Steamboat

Steamboat Springs is an affluent looking town with wonderful natural features. It rests on the flanks of the wide bowl of the Yampa River Valley with mountains ringing it. Yesterday we drove up to Strawberry Hot Springs, one of the many hot springs in the area but the one that is most loved for its “natural” character. It was indeed wonderful but it was also treacherous in the dark as the ice and slime and lack of amenities, such as lights and rails, made it a good place to break your neck. I am happy to report nothing like that happened until the VV got stuck in the unplowed lot and M had to shovel it out while I got frozen to a nub. After that we had trouble finding a place to park for the night and the night was bitterly cold. It wasn’t easy but it wasn’t so awful either. We survived under big sleeping bags with both heaters going.
Today was mostly sunny with clouds racing overhead. We drove up to Rabbit Ears Pass, about seven miles back the way we’d come on our way into town during the storm yesterday. We skied a big gorgeous elevation filled loop. I determined that I would write a book (not) on “The First Whine.” There is always a whine waiting. It might be from being short of breath or cold or too hot or exhausted. Once it starts it is a big distraction but if you just listen to it and balance appeasement with redirection, like it is your toddler brain, it integrates pretty well and then you can just enjoy the physicality of skiing on terrain. That is, if you have a strong skier ahead of you waiting for you to get your butt in gear.
The Whiner and I got along pretty well until the last little bit when I went beetle with-its-legs-in-the-air without the capacity to coordinate one more muscle.
Oh well, whose whiner can complain from the picture window of the town library looking out on a gorgeous Colorado sunset?