Saturday 01-30-10

Today was a non-skiing day. We went to the town of Montezuma to do snow shoeing. The town is located about 7 miles outside of Keystone and at the 10,000 ft level. We went on the Pine Ridge trail which is a small road up the mountain. For the first 1 1/2 miles the route is straight UP. We came upon a small ice glacier which was on the side of the trail. However, the whole trail became very icy and we turned around. It was alot easier going down the trail.

After lunch in the parking lot, we travelled to the center of the town. The town has, according to the 2000 census, a population of 42 people. It has a fence with 27 mail boxes on it and the town has a total of 43 buildings. It is listed as one of Colorado's ghost towns. Anyway, they have good snow-shoeing.

Budweiser International Snow Sculpting - pictures

Thursday - Friday 01/28-01/29/10

Thursday and Friday we decided to ski Breckenridge. On Thursday there were a few more people on the slopes and on Friday, which was a totally SUNNY day, it also seemed crowded - only kidding. This weekend is the annual Budweiser International Snow Sculpting contest at Breckenridge. You start with a 20 foot high block of ice and your team of 4 artists have 60 hours to sculpture your design. There are 11 countries represented in the contest. I believe this has helped bring more people to the slopes. The forecast for the next 7 days calls for little if any additional snow. Lets hope they are wrong.

Lift lines on Thursday

Lift lines on Friday

Block of ice

Tuesday - Wednesday 01/26 - 01/27

As Glenna said to me today, "It is getting very quite and lonely out there". We have the entire mountain to ourselves. We skied the back country of Keystone. An area called North Peak. This area had fewer people. The weather has been good. Sunshine til 2pm both days and then a few inches of snow after that. The last two days we had 6 inches of new snow.

One problem of fewer people is that you may tend to try to ski faster and do some tricks. That was me today and boy did I do a YARDSALE. Skies, poles and gloves went in different directions. I am a little sore but ready to go out again tomorrow morning.

Monday 01/25/10

When we arrived last week, one of our friends told us not to expect the same number of people that were here last year. And boy is he right. We went to Keystone today and we had the slopes to ourselves. The parking lots have only a few cars in them and many of those belong to the workers. After skiing down to the lifts, you only have to stop if you want to rest a second. It is actually ski on- ski off. Once on the trails, it is REALLY empty. With ski lift tickets at $92 a day and with very limited discounts, one can see why there isn't many people on the slopes.

Parking lot in Keystone

Lift line at the Montezuma lift

Montezuma lift again

Looking down the trail

Looking up the trail

Saturday-Sunday 01/23-01/24/10

Saturday we went snow-shoeing at the local Nordic trail at Silverthorne. It happened to be family day and we joined them on the trail. The trail was a 5K course but many of the families only travelled about 1 mile. We decided to go it with another couple. Once we made the decision to continue, the wind and snow picked up. For about an hour it felt we were walking around in a circle. Once the snow and wind stopped we could see that we were only 1/4 mile from our finish line.







On Sunday, the last of the Pacific storms reached Colorado. It was blowing snow all day. Winds reached 70 mph. We decided to stay warm and watch the football games on TV. The total snowfall was about 4 inches. While much more snow is needed, it covered many of bare spots on the slopes.

Thursday/Friday 01/21 01/22

Thursday and Friday were good skiing days. NO crowds and NO wait times at the chair lifts -sunny on Thursday, mostly cloudy on Friday. Over 40 inches of snow has fallen this week in the south west portion of the state, but only 4 inches here. Everyone you talk too say, that this has been the worst season for snow in the past 25 years.

Everyone is praying to Ulhr, the god of snow. LETS GO JETS

Sat - Wed 01-16 - 01-20

Well we have gotten off to a slow start. I have the Rocky Mt dizzies - Light headed w/ dizzy spells. We did go skiing 2 of the days and went hiking the rest. The base snow levels is 26 inches when it should be around 60 inches. All of the storms hitting Colorado right now are dropping snow in the south west corner of the state. We have only received about 4 inches this week.

On Monday night we did make it to the Dam Brewery. We met most of the people from last year and got our invite to the SuperBowl party. Things are starting to look up. I hope today was the last day for the dizzies.

Travel Pictures

Award Winning Hotel - First night

Modern rest area in Indiana - looks like a mini mall rest area

Farm land in Illinois

Trucker's diner in Illinois

Largest truck stop in the US - Iowa 80

It also has Grandma's Kitchen

Ski mobile's drive right up to the gas pump

Horsershoe Casino in Council Bluffs, Iowa

Farmland in Iowa

Great restaurant - Crystal Palace Saloon

Rest area in Neb. Area was home to one of the first poney express stops. - Western Neb has no snow on the ground

Rest stop in Georgetown, Colorado - 10 miles from the mountains. Again very little snow.

