Day 63: Home Again

Everyone has a place where they go to get recharged.  My place is in the heart of the mountains, primarily Keystone.  I lived there for two years out of college and it was a good experience, but not great.  I still cannot pinpoint why this is my place of peace, yet I am drawn there when my soul needs some extra happiness.

You can get to Keystone two ways;  by taking 70 West to Silverthorne and then cutting through Dillon or by taking Loveland Pass.  When I lived there four years ago I was terrified of taking Loveland Pass.  It’s huge, cliff like, icy and filled with  hitch-hikers wanting a ride to the top of the Pass (to ski/board down).  Today, I chose fear and took the high road because I was in need of having my breath taken away from me because of something so naturally beautiful.

I skied Keystone’s barely there snow for two and a half hours today.  I even made it a point not to wear my headphones while taking the chairs/gondola and strike up conversations with my fellows skiers.  Lately I have noticed that the more chatty I am with strangers, the happier I feel, even if the talk is minimal

Here is a list of what I learned from my fellow ski-goers:

• I learned that when Polish men say “bear” it sounds like “beer” and that makes for an awkward conversation.
• Two bro-brahs that smell like weed will in fact light up a joint every time they ride up with me (without fail).
•  That when you love your high school sweetheart you should marry them.  This came from a man who never stopped loving his and reunited with her at their 40th high school reunion.  Thanks for the tip, don’t mind if I do!
• The same bro’s judge whether you’re cool (aka they can smoke next to you on a lift) based off of what your goggles look like.  Note to self: buy the world’s dorkiest goggles
• Lots of Hoosiers fans live in the high country.  By the way, who isn’t a Hoosier fan right now!?
•  The Continental Divide (that’s located close to the mountain) brings in a lot of wind which unfortunately makes a lot of snowstorms miss Keystone Mountain (I don’t know if this is true, but the man seemed smart so I thought I should pass this along).

After my soul was drenched in mountain love I met up with an old friend who reminded me simply that, “as long as you’re having fun in life, then you’re winning.”  Continuing on my high from my friendly meetup and my day of winning, I headed to my favorite bakery in Silverthorne, Blue Moon.  I ordered my old favorite belly-busting jalapeno bagel with jalapeno cream cheese and happily ate while driving back down to Denver and into my improved and lovely life.