by a tree. This is quite the disappointment when you follow them and expect there to be a great tree run with hidden powder. slightly annoying but moreover awkward. . . . . .

Since we were in Park City, the only ski town in Utah, the gang headed out for drinks and appetizers. We got a giant pot of fondue and whiskey drinks at the High West Distillery -the locally made whiskey and vodka saloon, which was once again swanky since the hostess hassled us about having to order food if we sat in the large room. That and they might be full up with reservations for the evening. This was ironic because the waitress explained to us how they had a special license that allowed them to only serve beverages if that is what patrons wanted. I’m pretty sure we were simply harassed because we all looked like ski bums and were not wearing dead animals on our coats. While the fondue was delicious, it was decided a more chill bar was more our style and we found a more accommodating place that had both pool and beverages. Note: as we left there were several empty tables around us. . . . so much for all those reservations they might have. . . .

The following bar was perfect. O’Shucks Bar and Grill was a dive bar complete with peanut shells you got to thrown on the floor. We dominated the pool table before

growing hungry and needing to get food at another bar. There we took over the pool and dart areas while everyone chowed down on burgers, wings, and pulled pork sandwiches and tried the Wasatch brewery’s selection of ales (including the favorite Polygamy Porter -Why have just one? Bring some home for the wives).

Everyone left satisfied and full and ready to sleep after a successful day of skiing. I believe everyone was tuckered in by 9pm. This is how most hardcore skiers judge a good day: Ski hard, party hard.

Day 10: Altahoics Anonymous

Around different ski areas across America, I had notice a peculiar sticker every now and then. It would pop up on cars and helmets and me not being from the west, it took a while to figure out. The sticker was finally explained to me by a fellow ski patroller in college; it was for people who had experienced the magic that is Alta. Apparently, if you went once, you were hooked for life.

After that point, I had made it a priority to learn more about this mythical ski hill. The words from everywhere were more than glowing. Between the terrain, snow conditions, and lack of crowds reported in the reviews; I had heard so many great things about the skiers-only resort of Alta, I knew that no matter what this was the one mountain I definitely had to do.

Alta is actually right next the Snowbird resort in the little cottonwood canyon just outside of SLC. Benton and Briana had decided to stay at Snowbird and let Grant and I go explore alone and we would all meet up at the end of the at the Alta Peruvian Lodge for a beverage in their bar that featured free appetizers at their après ski happy hour.

Grant and I road up the front facing lift to the top, admiring the extra sparkly snowflakes once again. We noted to each other all the good terrain and snow conditions along the way to the top that we wanted to hit up, but noted that the area seemed small and that is was good we were only spending a day there. We did a run down the West Rustler Bowl and headed back up and noticed this time that perhaps there were some other runs on the back of this mountain as a sign pointed out “To Sugarloaf”. We skied to the back only to have the back of the resort completely open up and reveal an addition 3 more areas to ski. More than tripling what we had seen in the front.

Grant and I did some exploring and found a steep canyon/gulch that created a natural half pipe and several hucking points that Grant and I absolutely loved (him hucking, me piping). In fact, we loved it so much that we did several laps discovering all the idiosyncrasies of the runs and hitting up all the interesting new parts that we would suddenly see. I love knowing a run. Really knowing it; all its bits and pieces and making it your own. It was hands down my favorite part of the day.

After we had gotten our fill, we headed over to farside of the mountain and up the Supreme lift to do the shoots that we had eyed from Sugarloaf. It was pretty late in the day so we were nervous that the lift would close before we made our way out there, but were stoked to find out that we had just squeaked in. The snow was in great condition since it had been warmed by the sun all afternoon and we had a great exploration run, a real one to be done again sometime on a future trip. Hopefully soon since I think I may have what the members of the Altaholics Anonymous have. . . . . .

We had a few more traverse runs as we made our way back to the front of the mountain and down toward the Peruvian lodge for free hot cookies before the bar opened. We found Benton and Briana and headed up for Utah-style beverages (aka, pretty weak due to their mormon drinking laws), we got our fill of poppers, wings, and shots.

