A Telluride Weekend

With it being both (close to) Peg's birthday and a 4-day weekend for Chloe, we loaded up the car and traveled to the southwest part of the State, a part we've always wanted to check out since we moved out here as we had heard the San Juan Mountains were absolutely spectacular, and the skiing could be pretty good, too.  A trip to this part of the State is no small undertaking... we luckily had great driving conditions, and it still took us over 7 hours of moving time to get there.  We knew within moments of arriving, though, that those 7 hours in a car seat were well worth it (and he hadn't even put on our skis yet.)

I could sit here and give you a detailed day-by-day recap, but each day was pretty much the same:  wake up, eat breakfast, take the funicular down to the slopes, ski until the lifts close, grab a drink and/or bite to eat, head back to the condo and its hot tub, then either eat dinner in or go out.  Sure, there are subtle differences on some days, but that was basically the (glorious) routine.  We had 2 perfect days of skiing weather-wise on Saturday and Monday (with the latter being a blue bird day), whereas the weather on Sunday was cold and windy -- highs in the low 20s and 25+ mph winds.  The warming huts were very popular that day, and the gloves stayed on a lot that day, too, so few pictures were taken.

We didn't stay in the town of Telluride itself, rather, in the nearby Mountain Village (the newer part of the ski area) with it's often-times huge single family homes, and larger hotels and condo complexes.  The two areas, though, are connected by a free, public gondola system that allowed us to get into town in about 20 minutes time without having to get in our car or worry about parking.

And last, but not least, HAPPY 29TH PEGGY!

Here's a slideshow of pictures from the weekend.

Here's another cool picture I found while writing this post and researching some of the details of the town, mountain, etc.  It annotates the visible peaks and their elevations.  (Click on the image to enlarge/magnify it.)  It was taken near the same spot where Chloe and I had our picture taken atop Chair 14.

Going GaGa

It took several weeks for me to get around to this one, but here's a video clip of Chloe's recent performance at her school's talent show.

What Did I Get Myself Into?

Stepping out of my comfort zone, I just registered for a Tough Mudder event here in Colorado in June.  Basically it's a 10-ish mile run through the woods that requires navigating several obstacles, designed by British Special Forces.  The proceeds from the event benefits the Wounded Warriors Project, a nonprofit that provides programs and services to injured service members.

If you would like to donate, click on the picture below... thanks!

Girl. Friend.

And Valentine.

The Face Looks Familiar...

I recently received an email from a nonprofit that we help out on occasion.  It's the one where Chloe and I get our hair cut short (Chloe) or shaved off completely (me) to raise funds for families in medical crises.  In this email was a promotional flier for this year's event, and one of the photos caught my eye...

Unfortunately, it looks like Chloe and I won't be participating in this years event.  But if you're still interested in making a donation, follow this link.

31" + 48 hours = Smiles

Skiing at the local mountain today and there is gobs of snow... and many happy skiers (Peggy included)