We have returned from Santa Fe

One more way in which Leadville is superior to Saginaw: when we got home, one of our neighbors had plowed our driveway for us. Out of the goodness of their heart, without being asked. In the entire 8 years we lived in Saginaw, nobody ever even OFFERED – including when Spouse threw his back out and I was stuck outside shoveling 12 inches of snow off our entire driveway. I love this place.

Santa Fe was very nice and very relaxing. While I’m in the process of uploading pictures, I will leave you with this hilarious dog story.

How To Drive in a Whiteout

1. DON’T PANIC. Whiteouts are typically caused by blowing snow. ‘Blowing’ means that intermittently you’ll probably be able to see.

2. DO NOT stop your car.

3. Drive as slowly as you think necessary but don’t pull over or stop. It increases your chances of getting hit and/or injured.

4. Turn on your effing lights. They won’t help YOU see, but they’ll help OTHER PEOPLE SEE YOU. See above.

5. Look for the sides of the road. Specifically, the right side of the road. If you have a hard time seeing, roll down the passenger window.

6. Don’t pass people. It’s a dumb idea.

7. Don’t tailgate. Same reason.

Snowpocalypse, part deux

In case you haven’t been watching the news

We’re supposed to be in the midst of snowpocalypse out here. I could point out the irony of said snowpocalype in a place reknowned for its snow but, la.

Ironically, up in the mountains it’s not as bad as it was on the I-70 corridor. In point of fact, I had a perfectly uneventful trip to Frisco for a haircut and various errands and didn’t realize, until calling to speak to Spouse, that the roads were supposed to be in any way disastrous.

When I left at about 11 am, there was about 6 inches of snow on my car. It was overcast but not snowing, so it didn’t even occur to me to call 511 for the road update. Once I was over the Fremont Pass (upon which there was virtually NO blowing snow) and about halfway to Coppper, the visibility deterioriated. I have a couple of great pictures on my camera (to be uploaded later).

There was more snow on I-70 than usual and the visibility was such that you almost had to take it on faith that you were, in fact, merging onto I-70, but other than that it was okay.

In related news, if you were the douchebag in a red Land Rover who decided to just put their brakes on as though they were going to stop in the middle of the highway, you can eat a bag of dicks.

Downshifting

There has definitely been an adjustment to living out here that extends beyond the change in altitude.

A couple of weeks ago, it was snowing and there was a fair amount of traffic to Vail. I made it over and back the Battle Mountain Pass without ever having to touch a brake – unlike the two drivers in front of me. I was inordinately proud of myself.

The other notable difference from home  is the dress code. I’d heard jokes about the Colorado Tuxedo (jeans) but there’s more than a little truth to it. For example, we’re attending a dinner tonight. At home, I’d have worn a dress – not an especially fancy one. Out here, that’s still way too formal. I’ve tentatively settled on a sweater and skirt and am still running the risk of being ‘too’ dressed up. Spouse suggested I wear a pair of “good jeans.” Alas, I own only regular jeans. Possibly I will have to consult someone to find out what “good jeans” consists of. I’m having a hard time wrapping my head around this.

I was hoping to find a book club in town, but haven’t had much luck. It seems I’ll have to drive to Avon or Vail but at least there are a couple and they’re not so far that I’ll mind the drive. The social interaction will be nice, for sure.

The job hunting continues, without much success. Right now I’m working three days a week which leaves me with just a little too much free time.

I’ve started running with the dog again, intervals in a 1.8 mile route for the time being. I’m hoping to work up to a 3.5 mile route. Running is a DEFINITE challenge. For the first time in my life, I find that heart rate charts might apply to me.

Next week I’ve got an appointment to get contact lenses. I haven’t worn glasses this much since I was 13 and I’m not really loving it. The nice thing is that the new eye doctor just needs me to fax my old prescription – rather than needing all my records.

For now, I’m off to run errands and get things around for our overnight trip.

Skijoring!

