Jackson Hole Ski Trip 2011 Feb 23rd-27th

I have been waiting for this trip for a long time now, not only have I been super excited to try and ski a new place, but I get to go with 5 other friends and just have a great time! I had been planning Jackson Hole since last October! I knew that is where I wanted to go and started getting the bandwagon going. Ryan was in and my brother soon followed him. Getting the rest was a little more of a challenge, but it turned out to be a great group!

Getting there was pretty painless. I was worried that my flights were going to be delayed or cancelled considering you never know what the mountain towns are going to be like, but I got lucky (Ryan not so much!) and got in around 7pm to meet up with all the guys other than Ryan who's flight was delayed so he was stuck in SLC. When I got there I was met by my brother, Adam, Richard, and Brett! We all were super excited and ready to get on the mountain!

Thursday we all woke up early, got ready, and headed to the bus stop! It hadn't stopped snowing since I had gotten there, so I was excited to see the powder that was to come! And man there was ton of powder, but little did we know where it was! Around noon Seth came and met up with us! I was sooo excited that he actually was going to meet up and show us where we should go. I also hadn't seen him in so long so it was good to talk to him and see how things were going. We skied all day! From 9am until 4pm and Ryan even was able to finally get there. And of course the day didn't end without Apres Ski! So we headed to the Mangy Moose for lots of laughs and good times. Beers were flying and we decided that Brett was the twin of Mark Zuckerberg. Their is so much resemblance. Haha We also decided that that night we were headed to the Stagecoach in Wilson for their Disco Party! Great night and great conversation I had. The ride home had to be the best when, Dominic, the hippie cab driver wearing a reindeer hat gave us a ride back to our condo. He did donuts in a gas station parking lot and blared music the whole time that I couldn't here myself think. Then when we got back there was spagetti that Adam had made on the stove, it didn't stand a chance.

Friday we woke up again and got a little bit later of a start, but right when we pulled in Seth and his roommates had actually pulled in right by us and we were ready to hit the mountain. Friday was my favorite day on the mountain. There still was fresh snow and we pushed ourselves. We got our first taste of waffles this day too. If you go to Jackson Hole, stop at the cabin on top of the tram and get the waffles, you won't be disappointed. The brown sugar, cinnamon, and butter one is the best! The best part of the day was the end. Seth took me to a remote area and it was fresh pow pow tracks, at 4pm!!!! I was in euphoria and ended up missing the catwalk. Haha, after a few swear words, I got my skis off and hiked back up to the catwalk. It was more amusing then anything else, and I just called it my blond moment of the day. We ended up at the VC for happy hour for some pizza and beer and we met up with everyone else before we all headed back to the condo to hit the hut tub, have some tacos, then head to Cowboys bar. It was a somewhat late night that end up with Brett, Ryan, Seth, and I a little overserved. It was a lot of fun to people watch the people in Jackson!

Saturday was another day on Jackson and the first day it was clear so we could get some pictures. We all had a later start on Saturday, but ended up skiing until closing time again. Another fantastic day, but the snow wasn't as fantastic as it had been before, but we made the most of it. Of course we stopped for waffles again and Seth and I split the nutella and the brown sugar and butter...YUMMM! We ended up at the five seasons for drinks and I had an amazing bloddy mary before we headed back to the condo. We decided that night we were all going to go out for a nice dinner to celebrate our last night in JH. I wish I could recreate this night since we all had SOO much fun. It was probably the best time i have had in a long time for how hard I laughed and how good of a time I was having. I got an Elk Steak and it was pretty good, I think I like the Buffalo a little bit better though. We then went to Snake River Grill for dessert. I got a Lemon Souffle and everyone else got Eskimo Bars (brownie top with vanilla ice cream dipped in chocolate, with caramel dipping sauce, yeah they are as good as they sound). The night concluded with all of us running through Jackson trying to find the Snow King shuttle back to our condo...we succeeded eventually and I almost peed my pants laughing. We just really didn't want the night the end and once Ryan decided to drink to the TV show hoarders, I thought that was a good time to head to bed.

