Ringing in the New Year at Winter Park, Colorado

Since I´m only back in the U.S. for a little over 2 weeks, I knew I had a limited amount of time to get my fill of winter before returning to the ever-steamy island of forever summer that is the D.R.  So when a chance came up to join a ski trip to Colorado, how could I say no? I mean, you can´t get much more winter-y than Winter Park, CO. Plus, with friends, road-tripping, skiing, and a New Years party thrown in, it was pretty much a no-brainer. I had to go. 
Let´s recap :)

It was a pretty large, modge-podge group that decided to head west, 17 in total. The leaders of our group had rented a huge lodge nestled in the snowy hills at the foot of the mountain and had kindly arranged to take two vans to transport us out there. 10 of us would be making the trip from Naperville, Ilinios to Colorado via the vans. The others opted to fly or were driving out from other locations. That left 5 of us in each van, which we packed up to the brim with suitcases, snow skis, and of course, snack food. 
We left the bleak Illinois landscape at 8:00 p.m. on the 27th, hoping to drive through the night and make it to our destination by noon. 

I couldn´t resist packing some plaintain chips,  an impulse purchase at T.J. Maxx of all places. Nothing like bringing a little bit of the D.R. with me!

Standard road-trip fare: Reeses Pieces, water, Red Bull, coffee, 5-Hour Energy, and some kind of music-playing device. We were set for a good trip. 

We were cruising along making great time when our little expedition hit its first snag, a broken-down van at 6:30 a.m. in No-wheresville, Nebraska. The temperature outside: -6 degrees Fahrenheit. Not cool. 

So what did we do? We piled 3 of the passengers from the broken van into our still-functioning one and headed to the nearest town to hang out,  while 2 others stayed behind to wait on the tow truck and take it to the nearest auto-body shop to find out the news. 

Broken-down van not going to get us down!

At 7:00 a.m. we rolled into Paxton, Nebraska and parked in front of the first open establishment in sight, Ole´s, an old-timy looking bar/restaurant with a blinking Miller Lite sign in the front window. Is 7:00 a.m. too early for a beer? The sun was just starting to chase away the shadows as we stomped the snow off our boots and made our way through the front door.  A group of old farmers were sipping on coffee at the front table and a plump elderly waitress greeted us with a warm smile in the dim morning light. But as we made our way farther into the sitting area, we soon realized that this was no ordinary small-town bar. The stuffed jaguar prowling over the fireplace was our first clue. We had stumbled onto quite possibly the most fascinating restaurant we could ever hope to kill 3 hours in. It turns out that Ole´s is not only famous for their excellent food (go for the omelettes, they won´t disappoint), but it also masquerades as a zoo of dead safari animals, all hunted, killed, and mounted by one of Paxton´s own (way before this kind of thing became illegal). 
Slightly tragic? Yes. A little creepy? Maybe. Super interesting? Most definitely. You could waste a good hour just perusing through the restaurant and peering at the old black-and-white photos and extremely large trophy heads hung on the walls. 

Plus they even had a pool table to pass the time.  We all ordered breakfast and crossed our fingers, hoping to hear from Bill (whose had stayed back with the broken-down van) soon that the problem would be minor and we could be on our way again in no time. We would have no such luck. Turns out, the car had a busted transition. Definite major problem. Bill ended up having to scrap the van since replacing the transition would cost more than the van itself.  He called to deliver the bad news around 8:30 and the boys took off to go rent another vehicle from North Platte, the closest town with a car rental. Us girls stayed behind to play a few rounds of pool with dead antelopes for an audience. 
Finally, at 10:00 a.m., we were on the road again. 

The rest of the trip flew by without a hitch and at 4:00 p.m. we uncramped ourselves from the close quarters of our cars, stretched, and lugged our luggage into the very spacious and absolutely gorgeous lodge that would be our home for the next 5 days. 

That´s only half the luggage!
A quick trip to the grocery store, some unpacking, some air mattress inflating, and a short discussion over who would sleep in the 5 bedrooms and who would take the couches and air mattresses, and we were all set to hit the hay for the night and hit the slopes in the morning. 

The rest of the days were pretty much spent in the same way: roll out of bed at 7:00 a.m., snap on the ski boots, wait for the shuttle, hit the slopes around 8:30, ski til noon, eat lunch and warm up our toes, ski again until 3:30-4:00 p.m. (or until our fingers and toes feel like they might freeze off), file into the shuttle home, collapse into a heap of tiredness on the couch, crack open the beers and pour the wine, eat dinner around 6:30 or 7:00 p.m., entertain ourselves with ping pong, pool, and the hot tub for the rest of the evening before falling into deep sleeps, wake up, stretch our sore muscles, and repeat. 

Lucky for me, My Dad and Mom also decide to come out to Winter Park for a little winter time fun too. That way I didn´t have to sacrifice any of my precious little time with them. They rented a nice room in a very convenient ski-in and ski-out resort right on the mountainside. I got to race down some slopes with my Dad and ski in to hot soup and a warm fire with my Mom, then head back out to more slopes and fun times with friends. Perfect.  

We legitimately used the ping pong table for ping pong the first couple of nights, but who are we kidding? We all knew it was only a matter of time before it would be converted into a beer pong tournament. 

Just another minor car problem. Way to go Blake ;)

Soon New Year´s Eve rolled around and we had to break tradition with our comfy sweats and cozy sweaters to get all jazzed up for the night. Just look at those girls glitter. 

Starting the night off right with a little shot of rum :D

Soon it was time to call the shuttle and head out to Ullrs Tavern to dance in the New Year.

We rolled out of bed in 2013 to find the ground covered with a couple of inches of fresh powder and snow still drifting down lazily.  Perfect for our last day of skiing. The previous night´s festivities had us all moving a little slower...and some of us slower than others...nothing a little banana coudn´t fix though. 

Frozen eyelashes! It was so cold on the last day, that when my goggles fogged up, they immediately froze and I couldn´t get them to defrost. I had to ski down the slope with my eyes half closed (which I don´t recommend!) as snow flakes pelted me in the face and froze onto my hair and eyelashes for a lovely ice princess look. 
(This picture reminds me of the lyrics "snowflakes that stay on my nose and eyelashes" from the song My Favorite Things in The Sound of Music.....can´t help but smile when I hum that song in my head)

At 5:00 a.m. in the morning, we waved goodbye to the snowy peaks of Colorado and began the long journey home. 

I can safely say I got my fill of country music, classic rock, cold weather, hot chili, cozy sweaters, warm fires, knee-high socks, Blue Moons, snowy evenings, good friends and loving family. Except for the last two, because I´ll never get enough of those. 
Farewell winter, I´ll be back to the land of eternal summer soon.