Part of skijoring is capturing rings on the course.  And as crazy as this whole sport sounds, it actually LOOKS CRAZIER.

Here’s the photoset.

Big weekend

This is a skijoring weekend in Leadville. If, like me, you were previously unaware of skijoring – here’s the skinny:

They truck snow into town and create a track down main street.  They build jumps out of the snow, on the track. Then some crazy fools strap on skis, tie themselves to a horse, and let the horse run them full speed down the track and over the jumps. Yes, they really do.

Here’s a picture of the prep on Harrison this morning: (as always, click pics for bigger view)

Skijoring prep in Leadville.

We’ve had a kind of unusually warm week which allowed all the snow on the roads to melt. That’s a first since I’ve been here but the good news is we’ve already got some snow tonight and it should continue through the weekend. Probably not great for our plans to see Watchmen, but good for skijoring I’m sure.

There’s a pancake breakfast tomorrow but other than that and watching some crazy fools try to kill themselves, we don’t have any solid plans. Scheming is afoot for a trip to Santa Fe and I’ve got to bake a birthday cake.

Also filed under Things You Don’t Usually See in Michigan:

Prepared?

More photos

My trip to Salida on the 26th. When I left Leadville it was snowing but in the pics you can see it clears off before Buena Vista. Leaving Salida, I took an inadvertant detour to Monarch before realizing and coming back. 

Photos here.

Brief photo post

And by brief, I mean I’m just posting a link to my photos from Glenwood Springs and the resultant drive eastbound on I-70. Between that and my previous set (westbound) – now you don’t have to make the trip!

Also, my very exciting Valentine’s day self-portrait:

Agressively pink knee socks and my Wal-Mart red flannel pajama pants.

I’m unspeakably lazy and one of the chores I hate most in life is matching socks. My solution to the problem is to purchase obnoxiously patterned knee socks. Then I can wash and dry them, chuck them in a drawer, and then pull them out when I need them. No matching necessary.

“I wanna go FAST.”

We didn’t just SURVIVE skiing, we actually had a blast. We went to Ski Cooper (best kept skiing secret in the Rockies) and – first things first – took a lesson. We had a great teacher (Liz Mathieu, if you’re interested) and she  took us through everything she could in 2 hours. I’m not really sure how people just slap on skis and get on a mountain but let me tell you what, I’m hella glad I didn’t. It was snowy and overcast, so we pretty much had the hill to ourselves. Plenty of room for practicing and then Spouse and I tackled the intermediate hill.

My boots were just a smidge too big and all this damn yoga has given me excellent posture, so I probably had the biggest adjustments to make. I had a hard time leaning into the skis, because of the boots, and my tendency is to keep my upper body nice and straight. These two things make for crazy and out of hand speed – which I LOVED. Turns out the speed is less terrifying (though no less exhilarating) when you’ve got more control so the intermediate hill is what it took for me to ‘get’ the leaning forward. I had a couple of spectacular wipeouts but the snow was so soft that it was like falling on a mattress. It was, in a word, fantastic.

Last night was a busier Tuesday than usual and today I’m taking the girls to Salida. Probably more pictures in the works (since I’ve gotten way off schedule) but there is only one ski photo and I’ll have to get that from Slim. Also there may be another tattoo in the works.

Frisco, CO

Leaving Frisco, snowy mountains.

I made an unplanned trip to Frisco today and, as I was leaving town, this was the view. The sun was setting and snow was coming in over the mountains.

Today’s adventure involved big rocks

I was in Glenwood Springs for most of the day. Nice city, really bad parking. On the way HOME from Glenwood Springs, we were on the Battle Mountain Pass and suddenly being waved over to the oncoming lane by a county sheriff. There was a chunk of mountain, bigger than the sheriff’s SUBURBAN, in the middle of the right lane. It had just fallen off the side of the mountain and landed in the road. It was ENORMOUS. It would have squashed Spouse’s truck. Luckily it had fallen before we arrived and it didn’t appear that anyone had been hurt. I expect that Battle Mountain was a BEAR during rush hour tonight.