The night ended back at basecamp with a Stolichnaya sponsored Girls vs Boys euchre tournament (that ended in a draw, which of course please everyone). Good times for sure.

Day 9: Bluebird Snowbird Day

The next morning we woke up early so we could take advantage of the free breakfast and make it out to our next basecamp so I could unload necessary items such as my violin and computers before we headed out for our first day of Utah skiing.

Our hosts for the next few days in Salt Lake City were my friend Benton, his girlfriend Briana, and her brother Kyle. Benton was another connection I had made during my time in Telluride last year and is a fantastic skier. We had had a great time skiing together in the past so I was super pumped to get to do so again in a new place, especially since SLC was his new hometown hill for the season.

Now Utah is said to have the greatest snow on earth. They are so confident in their claim that they actually put it on all their license plates. Even as you look at the snow driving o the mountain or off the chair, it has a beautiful sparkly characteristic that occurs from the flakes being so incredibly large. Neither Grant nor I had ever had the chance to ski out there to see if it the claim was true, so this day would be our special Utah cherry poppin’ day.

Benton and Briana are generally forest fire fighters and had taken the season off from work to take advantage of the half-off season pass special Snowbird has for our nation’s finest. They were experts on where all the good spots were at the resort and were great guides as they took us around the mountain.

We ended up skiing in the morning on the sunny side of the mountain: Mineral Basin. This was after I completed one of my life’s greatest goals, which was to ride one of those magic carpets that they have on the super beginner’s run. Except it was way cooler than I could have ever anticipated. The magic carpet went through a tunnel that they had blasted through the mountain. I was almost giddy with excitement as I road the magic carpet for the entire 4 minutes it took to get to the other side. Magic carpet on bucketlist. . . . check mark!

The rest of the day, after the sun had warmed up the snow on the front side, we went out and skied the Peruvian Gulch for several laps. I found some nice trees to duck into where I found some soft powder to go through. Trees + powder + my new skis made me one happy girl!

Afterward, we had a few après-ski beverages in the basement bar before heading home to make a delicious spaghetti dinner. It didn’t take long before everyone slipped blissfully into a ski-tired and bellyful-of-food coma for the night. I think we all dreamed happily about how great the day had been.

Day 8: Utah and Golden Retriever Mystery Skiers

After a solid day (and night) in Telluride, we slept in again, mainly because we had to wait till the Hop Garden opened since I had accidentally left my card in the bill holder. After re-accounting the night’s festivities and laughing, Ben sent us to try some of the best breakfast burritos in town at the Butcher and Baker Café. If you haven’t had a breakfast burrito with sausage, eggs, cheese, black beans, corn, sweet potato & salsa, you must try one. The sweet potato un-expectantly kicks it up a notch!

After retrieving my card and thanking Ben and Brr-ett for all their hospitality and good times (as well as Ben hooking me up with my new rockstars!), Grant and I had to move on to our next destination: Utah.

So at this point I should explain who Grant is and how he became the guest skier on the trip. On Cheryl’s Cowgirl Weekend, the ASTs of Houston and Orlando gathered together for a weekend of country fun. During the night we went to Rebel’s Honky-Tonk off Washington, we met a bunch of dancing fools who with complete careless abandon were ripping it up on the dance floor. Poorly. Extremely poorly. We were just out to have fun and were completely amused with the Elaine Bennett style dance that was exhibited by this group of guys. Between the dancing and the mechanical bull riding, Grant asked if he could take me to dinner. I warned him that I had school and was moving to Seattle in 3 weeks. He insisted on getting my number.

Fast forward several dinners and finding out the he was a crazy skier from Washington State, it was decided that he was coming skiing with me.

Now Grant is one of the happiest people I have ever met. He has an enthusiasm that is contagious and is constantly laughing and smiling. Even when skiing you can hear him through the woods whooping and hollering with joy as he bounds down the mountain. You just can’t help but get caught up in it. I told him he was like a big happy golden retriever and that I was going to refer to him as that. He even found that amusing.

