Skiing Keystone

 The Monday after Christmas, I had a holiday and the boys' school was open so Keith took a vacation day and we headed West to Keystone to ski.  It was the first time we have left the boys at school to ski.  It can be nerve racking because the traffic and weather is never predictable.  When Oliver was 10 weeks old, I got stranded in the mountains with Jen when I-70 closed for the night due to poor weather conditions.  On December 27, 2010, the skies were sunny and there were no storms in sight so we dropped the boys off at school and hit the highway.

The drive should have taken less than 1 1/2 hours, nearly three hours in, we weren't even to the Eisenhower tunnel yet.  So, we took pictures.

 At least it was a freeway parking spot with a view.

 As we neared Loveland pass, we opted to drive on the shoulder, pass the freeway parking lot and take the pass over to Keystone instead of the freeway.  (We had heard there were multiple accidents west of the tunnel causing traffic to be at a stop)

Here are a few photos of the continental divide over the Loveland pass

 We finally made it to the slopes!!

The snow was plentiful and perfect.  We may not have received snow in Denver yet, but the mountains have been measuring it in feet instead of inches.

This is how I really felt.  WAHOO!!!!  It had been a long two years since I had strapped on my skis.  Since I was pregnant last year, the only sight of skiing I had was from the base of Beaver Creek when we went up with the Stack family.

Keith had the camera (can you tell).

Here I am, fixing my boot.  Ski boots are not known for comfort, and it can take a while to get them just right.  Good fitting boots is also a key to a good day on the slopes. 

 Self portrait at the top of the mountain.

 A nice guy offered to take our photo.  Ahh.. thanks nice guy!

Wahoo!!!  What a great day!!

Yes, we were this happy and having this much fun.  Of course, looking back at this photo it looks like I was about to fall over.  I also see there is evidence that I was, once again, fixing my boot.  After five fixes, they were perfect and I was skiing like I didn't really take an entire season off to have a baby.

 It was an amazing beautiful and perfect day.

We even post-poned lunch, to get in as many runs as possible.  For those that know me, you know that I rarely (if ever) push out lunch when skiing.  Being properly fueled is a big part of a good ski day for me.  That should go to show how much pure joy and fun we were having.  It was the best day we have had skiing (snowboarding) in a very long time.

Our lunch of choice, nachos and beer at Kickapoo.  SO YUMMY!

With the gorgeous weather, and crowded inside area, we opted for the deck, 

 where we took more photos.

Cheers to a great day on the slopes, beautiful weather, amazing snow and perfect company.

(and cheers to Wanda's birthday, too) 

 Mmmm  Beer 

(Coors Light, of course)

Thanks for a great day, Keystone.  We hope to see you (or one of your sister slopes) again really soon! 

In case you're wondering, we made it home in no time.  We even had time to stop and home and unload the car and all of the evidence that we had been out having fun in the snow.  Oliver's getting quick these days.