In Glenwood, I picked up light fixtures to replace the really old (really ugly) ones in our kitchen/dining room. Once this section of the house is done, I think this place will finally feel like home. The pot rack shows up next week and then I’ll have the befores and afters.

There was also a great health food store which carries Greek Yogurt (though they were out) and I got some fantastic premade vindaloo sauce recommended by the owner. We had it for dinner tonight and it was GREAT. I picked up ingredients for meals the next couple of weeks and I’m looking forward to the house stuff being done and being able to actually just cook and look for work. Go bison burgers!

Piper got into the garbage yesterday and has had bowel distress since then. We’re hoping she worked her way through it because we had to leave her in the garage all day today – not my favorite thing. I also picked up a trash can that locks, so we won’t be having a repeat performance.

I also learned that City Market – a big chain of western grocery stores – is owned by Kroger – a big chain of midwest grocery stores. That provides a little cushion of familiarity, at least with regard to SOME of the more esoteric things I like to buy. No guarantees, obviously, but it provides a little reliability with regard to staples. Interestingly enough, I’m going to have to keep a cooler in the back of my car in case I have spontaneous trips over the hill. That way, if I pick up some grocery items I can be sure they stay cold on the way back to town.

When we got back to town, I dropped Spouse off at a meeting, came home, put away groceries,  cleaned up after Piper, and caught up in GoogleReader. I haven’t transferred my pics of the day yet, so that’s probably the last task before bed.

Edwards Riverwalk

Since it’s where I spent yesterday and today, it’s your daily Leadville.

The Riverwalk district in Edwards, Colorado

The lower levels are all shops and/or offices. Most of the top level seem to be condos. It’s a really nice area with several restaurants, many kinds of stores, and a movie theater.

New toy!

Spouse had a meeting in Salida today. Since I hadn’t been there, I rode along and then wandered around town while he did his thing.

The first place I stumbled upon was The Mixing Bowl. It’s a fantastic little store with a great selection of cooking utensils, dishes, kitchen gadgets, and small appliances. They have those amazing silicon measuring cups that fold flat – FLAT! How awesome is that? – a nice variety of Fiesta ware, and another style of dishes whose name I can’t recall. The other style had some cool ramekin-looking things in two different shapes which were pretty fantastic.

It was there that I discovered this:

Awesome bottle opener.

It’s the perfect size (the handle is the width of my palm), the perfect shape (flat enough to fit in a pocket or apron), and the perfect weight (enough heft that you won’t forget it’s in your pocket but not so heavy as to feel awkward). I didn’t need a corkscrew so this was the best possible option and the thing I was looking for without even realizing it. Very, very happy.

There’s also a great little pottery place in town. Let’s be clear, I was going to go in anyhow because it’s called the Maverick Potter – who can resist that? When I walked in, I was really happy to discover that I love pretty much everything in the shop. Great shapes, great colors, great textures. Not only that but they’ll let you paint your own pieces *and* if there’s something you want and they don’t have it, they’ll make it for you! Love it.

All in all, a really nice visit.

This morning I had a plan.

I was going to get up, drive to Avon, pick up scotch, go to Edwards, mail the Dish Network receiver, get my hair cut, and do a little grocery shopping. The thing that did not get done was mailing the DN receiver. Whoops. It was the foot of snow on my car that threw everything off – that and Spouse leaving his phone at home so I ended up detouring to deliver it.

That said, I conquered Battle Mountain! It’s a stunning (and sometimes stomach-churning, if you’re afraid of heights) drive as a passenger. As a driver, I was so worried about the road I didn’t pay very much attention to the scenery. The scenery IS amazing but I was focused on hairpin turns.

I got my hair done at Salon Axis which was fantastic. The closest salon to my house in Michigan was also an Aveda salon (ask for Amanda or Markesa) and that’s how I developed a bias. I started going to the salon when I decided I wanted a hairstyle and not a haircut, and let me tell you it made all the difference. Why do you care?

