So last Fall my surf buddy moved inland and broke my heart. Well, not really. But sort of. You don't often find a friend who is willing to deal with you at 6:30 in the morning, pre-caffeination, spend hours in the car driving to and from the beach, and handle the sight of you peeling yourself out of a wetsuit. Have you ever tried to get out of a wetsuit? It's not a pretty sight.
Anywho, this buddy and I became close friends quickly - really we're the same person. Our pets are even the same - she has a pitbull version of Bug. It's uncanny. So when she moved inland I was really down about the fact that I have no one to surf with and also she's a friend who over the summer grew to be one of my inner circle but is now a 4-hour plane ride away. But guess what? I'm a winter sport kind of girl. So Denver really should be my second home.
So I have a list taped to my mirror at home. On it I've written really random things I'd like to accomplish in life. And I mean REALLY random. Examples: See Northern Lights; See a lion in the wild; Bake a Chocolate Souffle. See what I mean? One of the items is "Snowboard Out West". So obviously I wanted to check that item off, now that I have a friend to visit in Denver. So this past weekend I flew out and we spent two days riding at Breckenridge.

I didn't bring my own board because I'm a worrier and I just had this feeling that if I checked my board it would get broken. And then I would cry. So I rented the Solomon "Oh Yeah" board from Christy's and loooooved it. I came home intending to buy it and my father ended up talking me into a Never Summer board instead (there are serious perks to having a father who's an instructor). "But Dad, is it pretty?" I asked over the phone when he was placing the order. "Yeah, Steph, I made sure to get you the pretty board." I could feel his eye roll from thirty miles away.
I have spent most of my time snowboarding over the years alone. My dad is usually off giving a lesson and I don't have many friends into skiing/snowboarding so I just got used to riding the lifts alone. I never really minded it much until this weekend. It is so much fun riding with a friend! Surf Buddy challenged me, convincing me that I could totally handle going down a black diamond. And I feel like I got even more confidence over the course of the weekend, which is huge because ever since my accident I always have an element of fear in each run. To each of my friends and family members who worried I was going to lose another tooth on this trip - aside from a bruised tailbone I am in one piece. I'm not that accident prone.
There were moose sightings both days - on Saturday a lift had to be shut down due to a charging moose, and anyone who knows me well knows how excited I get by wild animal sightings. So I was really bummed to miss both moose. Not that I wanted to be charged, but still, it would have been cool to see.
Lastly, I would just like to say that I have always had a soft spot for chairlift guys. They make me melt. I can't explain it. Something about snowpants, beards and being friendly just gets to me. I assume they are friendly with everyone who gets on the lift, but the guys at Breckenridge seemed particularly friendly. One even made a joke about the ski bikes that were in line behind me and then offered to go tandem bike skiing with me. I don't believe they have invented those yet, but when they do - it's a date.
But now I am back in Beantown and that means getting back to writing. And Thursday is the start of Spring and that means surf season soon!
Happy Reading!
~Stephanie
This sounds like an awesome trip! I would be happy to take a few beach trips with you this summer! Maybe even a trip or three down Cape to visit my parental units? Beware: my skin can only handle so much skin. Luck of the Irish! :)
ReplyDeleteAlso: I'm so glad you loved Last Days of Summer! My mom and brother "couldn't get into it" - sigh.
SUN. my skin can only handle so much SUN. Whoops.
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