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March 21st 2007

Published: March 21st 2007

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MandyT

Vail Village

You can see some of the small ski runs (that I did not use) in the backround.

I've been blaming Colorado for the Badgers' untimely loss, but I'll admit that is entirely unfair. In reality, it's been fantastic here. The weather has even been in the 70's some days. That's bad for the skiers and resorts, but good for me. Yes, I haven't attempted to ski. And before I get any hate mail for it, I'll calmly rationalize why: 1) It's too warm, causing the snow to melt and ice over. It would hurt when I inevitably fell. 2) It's expensive and I'm unemployed. 3) I don't want to break a leg. 4) I just don't have much interest. Sorry.
I have watched some strangers ski though - even probable 3 year olds. They're all fools.

Vail itself is very nice and very elite. I thought it might be fun to drop the rest of my cash on an expensive fur, but didn't think my family would find it as amusing. Not too far from Vail there is another ski village called Beaver Creek that is even more exclusive. You have to go through a security gate and promise not to go on any residential roads just to look around. Perfectly understandable that people not have

Beaver Creek Village

Beaver Creek had an ice rink, but it was so warm that it was soup.

to look at plebians.

I had to get fitted for my bridesmaid dress, so on Sunday the three of us turned it into a side trip to Denver. We had lunch and watched the Badgers downtown at the 16th St Mall, which is very similar to Madison's State Street, but not quite as cool. Unfortunately that was the loss, so we finished checking out downtown while sulking. Maybe that's why I don't think it's as cool. Then we headed out of the city to the famed Red Rocks Ampitheater. It's by far the most unique music venue I've ever seen. Apparentally the natural accoustics are so good, that many acts record live albums there. Just across the road from Red Rocks is Dinosaur Ridge. There are dinosaur footprints and actual bones. Some of the footprints are perfectly clear as seen in the pictures. The Brontosaurus footprints were simply large bulges in the layers of the rock. Erica doesn't believe they were actually footprints. There were also unexcavated Brontosaurus bones. I think we were all expecting to see perfect outlines of giant leg bones ala The Flintstones. Obviously, that wasn't the case and the bones were just darker segments of

Skiers

Fools at Beaver Creek.

rocks. They weren't in any order and it was virtually impossible to tell what was what. Still if you really thought about what you were looking at, it was amazing. In the morning we took the Coors Brewery Tour. I was at once disturbed that I found myself interested in the manufacturing process and logistics of the place. I guess I'm not completely unengineered yet.

John and Erica had to work yesterday, so I took the opportunity to drive up to Rocky Mountain National Park. Even though much of the park was inaccessible because of the season, it was truly spectacular. I can't imagine what it's like in the summer. I couldn't do much hiking without snowshoes or skis, but I did manage to hike up to a small waterfall. The park is known for wildlife watching, but I saw nothing. That is, until I was heading home on the interestate and saw a small pack of mountain goats happily grazing while traffic whizzed by. Ironic, I guess.

So, this is the end of this leg of my journey. I head out today with my first stop planned at Arches National Park in Utah. Colorado's been beautiful and

Grilling Out

Erica christening my new grill. The weather was so great we couldn't help but grill out.

it's been great fun just hanging out with Erica and John. We've watched a lot of basketball, attempted tarot readings, played Scrabble (I declare myself champion, we know the first game didn't count), and watched bad tv (Dancing With the Stars?). Thanks for the hospitality guys; it was sweet as.

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