The mornings come early on this trip. Maybe my body just doesn’t want to miss these fantastic sunrises, even though blinding off the white snow! We slept better in the cold, though; I left the window open in our room with the fan on. I had to be in my 20s when I woke; the heavy covers made it very warm under the covers, but whatever was hanging out froze! I went to get on my phone for my daily bible reading and could barely hold my ice-cold phone. So I promptly grabbed my robe, lit the fireplace, grabbed a cup of coffee, and cozied up next to the fire. It would still take a bit for any light to peak over the mountains and a couple of hours after that for the sun to break over.
I finished my bible reading and the accompanying recap video and began working on yesterday’s post. It’s a beautiful place to write here in the mountains. The solitude of this location and the mountain backdrop is awe-inspiring. I now see why authors find places like this to get alone and write. The words just flow well in a setting like this. It makes me want to start my book. I finally have a plan of attack on the structure of the book. We’d talked about combining my writing and Amanda’s, but I don’t think Amanda is up for that yet. I have become more inspired to do so in the last few months. Amanda gave her account, a testimony of the heart side of things, at a heart event back home last weekend. Many told her she needed to get her story out for more to hear. I have felt for many years she needs to do speaking events. A book could be the beginning of something like that.
She could be multi-faceted with the heart health events also in a church setting. We can’t separate God from our story, but she has a more secular version of her story, which everyone heard at the heart event. There’s another side that would be better suited for a church setting, but combining the two over a couple of sessions would be a powerhouse testimony. That would be best suited for a conference-type setting. I’ve always thought we could do an event like that; I don’t know how to even go about marketing it. I do feel when the time is right, God will open those doors.
Okay, back to our trip! Ryder was the second up in the house; I could tell by the sound of him blowing his nose. It’s a loud, distinctive sound you couldn’t miss, like an old man grunting and blowing his nose. It reminded me of all the mornings when that exact sound at camp and on mission trips woke me! Amanda was up a couple of hours after me, making coffee as soon as she got in the kitchen. Others followed shortly after. It was a dirty chai latte for me this morning. A friend at work recently turned me on to that, and I enjoy the chai tea with a shot of espresso, almond milk, and honey.
While we were waiting for some to get ready, the boys explored the hill opposite the front of the property. A large hill, a mountain in our area, runs along the south side of the property. We then headed out for breakfast at a place downtown.
Breakfast is my favorite; however, we intermittently fast now and skip breakfast. Not eating cheese, meat, or eggs puts a damper on breakfast vibes! If it’s a cheat day, breakfast is on the menu for me, but seldom for Amanda. Our friend’s last name is Rose, so we had to visit the Rose cafe for our breakfast, but it ended up being closed for renovations. There was another place just down the block that still had breakfast and lunch both still going. They ended up having better options for Amanda since she dislikes breakfast. She got a grilled eggplant sandwich. I had a traditional breakfast of biscuits and gravy with hash browns and a fried egg. I asked for green chilies, too; the waiter brought some along with another small pickled pepper he said was good on the biscuits and gravy. Most of the guys had the Porkarito, a big loaded pulled pork breakfast burrito.
After breakfast, we stopped by the coffee shop we liked and grabbed a latte before heading out. We were going to Wolf Creek Pass to see if there was any sledding around. Once out of town, the pastures became more snow-covered with some elevation gain.
At the pass sign, there is an open valley without any trees; I thought it would work well for the sleds. We milled around a bit, and the kids decided to walk to the other side to see what was on the far side. They would find a sign for snowmobilers alerting them to the dangers of going out and reminding them to have rescue gear and ensure their beacon was on. The valley was covered in snowmobile tracks. As the kids got back, we urged them to grab the sleds. The hills wouldn’t be as steep, but they got longer runs out of them here.
From there, we made our way to the Wolf Creek skiing area. We were all taken aback by how many people were there. Not planning on going in today we just stayed in the parking area. Nathan wanted to check it out and see the layout and if Kim would have an area to get into and sit while he and the kids skied. Amanda and I would skip skiing; with her new knee, it was one of the things listed as never to do. She can have her foot stopped into anything ridged. Not to mention, we’re both pretty accident-prone!
From there, we were heading out to find another sledding spot. We never found a good place but went to South Fork. Everyone needed a potty break, so I led the way to the visitor’s center. This center had the best greeters of any visitors center: 2 standard poodles, they were the most friendly girls! Their owner was staffing the center and was just as friendly, but I didn’t give him any pets. He was full of information, pointing us to a place with snowmobile rentals and a sledding hill at a park that had a skating rink with skates to use for free. This was a great experience compared to the visitors center Amanda and I went to in Creede in August. We stopped in there to use the restroom and look around. They acted like we didn’t exist; maybe they saw our Texas plates.
We checked the powersports place out first to get the details on rentals. They only offered full-day rentals to the tune of $400 a day, and the boys wouldn’t be able to drive. That wasn’t a good option for us, and Amanda didn’t have the gear for that kind of cold anyway. From there, we went to the park for sledding and the skating rink. The hill wasn’t very tall but steep, with ramps at the bottom. As hard as the snow was, it looked like a broken something would happen, so they skipped it and tried skating. That didn’t last too long because they were all horrible skaters! Amanda and I both watched from the top of the hill and weren’t even going to think about going out there!
Afterward, we returned for an early dinner at a pizza and tap house. When I say tap house, they had about 20 beer, wine, and cider taps, all self-serve. You got a wristband with a fob and were charged by the ounce. So you could taste test and see what you liked. I’d been to a wine bar in Iowa with the same concept, except they gave you cards you swiped. Both are a neat concept. We got a pizza off the menu with pesto and no meat. Bad idea for Amanda and me, that we don’t eat much cheese and oil; the pizza was oil slick! We both had to dab the oil off the top with napkins. Amanda even took most of the cheese off hers! We have become sensitive to the oiliness of foods.
Then, it was back to the house to hang out, and we did just that. The moon was rising as the sun set on the house’s opposite side. I first turned the fire pit on, thinking we’d sit outside, but we never did it. There was a little 90s country as background music, and we just chatted for hours. But by 7, it felt like after 10 for all of us, even the kids were tired. Smores were on the dessert menu. I had to show the kids the proper way to make a smore, marshmallow toasted to perfection, not burned, with a preheated gram cracker, and chocolate slightly melted. A non-burned marshmallow is a hot-button topic with many, and I like to argue about it; it is a hill I am prepared to die on! We hung out until almost ten or so, and everyone hit the sack early.