View from condo overlooking rt70 and Continental Divide

Sunday 01-17-10 Travel Info

We drove thru 8 states - NJ, Penn, Ohio, Ind, Ill, Iowa, Neb and Colorado

Speed limit mainly 65 - 70, with portions of Iowa, Neb and Col at 75 mph

Gas prices between $2.75 and $2.99

EZPass accepted in every state

Cross over two mighty rivers - Mississippi and the Missouri

Cross over two time zones - Central and Mountain

Friday Jan 15, 2010

Another beautiful morning. Sunny with temps in the mid 20s. Our route took us thru Western Nebraska and into Colorado. Once in Colorado, the first 150 miles is ALL cattle land. About 60 miles from Denver you start to see the Rocky Mts. It is a wonderful feeling as you head right for them.

Not much snow along the highways. Denver and the mountains haven't had any measurable snow in about 7 days. This along with warm temps (30s-40s) have the locals doing the snow dance. We arrived at our condo about 1pm. and unpacked the car. Going to the local store now to get ice cream for Benny.

Thursday 01/14/10

Last night for dinner we went to Famous Dave's BBQ restaurant. If it is your first time to the restaurant (and it was) , they give you a goody bag with a sample of the different BBQ sauces they put on the ribs. The restaurant was in a shopping area and as we were leaving I saw a sign for the Horseshoe Casino. The casino was one of three different casinos in this shopping area. Since it was early we decided to go to the casino. It was just like AC and I left my usual donation.

This morning it was sunny and cold (20). Due to some snow melt yesterday, the parking lot and roads were icy. We waited til 9:30 before we got started. It was an easy 6 hour driving day. Not much to see today. About 1/2 hour out, on the other side of Omaha NE, farmlands are the only thing you see. Plenty of cows walking around in the snow. As we were nearing our destination, we travelled under the RT80 Great Platte River Road Archway Monument. It is all about frontier adventures from the days of the Oregon Trail to today's information superhighway.

Arriving at our hotel, the temp rose to 50. It felt real good. Well tomorrow we should arrive at our condo in Dillon CO.

Wed 01-13-10

Last night we went to a local restaurant recommended by the hotel clerk. The place was called the R-Restaurant and it is located in the TA (Truckers rest stop). Entering we saw about 50 or so truck drivers eating dinner. On the other side of the restaurant were about the same number of locals - ALL SENIORS (90 and over). It was an experience and the food was good.

This morning we started out around 9:30am. It was a very sunny day with temps around 20. As the day progressed, the temps rose into the low 40s. Not bad of a drive thru Illinois and Iowa. The first place of interest we passed was the birthplace of Ronald Reagan - Tampico, Ill. This was followed by the Herbert Hoover museum in West Branch, IA and then the birthplace of John Wayne in Winterset, IA. We stopped at the IOWA80 truck stop (Walcott IA) which is hailed as the largest truckers stop in the US. This stop had everything, from restaurants, to clothing stores, to showers and sleeping quarters for the truckers.

Finally we passed the largest windmill farm in Iowa - Adair IA. There were 100's of windmills. We arrived at our hotel around 4:30pm.

Tuesday 01-12-10

The day started alot better than yesterday. After cleaning off the snow from the car (about 3"), we left the hotel around 10am, travelled thru Ohio, Indiana and arrived at our hotel in Morris, IL around 5:15pm (4:15 CST). For most of the day we were effected by lake-effect snow. This was really cool. You can actually see the snow off in the distance and you drive in and out of it.

Once we got 1/2 way into Indiana, the sun came out and drove the rest of the way in sunshine. Temps remain in the low 20s all day. One thing I noticed was that on the Ohio turnpike, all of the rest areas have been upgraded. They are now mini-mall rest areas. They have a food court, shopping area and Internet access with cubicles.

In Indiana, we passed by the town of Elk's Pride. This is home to the largest Christmas tree farm in the US. You see thousands of trees from the highway. As we approached the Illinois border, we crossed over the Central Time zone gaining an hour. We will put this extra hour to good use in the local bar & restaurant.

Monday Jan. 11, 2010

It was a rough morning. I was feeling sick for a WHILE. Around 11am, all was well and we were off. Across NJ on I-195, then the turnpike to exit 6 and across Penn. on I-276 and I-76, we arrived at our hotel in Youngstown, Ohio about 6:15pm.

The weather was sunny til we got about 1/2 way across Penn when it started to snow. The snow has continued into the evening and we will have to wait to see what the morning rings. The temps are in the low 20s. For now, early to bed for me.

Sunday Jan. 10, 2010

Here we are. How fast time flies. It is Sunday afternoon and we are almost finished packing the car. It is a beautiful sunny day but cold. Temps around 25. We will be leaving around 8am on Monday and heading for Youngstown, Ohio. I am still routing for NewEngland to make a comeback in their football game but it doesn't look good. At least the JETS will be moving on to the next round. That's it for now.