Spring Breck

View of Breckenridge, CO from the gondola.

Much like Punxsutawney Phil, I’ve finally popped my head up out of the hole that was my weekend at Breckenridge, and blinking, stepped into the sun. Verdict? Apparently Spring [Break] came early this year, as my REAL last official Spring Break actually started last night at 5:30. That being said, while I don’t have classes, I have work. And catching up on reading. And drafting a press release surrounding this legislation business.  And catching up on bad tv. And two consecutive nights of volleyball playoffs that may or may not equate to up to six hours of play over two nights. Just writing that bored/exhausted me, so I’ll tell you all about my fake Spring Break instead!

Friday – March 2, 2012

As part of the “early crew,” I boarded my United flight around noon on Friday with Tiger Beat and Big Law. Approximately ten minutes before we landed in Denver, I realized that I forgot pajamas. Better than forgetting socks?

We waited a while for our rental car (an entire family of South Americans were renting individual cars and each being upsold by the predatory salesmen), but

Not enough booze to last us four nights…

finally hit the road in our totally appropriate Chevy Malibu (‘Bu). The two-hour journey was pretty painless, but none of us had really eaten and were therefore “hangry.” For those of you unfamiliar with this term, it’s a delightful state where you’re so hungry that you’re angry. We dropped off our bags at the condo,  checked out the room/hot tub situation, assessed the condo’s spice/condiment

situation, and promptly jumped back in the ‘Bu for a dinner/grocery run. After eating the best pizza in the world, we bought some bagels, bacon, and enough beer to last us all weekend*.  The rest of the crew arrived around 11. We were… otherwise occupied. All in all, ten of us converged on Breckenridge with a hunger for ridiculousness…

Saturday – March 3, 2012

We woke up early to get into town for our ski equipment. Normally, I would rock my own, but it was actually cheaper to rent than check my boots/skis. NOT AT ALL OBNOXIOUS. This turned out to be fortuitous, though, as the rental guys were total brahs who were amused by a) my sock monkey hat (thanks, dad!); and b) our general group dynamics. After discussing the need to ski a run called Devil’s Crotch (a double black/STD  where burning and maybe bruising was totally expected), I was fitted for boots and told that I have “total normal girl foot”. I responded that that sounded like a disease, the guy fitting me stated that we “talked a lot about weird diseases.” They also talked among themselves about $1 tacos/$3 pitchers at a Mexican place around the corner that may or may not have come up as a possible dinner location for us that night…

Oh, and then we skied! Skiing on Saturday was more of an after thought, as it was -15, ridiculously windy, and snowing. Still, we had a solid day that ended with fitting 10 people in a 4-6 person hot tub and dinner at Breckenridge Brewery. It was at the latter that I was offered a seat by an older Brit, as well as “one chip.” By chip, he meant french fry. What a silly British man! This group of elder Brits also ordered a nice bottle of wine to pair with their buffalo wings. Ski towns bring out the crazy.

Sunday – March, 4, 2012

3 of the 10 were signed up for a lesson, so the rest of us hit the mountain surprisingly early. We grabbed a woman at the top of the mountain (another

Brit!), who took this really well-framed picture of us. For the record, my camera has zoom capabilities because it was invented after the Civil War. We met up with the lesson folk for aprés ski around 4p at a bar at the base of the mountain. Aprés ski in a ski in/ski out location always cracks me up. What’s a better idea than downing a few beers at a high altitude and then skiing down a mountain to your home? Four O’Clock (aptly named after the “last call” time for the ski lifts), the run that took us back to our condo, felt a little like Lakeshore Drive at rush hour — which is a really good time to be drunk skiing. Luckily, we all survived, as that night we hosted the Power Hour lovingly created by Windkick for the trip. The Power Hour consisted of the #1 Billboard hit, as well as an Editor’s Pick, from the last 30 years. The highlight of the evening was inviting the pizza guy in to join us. The kid, who must have been 19, chugged the Coors Light we gave him, and pocketed another for the road. We told him to “come back after his shift with some more ladies.” Oh, for the record, we were in bed by 9:30p. #old

Monday – March, 5, 2012

Woke up to another morning of bacon and coffee (maybe the best part of any ski trip?). Sunday – Tuesday we had absolutely fantastic weather: 40-45

Winning cocktail – Popcorn. In other news, don’t need a manicure at all…

degrees and sunny. Apparently, we were very lucky, as a guy on the ski lift told us that the past few weeks had been freezing and blustery.  I earned the title of “Most Fun on the Ski Lift” for the laughter that seemed to echo through the trees — and for making friends with the weathered ski bums that always wanted to impart advice. Windkick and I spent an entire day laughing about an emergency room filled

TODD THE FOX!

with victims of a YAK ATTACK. (We saw no yaks, only tracks.) After another solid day of skiing, we did a group yoga session to stretch out our poor muscles (never before have I ever uttered the phrase “Ahhh my kingdom for a foam roller!”), popped some wine, and settled in for an inaugural Cocktail contest (Cock-Off), and our traditional Family Dinner. The winner of the Cock-Off received a T-Pain mic — it suspiciously went to Best Friend’s fiance after our cocktail was deemed “a winner… if only it were drinkable.” Post drinks, we settled down for dinner, only to get a special visitor! We fed Todd some raw bacon – he’s clearly well-fed – after reading in the guest book that he enjoyed processed meats. Other things we read in the guest book just have to be shared, as it seems that previous guests might have been under the influence of mind-altering substances…

Tuesday – March, 6, 2012

Our last day in Breckenridge had us sore and sleepy… and without any coffee. We sat around eating bacon and packing while we waited for Best Friend to return with a box o’ Joe from Starbucks. After three days of doing the equivalent of 4-hour wall sits, my legs officially gave out after a few runs. I happily hunkered down in the sunshine with a cappuccino and F. Scott Fitzgerald’s shorts while I waited for the rest of the group to finish for the day. With our flights departing at 8p, we managed to grab some Mexican for lunch before hitting the road. Unfortunately, we got to the airport just as the only earlier flight was taking off, so we were left with three hours to nurse a few beers. I finally crawled into bed a little after 1a.m., excited to be home but anxious for the work I had been avoiding.

Breckenridge was a great time, but with it sitting pretty in my rear view mirror, I’m very much looking forward to my next great adventure…