Monday, October 06, 2008

Nothing Golden Can Stay - The Changing Seasons in Breckenridge




Our cycling lifestyle takes us to some wonderful places - places that we might not otherwise take time to visit. This weekend it took us to Breckenridge, a ski town in Colorado. Some friends of ours, Mark and Maria, have a lovely weekend home right on the ski slope. You can walk out of their garage and ski down to the lift. When you are done you can ski right into the garage. However, it is mud season and we were not there to ski. Instead, we were there to race. We knew it would be nice, but I don't think I expected it to be as wonderful as it is.

We arrived on Friday evening. Maria's brother, Peter (who lives there part time) greeted us and showed us the ropes. After settling in Ethan and I enjoyed the evening by taking a soak in the hot tube. The next day we spent the morning doing our own things. The boys took in the outdoor scene while Ellie and I shopped. There is a factory outlet store for Coldwater Creek in nearby Silverthorn where I got three new skirts. I wish all of my clothes could come from there! We also enjoyed the beauty of the day. This is the perfect time to appreciate the golden, quaking Aspen trees as their leaves go from green to gold to red. They are breath-takingly stunning. The trees alone made the trip worth the drive.



Saturday afternoon the kids raced. It was not a great day for Ethan. He had hurt the fleshy part of his thumb earlier in the day, so it was hurting. He also forgot his shoes. He was thinking he would not race and changed his mind right before it started. Then, during the race he came over to talk to us, Coach Bill sent him back out to finish, which he did. In the end he was disqualified. It was a bummer, but not big surprise. It made him mad. But, what can you do? He should not have left the course.


Ellie's race went a bit better, though she took a spill. She came in second place and dirty. By the time she raced her brother was out of his funk and able to cheer for her.





The next day we mostly cocooned (rested) and watch shameful amounts of cable t.v. It was fun. Too much fun and the reason we don't have cable at home. Ellie had hoped to wake up and find snow. It would have been magical. But, it was not even very cold. Throughout the morning the weather would alternate between rain, and the hail-like hard snowy bits. Just before the time for their race came it finally began to snow. This made Ellie happy. The worse the weather, the better she likes the racing. Ethan was feeling poorly and did not want to race. It was odd only supporting one of the children. Still, he cheered for here again, braving the chunky, cold and wet snowfall. Ellie came in third. She was worried about crashing and had her feet off of the pedals often. Several others had crashed the day before, so her fears were reasonable. Even though it was cold, we did love the snow. It seemed right to end out stay in a ski town by passing by snow covered trees. Just before we left we visited a Starbuck's in a house and a lovely little quilt shop. I got some fun fabric, but I will save that story for another day.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

im here because of few cents for you. just dropping by.