First, I am an internet snob. I googled to exhaustion attempting to find a place here in town (or close) and didn’t find a single website. Not even a FrontPage website. That’s disappointing for me, especially in a city with free wireless. As silly as it may sound, I find the internet to be more reliable than the phone book. Online I can find photos, pricing, or at least get a sense of how a business sees itself (or doesn’t). A good website will bring me to your business.

[example: great website vs. not my thing. Guess where I bought my scotch?]

Second, Aveda. I like Aveda products. I don’t find the scents to be overwhelming and – to a one – I have always found their salon stylists/designers to not only be talented, but HELPFUL. As in “Backcombing, let me show you it!” It can be pricy, but they do an excellent job with their client consults and I have never been disappointed when leaving. Today was no exception.

Third, I am challenging. I am lazy. I am not going to use much product. My hair is fine but there is a lot of it. Curling is out of the question but I’m willing to flat iron as needed. On top of that, I’ve been coloring my hair for the last six years – everything from all shades of red and brown, to a brief flirtation back to blonde, and then red and brown again THIS SUMMER. On my last stop at Shapers, Markesa knocked down the red and colored me a tone similar to my natural shade, but darker.

Salon Axis is located in the Riverwalk area in Edwards, which is a charming faux-town shopping area. Lots of restaurants and stores, but in the best possible imagination of a strip mall. It’s small, only five or six stations (if I recall correctly) but nicely appointed and with lovely wood floors. The waiting area is a bit narrow, but I always bring a book- today’s was Neil Gaiman’s Graveyard Book – or an mp3 player and pretty quickly don’t notice where I’m at regardless.

Kelly (my hair designer) was fantastic. Another midwest transplant, we had nice conversation about points of interest and places to visit. Most importantlyt, Kelly managed to lighten me up to practically my natural color and freshen up my style. I’m pretty fearless about my hair (which comes from having shaved my head) and was open to all-over color, corrective color, whatever needed to be done. She did the job skillfully with highlights and I love it. I also got a complimentary paraffin hand treatment which was OMG fantastic after three days of working a bar with no hand lotion.

Salon Axis in Edwards, CO

At any rate, I highly recommend the salon.

Before my appointment (I was a bit early) I had a raspberry croissant and hot chocolate at the French bakery a couple of doors down. Really, really good. I also stopped at the Village Market (in the same shopping area) before I drove home to pick up some extras for entertaining. They didn’t have Greek yogurt but they had Bulgarian yogurt and I was intrigued enough to buy it anyhow.

Main Street at Edwards, CO Riverwalk

I’m not sure if it’s a Wild West thing, but I have seen a LOT of these shopping areas in Colorado. They’re spectacular because they engender the feeling of being ‘in town’ in a really clever and attractive package. There is parking on the ‘street’ but also in underground parking garages. They’re structured in such a way that they can be expanded without losing that ‘hometown’ feeling (brick sidewalks, streets, et cetera) and don’t have the traffic of actually being ‘in town.’ They also mean a HUGE variety within a short walking distance, whereas ‘in town’ you’d probably have to drive a little ways for the same options.

I also took some Before photos of the living room today which will not be revealed until all (or a reasonable approximation) of the photos are hung.

Time to stop my rambling and get ready for bed.

Changes in altitude

One of the great things about moving to Colorado is the scenery. One of the challenging things about Colorado is the altitude. Once you get past the physical adjustments – and there are physical adjustments – you have the food adjustments.

Most high-altitude cookbooks I’ve come across are written by folk in Denver. Which is great. 5,300 feet up is definitely high altitude. I, on the other hand, am an additional 5,000 feet up. Right.

I found a baking book yesterday which I’m looking forward to trying out in the next couple of days. It’s got adjustments for folk over 8,500 ft as well as a recipe for All-Purpose Baking Mix and I’m thrilled. With a little luck, I’ll be back to baking bread and cakes like crazy!