Alpine Meadows Steamboat Springs

... fresh coating of snow made everything pretty and white. The trip took less time than we thought so there was time for us to check into the hotel before heading off to meet Boo after his afternoon class. He took us to his favorite pizza place where we grabbed a slice and caught up. Afterwards we headed back to his place and watched some Ghostbusters and ski movies for the rest of the afternoon.

Movie time ended ...

... a long time. It was tough going and by the time I got to 50mile it was dark. I threw up my tent off the road near some hunters RV’s went over to let them know I was there then cooked and ate. In the morning **** hit the fan. It was raining heavily. I walked in the rain to get my food I’d tied in a tree over and down the road, then back to cook porridge in the tent, flame on low! The weather was settling in and I knew it wasn’t leaving too quickly ...

... kelli again around 5:30 back at the base of the ski area. At 7:30 there was a parade down the slopes by the ski patrol. They held a red light in each hand. it was very cool! Afterwards they had fireworks at the top of the mountain. Steamboat is easy to get around in because they have free bus service anywhere in town. They run until 1:30 am.

... find Kelli. We met at a bar called "Slopeside". Everyone was sitting outside at tables set on the snow. The sun was out and it felt really warm. I think I saw Jessie from the Batchelor there with some of his friends. We partied the night away and got home aroune 10.

... and the view is just amazing!Also went for another little hike up the other side of Steamboat for more amazing scenery amd dropped in on the local ice rink where there was a local ice hockey game in progress - man - those guys are padded up but I don't blame them - awesome! Monday - my last day in Steamboat. Off for a look at the famour Walmart - yep - Big W but 100 times bigger. Tick. Then we had a look aorund the golf course, primarily ...

... is The Nordic Lodge. We stop and are told that they have a suite for US$ 110. It's a really nice room, so we splurge. The owners are indeed Norwegians, and extremely pleasant. Rabbit Ears goodbye! After a wash and brush up, we sally forth into Lincoln Street to search for sustenance. Steamboat is similar to Park City and Jackson in ...

... a reservoir in the desert. Watching the sun go down and the moon come up from the campfire I had built was very peaceful. Then, with me supposedly 50 miles from the nearest human, a light comes over the hill. As I had a fire, I could hardly hide. So, I called out a greeting and invited the torch on down. It turns out that the torch was a chap called Tim's bike light. He is doing the route south to north and had a late finish. It was nice to have some company and to help out a ...

... friendly people. The township is very quaint and we walk up and down the main street. I find a great shop with Christmas decorations and have a hard time selecting what I want. I am a sucker for Christmas decorations and finally choose a snow globe that hangs on the tree, with two skier inside sitting on a chairlift. That should be a good memory everytime I hang it on the tree. I will come back to this store one day without ...

... then... Michele arrives in Denver around 11:30 p.m. Colorado time and will drive out to Steamboat Springs. It'll taker her 3-4 hours to drive depending on how fast she goes... We'll sleep for a couple of hours... I work ALL day tomorrow, but I'll get a couple of hours off between lunch and dinner. She'll probably hike tomorrow and set-up our camp (we're ...

... s a man with a plan to move to NYC from VA. What he doesn't know is that a few friends and I are visiting him come Christmas time to see all the beautiful decorations! ;o) I guess he knows now... Which reminds me, if you get/have AOL instant messenger, my screen name is hlminer. I'm usually on later in the evening... I'd love to chat at some point!! Not having a phone is truly ...