The next day was our final day. We decided not to ski this day, but to sleep in and go out to brunch. We slept in until 9am! I haven't slept in that late for a long time, but it was amazing. We then headed to the Bunnery for some amazing breakfast food. It was another gorgeous day and Seth and I decided to go tubing. We had a blast acting like kids and tubing down the Snow King resort for an hour! After that, I packed up and Seth took Tyler and I over to take some pictures of the Grand Tetons. We drove all up and down and looked for moose too. It was awesome to get some amazing pictures and I felt so lucky to have a friend in jackson to show me around!

It was bittersweet when we got dropped us off at the airport because after a weekend like that, I did NOT want to go back. Though all good things come to an end and it was time to go back to reality. I would do it all over again and I think Jackson Hole is on my list of resorts to go back to again!! What an amazing trip with the most amazing friends. Everyone on this trip made it the trip it was, without anyone of them it wouldn't have been as fun and I am just super lucky to have such amazing great people in my life.

YouTube - Adele - Rolling In The Deep

Austin, TX Feb 18th-21st

Well Presidents Weekend came around and I knew I didn't want to go skiing since the mountains are so crazy, but wanted to go somewhere. One of my best friends in the Springs, Sean, was also itching to get out of town. So we decided that Austin, TX was a great place to go. Neither of us had been there before and we got super duper cheap plane tickets and then we saw that a half marathon/marathon was going to be there at the same time! SCORE!! No Brainer!

We booked our tickets, free hotel, and super cheap rental car and got super excited to head to Austin!! We got there pretty late on Friday night and did a quick stop at the grocery store and headed to bed. Sean and I have pretty picky diets and knew we had to stop at the grocery store if we wanted to stick to what we wanted to eat. I still was pretty sick from Vegas and was hoping by Sunday I could rally myself for 13.1 miles. Saturday we explored all of Austin downtown. We stopped at a super cool coffee shop called Halcyon. We got Lattes and sat on the porch and watched people walk by for awhile before we headed around town some more, dipping into stores and scoping out what bars we were going to hit after the race. Then we drove through University of Texas and part of the race course before we headed back to hotel to get ready for Dinner.

We hit up the Blue Cafeteria I want to say it was called. Cute place and not bad food at all. We went with two other of our friends that happen to be running the marathon also. Some good conversation and pretty good food. I got a porkchop and wasn't the best porkchip I have ever had, but was still some good protein.

Sunday was the race day and I struggled through the race big time!! I never thought the race was that hilly, but OMG! It was hill after hill after hill. Probably my least favorite race ever, but I got it done in about 1:46. My slowest time in a long time, but after being sick and being such a hilly course, I took it! Sean of course killed it and we went and got some coffee after it was said and done. I also had found out my cousin Jule and her husband Bruce were also randomly in Austin! We met up for bruch at a place called Kirbey's! Other than the hour it took us to get there because of the marathon and then the 30min wait, it was phenomenal! I had pumpkin pancakes...yummers!! And I got to catch up with Julie and Bruce who I never get so see very often since they live in Chicago.

We headed back to the hotel after brunch and took a quick nap and chilled before packing up and heading to our downtown hotel. We settled in and then we were bored! So what to do when you are bored?? GO DRINK! We started at the Iron Cactus and each of us picked a different place..we started at 3:30..haha. I had an amazing Bloddy Mary at El Camino and listened to some great music at the DIzzy Rooster. We also had some dinner and dessert!! And ate more food than a human being should in one day. Though when 11pm hit we were both exhausted and drunk. Great day in Austin and basically going to every bar on 6th Street!

It was a great 3 days in Austin and we didn't leave without getting some good BBQ either at Studds! I was ready to go home though after being sick and not feeling great it but a toll on this trip, but I stil had a great time with Sean and would do again for sure! I always love running races in different cities too. When we got into Denver Sean and I had some time to kill so we went to an Ethiopian Restaurant in Denver. I had never been to Ethiopian before and it was AMAZING!! I can't wait to go again and once again loved getting introduced to new things. I am not scared to try new things!

