Wednesday, March 21, 2007

The Conclusion of the Spring Break Saga

Where I last left off, Änna was still holding that tarantula... Sorry to leave you in that situation, honey. But from the jungle (it was really sticky in the Pavilion) to the snow covered mountains - our story continues at the Eldora Nordic Center.

What I really found incredible about Boulder was how quickly we could go from walking down Pearl St. or The Hill (in a t-shirt and shorts, temps in the 70s), to clamoring up the side of a mountain, or even to skiing on well maintained, completely covered cross country trails. We did something like this every day, and because it never took more than a couple of hours to hike a nearby mountain, or to ski at Eldora, we would get back and still have half a day to go find something else to do.

Tuesday afternoon's skiing was excellent. And even though our skis weren't waxed quite right (hard to do for 40-50º weather and 30-40º snow...) it was still pretty amazing to be skiing in only tshirts with views of the mountains all around us. I could get used to that. Oh, and a crazy side-note... Änna and I were heading back to the car when who do we run into on the trail? Laura Hannah! Laura was a friend of mine from high school who I'd recently heard was living in Boulder and dating one of the Johnny Bravo guys...
I introduce my wife... "Wife?!" says Laura... and then she asks, "Do you know a guy named Pokey?" To which we both laugh and explain our connection to Katy and Pokey (Dan).
It's a small, small world.

The rest of the week, in brief:
Dinner Tuesday gave Änna her first Fondue, and we either met up with Katy and Dan for pool, or went over to their place to hang out... my nights are getting confused now. Hot tubbing happened one of these nights as well... Wednesday started with a relaxing morning, followed by a run that turned into a hike (we ran a mile and found ourselves at the foot of a mountain, so we went up), finished by a dramatic dinner at the Tea House (made dramatic by the frat boy and sorority girl who drunkenly broke up, and even more drunkenly got back together, all in the first 45 minutes of our dinner...). I also had a first, sending back my very well done ribs for a fresher rack. Thursday we almost didn't go back to Eldora (the plan was to ski) because it was raining in town, only to drive up and find a sunny mountain top waiting for us. How nice! My wallet was accidentally stolen by some geezer skiers who took home the wrong shoes (?!) and there was a couple of hours where we didn't know how easy it would be for me to buy drinks (or anything), let alone fly home in 2 days (although it turns out that wouldn't have been a problem either... I'll explain later.) Thursday night we postponed our dinner until 10pm to take part in Hapa Sushi's happy hour. I think we got the most sushi I've ever seen a table of five get... and we finished all of what could have been 100+ pieces. (FYI - Dan can really put away the sushi after a workout! Dang.) Friday turned into much the same kind of day as Wednesday, more chillin' and more hiking (this hike was cooler than Wednesday's, although we had to drive a whole 5 minutes to get to the base...). We finished the day with a nice Mediterranean dinner, and we said our goodbyes back at our hotel after trying to watch Running with Scissors on pay per view... I should say right now, things started to get weird at the end of our trip... maybe just a sign that it was time to go home....

For instance:
1. Thursday - The wallet/shoe dilemma.
2. Friday - We couldn't figure out the bill at the restaurant.
3. Friday - The $13 pay-per-view movie's sound was all messed up.
4. Saturday - We wake up with 2 messages. The first is that, although our waitress said it was IMPOSSIBLE, we have been double charged for our meal Friday.
5. Saturday - The other message says that our flight that was supposed to take off in 3 hours has been canceled due to weather out east and we will not be able to leave until Monday afternoon...

Saturday - we rent a car (our hotel lobby happens to house a Budget car rental desk - furthermore, the guy tells us that a car came in from Montana that we will be allowed to take one-way to Minnesota) and drive home.

In spite of the inconveniences at the end of or trip (and even those were fairly entertaining), we had an awesome time. Who knows, in 2 years maybe Änna will land some job at a firm out west and we'll have to move out there... I wouldn't be complaining very loudly. :)

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