The One About Firsts

Well, friends and fam, the title ain't no stinkin' liar! The trip to visit Alex's parents last week was a trip chalk-full of firsts for this West Texas girl.

Let's make a quick list:

- I had never held a gun, much less shot one ... did it!

- I had never driven, winding up a mountain packed with ice and snow ... did it!

- I had never feared death by plunging hundreds of miles off a cliff ... did it!

- I had never been in the middle of a "white out" (albeit, very briefly) ... did it!

- I had never been 12,000 feet high without an airplane ... did it!

- I had never gotten drunk on a single beer (altitude, oh, altitude) ... did it!

- I had never ridden in a high-speed gandola through mountains ... did it!

- I had never successfully mounted and dismounted a ski lift ... did it!

- I had never snow skied all the way down a huge mountain ... did it!

- I had never realized how much FUN skiing can be ... did it!

So, as you see, the trip was quite eventful. I got back to Austin on Monday afternoon, and I am seriously STILL tired. I feel like I need a vacation after my vacation.

We had a blast, though! As is obvious, I had never done almost everything we did this trip. It is how Alex grew up, though, so I thought it was somewhat important to overcome some fears (hello, tiny 2-lane roads winding straight up and around MONSTROUS mountains, with no guard rails, while it is snowing like nuts, with ice and all kinds of snow packed on the road!) and just go for it. You only live once, right?

Telluride was very nice; although, we stayed in Mountain Village, which is about halfway up the mountain and slope-side. Telluride, the town, from what we could tell in the hour we were actually in the town, is a cluster of messiness. It looks like it just exploded one day without much planning beforehand. (Remieniscent of the city where I currently reside. Hmmmm.) Mountain Village was lovely, though. We stayed in a lodge next to a high-speed gandola that took us to the ski lifts and shops and places to eat. The ride was about 5 minutes, if it didn't get stuck from someone freaking out about getting on or off.

We were in Telluride from Monday to Wednesday, in Aztec from the Friday before until Monday morning, then back in Aztec from Thursday to Saturday. We went to Durango a few times ... it is only about half an hour from Aztec, where his parents live. We strolled around "historic" downtown and ate and drank and had good times. The rest of the time ... which wasn't much ... was spent at his parent's house, hanging out.

It snowed a lot while we were there. It snowed A TON in the mountain while we were there. I think the only actual break we got was when I was having my skiing lesson on Tuesday.

I decided to take a lesson, as opposed to Alex or his dad teaching me. The sole reason is because neither of them can recall learning how to ski. Alex has been doing it since he was about 4, and his dad has been doing it all of his life as well. I am the very definition of beginner snow person, having grown up vacationing at the beach and the lake, and not in the colder climates. So, nervousness on my part was much to be expected. I saw no reason for frustrations and arguments, though I'm not even sure there would have been any. I just felt better going out on my own, with someone who is used to seeing clumpsy folk on skis.

It worked out splendidly in the end because I was given a "private all-day lesson." I didn't pay the amount that anyone would ever pay for it, but, instead, lucked out in meeting my instructor-to-be in the gandola that morning, then having him request to just take me to the top of the mountain alone.

His name was Seth, and he was awesome! He pushed me, but not in an irritating way. We laughed most of the day. I did fall coming off of the ski lift many times before I got the motion down, and I definitely fell TONS throughout the day. Stopping was tricky, and my upper body definitely felt the effects of dragging my butt off of the ground hundreds of times by the end of the day.

I'm proud to say that I went all the way to the top of the mountain and wound down by the end of the day on greens. No blues or blacks for quite some time, I feel!

I will certainly need more practice, as one day does not an expert skier make, but I am definitely willing to continue learning and trying. Being horrible and somewhat timid was still fun, I imagine being good and confident is a total blast.

That was really the highlight of the trip for me. I think everyone can envision the rest of the trip without me having to go into detail. We were on a mountain. It took some tedious work to get us there, but ... we made it.

Altitude does get you, though. Maybe not 7,000 feet or less ... but 9,000 and up ... yeah, you feel it. The first day, I was winded walking from the car to the hotel room. Believe me when I say that has NEVER happened to me before!

Does make for some cheap dates, though ...

We also went up into the foothills by his parent's house and did some shooting while I was there. Alex grew up knowing how to shoot, and all of my family (well, my mom and Kay and Norbs) all know how to shoot pretty well. It's not something I would ever care to do directed at anything other than bottles, but ... I think it's probably important to know how to at least handle a gun, as a defense-only kind of thing.

I now know. That's about all I can say about that. Oh, I will add one interjection ... the buggers are a lot heavier than they look. I was shocked. So were my shoulders.

So, that was my trip in a nutshell. I had a little solo time in Lubbock with the family before flying to Albuquerque, and also after the trip and before driving back to Austin. It's always nice.

I did take some pictures, as did Alex's mom. As soon as I receive her batch, and organize mine to a point of showing, I will post a little strip for everyone to check out. I'm not sure when that will be. Most likely early next week.

In the meantime, Alex and I are both back in Austin together, trying to get back to our regular routines after being gone for 2 full weeks, still waiting to figure out what our next move will be in a mere few months.

(More on that later ... as I do have half of the puzzle put together, but am still waiting on the very central piece.)

Happy Weekend!