On December 13, I flew to Denver, where we rented a two bedroom condo in the mountains. Julia picked me up at the airport and graciously lent us her Jeep for the three week. The condo was in Dillon, which is in Summit County and close to four ski resorts: Keystone, Copper, Breckenridge, A-Basin, with Vail and Beaver Creek less than one hour away. I spent the first few days getting acclimated and spiffing up the condo to look more Christmas-y. I bought my first fake Christmas tree ever, but it was pre-lit and I assembled it in less time than it took to wrestle it out of the box! Julia came up the following weekend, but could only stay one night as her choir, Kantorei, had concerts both Saturday and Sunday nights. Slowly, the family trickled in for Christmas.
Gerhard flew in from Singapore on Friday and got really, really lucky: his flight was one of the first to land at Denver airport after it reopened due to the blizzard. Julia's boyfriend wasn't so lucky: he was told he could only get a confirmed reservation for Tuesday AFTER Christmas! Instead of being stranded in Orange County, he flew to Phoenix, made his way up to Flagstaff and joined David, his friend Krista, and dog, Charlie, for the 10 hour drive to Dillon. They arrived a bit ahead of schedule; the hors d'oeuvre was still in the oven but thank God the beer was cold! I totally did the Mom thing on Christmas Day.
They all went skiing and I stayed behind with the dog so Christmas dinner would be ready when they got back from skiing. We almost didn't get any meat for Christmas as the store shelves were bare due to the blizzard; roads closed = no deliveries! Nonetheless, the dinner turned out great and it was a parents' dream come true to have the entire family together at one table. After one day of rest, we all went to Breckenridge to ski. The weather was unbelievable. The ski was bright blue, no wind and temperatures in the upper 30s. I found that my confidence on the slopes was at an all time low. I only skied the green runs, much to my family's dismay. Luckily, Gerhard kept me company and we had a good time. One night, we went bowling. Julia has a unique style of bowling:
she takes her approach, stops dead and heaves the ball down the lane. Well, let's just say when she broke 50, she bought a round of drinks to celebrate.
Keystone - New Year's Eve
David had to leave on the 29th but Julia and Carey stayed until New Year's Day. Our New Year's Eve was pretty low key. We watched the ball drop in New Year and called it a night. It was only 10pm but we had skied all day and were tired. I still only skied on the green runs but had a great time.
Once the kids left, Gerhard and I relaxed in front of the fire, watching TV and reading. Gerhard skied alone at A-Basin on the last day while I went to the Senior Center in Frisco with my new bridge buddy, Vicki Schilling from Boulder.