3 day weekends are the best! I don't have to take a day off and I still can fit in a sweet vacation. This whole trip was super cheap too and probably cost me less than staying in the Springs. When I finally got home I hit my bed hard because I knew I was waking up early for CrossFit. Another successful trip, not sure if I would return to Austin or not. Probably one of my favorite places in Texas, which really isn't saying much since (Sorry people from Texas) I am not a fan of Texas at all! Though the whole time I was in Austin, I was thinking about Jackson Hole. I only had 1 1/2 days before I headed to JH and my excitement could not be held in. I just had to get through a few days of reality before I was off to the most amazing ski trip ever.

2011 Gretzky Camp

So I once again was super lucky to be a part of the Wayne Gretzky Fantasy Camp. Last year was my first year and my dad and I had so much fun we decided to go again. This year didn't disappoint.

For those that don't know what this its, you can check out www.waynegretzky.com/fantasycamp and look at the details. For a short version, a group of people come and get a chance to play some hockey games with Wayne Gretzky and some previous NHL players. Its a once and a lifetime opportunity and I'm lucky enough to go for a second year. My dad is friends with a lot of the players, which is how he heard about this camp in the first place. The camp was February 8th-13th in Las Vegas, NV and everyone stays at the Bellagio. Not too shabby.

Of coures the day I was supposed to leave we have a snow storm in Colorado. The good part was I got the day off from work since we got a snow day. I should of headed right to the airport with my experience, but everything was on time so I thought it will be good. No idea why I thought that with my travel experience. So sure enough I get to the airport, everything is still on time, then BAM, everything is delayed. I jumped on an earlier flight from COS to DEN and thought everything would be well. Well we sat the tarmac forever before we got the plane deiced, finally we took off and landed in Denver at 3pm. I thought this is was fine, my connecting gate to Vegas was about 4 gates down and didn't leave until 4pm. This gives me 50 minutes. SIMPLE! My dad was meeting me in Denver so he could see my plane outside the window. Well right when I thought everything is going to be alright there was no gate for us to go too and wasn't going to be for awhile. So when the clock hit 3:35, I started to have a meltdown, knowing the chances of making my fight were getting less and less. Sure enough once we pulled in to the gate my dad texted me to let me know they shut the door. OUCH, I was not a happy camper and preceded with my usual calls to United. I did manage a 300 dollar voucher out of them, but I was still pissed. Though I went to the Red Carpet Club and cooled off, ate some trail mix, and started to drink because alcohol cures all.

I arrived in Vegas around 10:30pm and went to check in. Well they somehow had messed that up too, but the good news is they upgraded me to a suite! I went and grabbed a crepe from the place at the Bellagio (which was pretty horrible) and called it a night, which I am glad I did since sleep was hard to find after Tuesday night!

Wednesday started with a practice skate. I was super rusty, but skated around a little bit. Didn't get to skate with the pros yet, but still hung out and had some lunch. When I got back to the hotel I gambled, but then headed out with some people from the camp. Before I knew it, it was 4am and I was hanging out in the hospitality suite. Great night, but sleep didn't really happen and before I knew it it was time to wake up and do it all over again. Thursday we had two games and I was super tired. I was on a team with Russ Courtnall, Marty McSorley, Jim McLean, and Grant Fuhr. Though even with the pros we still lost both our games! haha. The second game we had Gretzky play with us and it was a blast. I have so much fun just talking and hanging out with him. We played a couple times on a line and he kept trying to get me a goal, but I struggled! I just am not very good at hockey anymore.

The rest of the weekend we played hockey and once again on Thursday night I stayed way to late. We had a private concert by Kelley James. If you don't know his music, you should check it out because he is pretty amazing. I wish I would have recorded when he start just ad-libbing and flowing on the wayne gretzky fantasy camp. It was outrageous what he could think of on the fly. Afterwords the group had a table at "The Bank" in the Bellagio. Soooo much fun as we danced and drank and danced the night away. Afterwards we headed to the high rollers bar and well I'm going to stop there...7am came around and I was just heading upstairs..whoops. Next day was brutal!!!

