January24-31, 2002
Breckenridge Blue Runs
This trip planning began in October to go with the NASA Ski Club on its annual trip. It took a lot of convincing but we finally got Yvette to agree to come along with our grandson Stephen. This would be Yvette's first nights away from Bodie since his accident almost three years ago.
Early on Thursday January 24 the four of us headed over to the Orlando airport where Yvonne and Steve would catch a roundabout flight to Denver at 0720 via Chicago since the loads looked best for us using our standby tickets. Yvette and Stephen had paid ticket direct to Denver at about 0900. They arrived about thirty minutes before us and after gathering all of the baggage we got in our AVIS van and headed for Breckenridge on a beautiful sunny day
A fter fumbling around a bit trying to find the Village at Breckenridge we got checked in and got lift tickets for Yvette and Stephen and their rental gear.
We all had the usual lousy first night of sleep but were very ready to hit the slopes when the lifts opened at 0830. After a couple of beginner runs to remind Yvette how to ski, she said she was ready for some intermediate runs. She chose the run and couldn't have made a worse choice. She chose Volunteer because on the trail map it looked like the easiest route. In fact it was steep and rather difficult. It scared Yvette out of her reasoning powers and we had some difficulty getting her down the hill. Unfortunately this scared her off of the blues and she honed her skills on green runs all week. She really skies excellently so that was a shame because she could have handled most of the intermediate runs.
Yvonne really skied well and has lost almost all of her fear of steep hills. She willingly went down the steepest blue runs which there they designate blue-black, and skied down a great expert run called Cimarron over on Peak 10. The resort covers three mountains, Peak 8, 9 and 10 and we skied the heck out of all of them. I enjoyed Peak 10 the most because of the long steep expert runs which were smooth so they skied easy. Yvonne liked Briar Rose on Peak 9 the best which was a pleasant gladed blue run. Stephen (10) liked anything with moguls and at one stretch did six expert (black) mogul runs in a row! He really skis well and at one point got a standing ovation from a bunch of strangers who watched him come down a steep mogul run. He also started showing signs of knowledge of the mountain this year and was eager to explore by himself a bit.
On Saturday the rest of the NASA group arrived including our friends John and Melinda Tribe. Also my nephew Dan Coester and his kids, Christine and Alexander came in. I've been skiing with Dan each year in Salt Lake City for about four years so he decided to join us in Colorado for a change of scenery. This was Alexander's (6) first time and he did great after a couple of days of ski school. Christine (13)continued to improve her already excellent skills. Dan is a fine expert skier and he and Stephen tore up the mountain looking for the hardest ways down.
It was great having the Tribes and the relatives there and we were able to share moments on the hill and meals with all of them. The time went too fast and I'd have liked to have had more time to ski and play with each of them.
Coming home was an adventure. After a pretty sunny week, it finally snowed the day before we were to leave and got -11 F cold. We pulled out at 0500 for the drive back to Denver on snow covered icey roads and poor visibility. It was white knuckle driving for this flatlander, but somehow we made it back to the airport. It took us 2 1/2 hours to get through checkin and security. They really need to fix this if they expect people to fly. One 90 year old lady in a wheelchair was virtually strip searched because she triggered the metal alarm. For us standby passengers all of our luggage has to be individually searched because they can't be sure we'll end up on the same plane as our luggage. That adds time also. We were trying to get on the same flight as Stephen and Yvette and finally they called Yvonne and me up and told us we had the last two seats on the plane. We were just boarding when they took my ticket away for some late paying customer. The three of them left me standing miserably at the desk. I ran down to a Chicago flight and made it and then a flight from Chicago to Orlando so all worked out okay, but I did have to pay $80 for a taxi home from the airport.
It was a fun trip, a great escape for Yvette, a joy to see Stephen's progression, and a fine time with friends and family.