As we drove from Telluride to Utah, Grant was super excited to show me Moab and Arches National Park where he had several great mt biking and camping excursions in the area. It was my first time out there and I was so excited to have such a fantastic guide.

We did a short hike and tried not to kill ourselves on the extremely icy trail and red rocks around sunset. As it was starting to get dark and late, we opted to get a hotel with a hot tub to make up for the fact that on the trip up from Taos to Telluride I didn’t get a chance to relax at the hot springs in Ouray.

Despite that it was only drive day with no skiing, it turned out to be a pretty great day :)

Day 7: Rockstar Skis and Elk Red Curry

After an exhaustive drive to Montrose for both Grant and I (him via Denver and skiing all day in Copper), we both needed to sleep in and get a good shower in before we started for the day.

We accepted that this was going to be a half-day ski day since I had some very important business to take care of and that was the business of picking up my new rockstar skis.

When I knew that I was moving to Seattle, I did what any proactive person would do. I bought a ski pass and started to look for new powder skis. I’d gotten a few recommendations online through friends and read reviews on different skis, but one stuck in my mind: The 2010 Rossignol Voodoo Pro BC 110. . . .

Ski magazine ranked it in the top 5 powder skis and gave the following review: “The men’s version, the S7, is reputed to be the most stolen ski at Snowbird, which tells you a lot about this cult favorite. The Pro BC has the same sidecut and construction—rockered at the tip and tail, traditional camber underfoot—but at a (slightly) saner width. The rocker makes it one of the easiest to smear through pow, but costs it edge-bite on hard snow. Powder chargers will love this ski. Just lock your ski rack. “I knew there were bumps underneath, but I just didn’t care,” said Loring.”

Other reviews such as Ski Diva and others favoring skiing in the Pacific Northwest had this ski as their big mountain powder ski of choice. I knew I just had to have it. There was just one problem. This ski had been so popular that everyone had sold out way before the ski season had ended and no one was getting rid of them since they loved them so much. I scowered the internet and even enlisted the help of some of my search-savvy friends. I even started calling resort ski shops as they opened for this season to see if they were selling last year’s demos. No luck. It was simply impossible to find.

That is until my friend Ben in Telluride gave me a magic phone call saying he knew a girl who was selling hers and they were the perfect size 166. The magic number I had been looking for.

In addition to finding me my perfect ski, Ben was a strong supporter my Epic Farewell to Texas Ski Trip and had offered to let Grant and I couch surf for the time we were in Telluride. We of course arrived with appropriate couch surfing currency (beer and wine) and we dropped off our stuff before heading up the mountain.

Grant went off to get in a few runs while I got the skis re-mounted and half an hour later I was ready to test those puppies out!

The skis are quite a bit longer than my all-mountain hard-pack skis (my beloved K2 Lotta Lovs), so the turning took a bit more to get used to. But when they hit the powder, that is when the Voodoos shone like a rockstar. They floated effortlessly in the few powder stashes we were able to find and the rocker took away the knee strain of doing powder in a traditionally cambered ski. I’m a total convert, rocker all the way!

We finished up our Telluride ski day with a nice short hike up toward the Palmyra Peak and skied down on La Rosa just short of the closed gate. I got a text message from Brr-ett, another friend I had met last year in Telluride saying to get to the Hop Garden for beer and apps.

We continued the fun back at Ben and Brr-ett’s apt while we waited for our dinner reservation time at my favorite restaurant in Telluride, the Thai place called Siam.

Triina and I last year had the most amazing Elk Red Curry and I had been thinking about it ever since I left Taos. Brr-ett’s girl friend joined us and we had an amazing family style dinner of assorted curries, noodles, and a bottle of Saki.

It was a near perfect day in Telluride: blue bird skies, great food, friends, sticks, and skiing. Who could ask for anything more?