This trip always ceases to amaze me on how much fun I have and all the great people I get to interact with. I am super lucky to be able to go to this event and always leave depressed knowing that the weekend had to end. Probably the worse part of all of my weekends is the fact that they do end all all good things seem to come to an end. I had a great time and met new friends, and networked. Though being around so many successful people gives me the itch to reach for more. I left Vegas on Sunday afternoon tired, but would have done it all over again. I try to keep in touch with a few of the people I met, but its always hard to to keep in touch. When I got back on Monday of course I got super sick. I attributed it to 8 hours of total sleep from Thurs-Sun (Yup I calculated it) and drinking a lot.

After these trip I get what I like to call "Back to Reality Depression" It doesn't happen after every trip, only the ones that I have so much fun doing something that obviously can't go on forever and when I meet super cool people that I want to spend more time with and can't. I find this extremely draining and always after I come home I contemplate what I'm doing with my life. I know it sounds corny and its usually short-lived, but life is so short and I want to make the most of it. Part of me says I should be trying to advance my career and make more money, but then again part of me wants to just quit my job and travel, ski, climb mountains, etc and hope that I can figure out a job while doing all of these things and start my own business eventually in the outdoor industry. I feel sometimes that the reason I travel so much is to perhaps find what will keep me motivated to succeed in my career or find something that I could see myself doing for a long time. Or is it because I want to stay away from reality as much as possible to delay having to actually figure out my career and life aspirations. I guess its different for each person, but I am enjoying life and want to make the most of it!

January in a nutshell

So I am going to start updating this blog more and more. I've realized that after a trip I forget a lot of what happened and people are always wondering why I'm going places or where I am going and this is a great way of keeping track. I hope to share my experiences so other people can learn from my mistakes or my fortunes. Either way come on the journey with me as my addiction to traveling gets worse.

So since my last post I have taken quite a few trips. I went to Chicago, San Jose, Vail, Vegas, Austin, and Jackson Hole. All trips being unique and to be honest they just kept getting better and better.

I think it would be a little overwhelming to have to recap them all, so I'm going to give the short version and try to highlight what was the best of each trip! I'm going to add some pictures later too.

My trips in January were great, I got to go home and see my best friend Deanna and celebrate the marriage of two of my friends Jen and Chris, along with catching up with friends. Chicago is always a good time and each time I visit it reminds me what a great city it is. Unfortunately, (or fortunately) I am addicted to the mountains and I don't think I could move that far away from them. I wish I could spend more time in the city, but I still had a blast!

San Jose was for hockey. I play on the Mission Roller Hockey team and this was when one of our tournaments are. San Jose is always a good time. I love California and the ability to get a long run in outside in the middle of January. This was a super relaxing weekend for me and to top it all off the Mission girls took home the gold! I love having that team comraderie again. I miss it from playing hockey in college and being part of a team. And everyone that is on the team is great!

After San Jose I had my one weekend a month at home...and I had a good time! Though was ready to set off to Vail for an amazing weekend with my dad, brother, and everyone else that came. Ryan even came to come skiing too which was awesome! The weather was great, the snow not so much. I am extremely lucky though to be able to stay up there as long as I did. I got to go Weds to Sun and skied thurs-sunday. Ryan and I hit Blue Sky Basin, Back Bowls and everything else we could get into trouble. My skiing has gotten a lot better since last year and I continue to try and improve because there is always people out there that are better than you. I feel at one when I am up skiing. Especially, when there isn't many people around you. There is nothing better than just cruising in some powder and letting your mind wander. Its like everything else doesn't matter and you can forget about anything that is bothering you. Skiing is a drug to more so than running for me, I just can't do it 365 days out of the year. I'm ok with that too because the last thing I would want is for me to get burned out! I also was treated as a queen as we went out to amazing dinners each night and had a lot of laughs. It is fun being able to have a friend up there too to ski with and hang out and who I get along with so well. Though all good things come to an end and on Sunday afternoon we packed up our stuff and Ryan and I headed back to the Springs. Another great weekend of family, friends, skiing, and loving life. Reality sets in when I have to go back to work on Monday, but dreams of the month ahead lingered in my head. February the first weekend was my only weekend in town and then I headed to Vegas, Austin, and Jackson Hole--- I knew it was going to be Epic