Colorado winter January - March '15

December 2014
Stu had a terms Long Service Leave owing to him, which the Department was forcing people to use up, so I convinced him to go back to Colorado, especially after winning a season pass to Winter Park and Connie and Bill had previously offered him the use of the condo again.  So after Kristoffer and Asha's wedding

 and Joshuah's 19th birthday, Stuart flew back to Denver with his friends Will and Sonia and I stayed behind.

The plan was for Will and Sonia to ski/snowboard with Stuart for a couple of weeks, before some other friends from Australia flew over to ski/snowboard with him for a few more weeks.

 I arrived after Will and Sonia had gone and Stu surprised me by being down in Denver when Connie and Bill picked me up.  It was lovely to see him after 6 weeks away from each other.  We spent a couple of days in Denver with Connie and Bill in their lovely new home, before Stu, Lindsay and I drove up to Dillon where we had a house exchange condo.

It was pretty comfortable...a garage, 3 bathrooms, 2 bedrooms, good sized kitchen, dining and family room.  It was so good to be back in Colorado and the snow and Stu and I spent a day visiting familiar places that I will never tire of...especially when there is snow everywhere.

After a few days we packed up and drove to Winter Park which isn't far...except when a snowstorm hits.

It was a treacherous Berthoud Pass we crossed over, with snow dumping and not a snow plough in sight!

Lindsay did a great job of driving as we were all squashed into the car, with bags, skis and a snowboard on the roof!  It was a tight fit in the car, driving up and down winding, steep roads.

We finally arrived in Winter Park and as we were driving up the hill towards the condo, the wheels started spinning out...over a railway crossing....not going anywhere.  So we all piled out as the snow was dumping and pushed the car off the railway crossing.  Lindsay drove a bit further uphill then waited for us.  We all jumped back in the car...until we got to another hill and the car started sliding again.  This time there was the chance it could go off the side of the road, so we all pushed it again and it took about 15 mins to go about 30 metres....snow dumping, wheels sliding.....a whole lot of fun.

We were pretty happy to finally arrive at the condo and we later heard there had been a 5 car pile up outside a resort near Winter Park..noone hurt, but cars sliding everywhere.

 Here is a link to A Day in the Life of Winter Park, featuring the car being pushed up the hill....A Day in the Life of Winter Park
 So the guys went up the mountain everyday and enjoyed time going up and down the slopes....while I had the condo to myself, catching the bus downtown every couple of days and enjoying walks throughout the townsite. 

But my favourite time was taking in the amazing view from the condo.

Stu and I would go and explore after he got back from snowboarding, sometimes ending up thigh deep in snow! Here's a video of one afternoon in Winter Park....Winter Park Snow

and I just loved seeing Winter Park at night and sitting around the firepit to keep warm.

There is a great little tobogganing area in the townsite and Stu gave it a go, with only a couple of mishaps.....Surfing the snow
 Phil went back to NSW before Lindsay but before he left Barb and Ken came up and spent the day on the mountains with them and we all went out for dinner together.

Lindsay drove Phil to DIA, and what should have been a 1 1/2 hr one way trip turned into a 6 hr trip with another snowstorm and major traffic pileups...and another spinning episode for Lindsay on an off ramp!
Lindsay, Stuart and I went out for happy hour a couple of times to Devil's Thumb Ranch where we enjoyed $2 pints, great views and an endless supply of s'mores by the pit fire that I think was for guests only.  Stuart and Lindsay would have put them out of s'mores business if we'd gone back for a third night!

It was pretty sad to leave Winter Park knowing that we will probably never go back there, and definitely knowing we won't be back at the condo as Connie and Bill were putting it on the market.  We are so grateful to them for letting us use it and I know all the Aussies (West Australians and New South Welshmen) all appreciated it.

Here are links to some more Winter Park videos from Stu:
  The Cirque..Winter Park
This is not a snow plough area ...just sayin'
Winter Park Jumps
Mary Jane Tree Runs

The drive back to Denver was uneventful (fortunately)

and Stu and I spent a night with Connie and Bill

before catching up with Janice (CITEL) who introduced us to an Ethiopian restaurant, where we shared a plate of interesting food, followed by Voodoo Doughnuts, which were disgustingly sweet!

 Lindsay picked us up from Janice's and we all drove to the airport...Lindsay was flying back to Australia and we were picking up another hire car and beginning the next leg of our adventures.