Windy, snowy day and MORE skiing

Thursday, December 29, 2011

Today we were awakened early in the morning hours with howling winds, and blowing snow! By the time we go up and started breakfast, there was at least an inch of snow on the ground. We watched clouds flying by, dumping snow here and there, but mostly, we watched snow blow around, along with anything else not nailed down. We decided to stick close to home and not try to venture out into the wind to go skiing. It would not have been much fun either, as later in the day we saw they had closed a few lifts due to the high winds. These were not your average winds, either! 18mph sustained, with gusts to 50mph+, in some cases. There had also been a warning to those traveling, no high profile vehicles recommended over the high passes and the foothills into Denver. After feeling these winds rock our Mammoth with stabilizers down, I can imagine what that might do while driving.

After the sun came out in the afternoon, we decided to make a run to WalMart, in Frisco, CO just about 5 miles down the road. We bought discout lift tickets and a few other things we needed, then we drove down the Main Street of Frisco. It looks like a noce place to visit and shop, if we had more time.

We headed home, and Tony cooked a wonderful spaghetti meal. We had a little issue with two of the three burners on the stove not wanting to light, be we aren't worried, the weather could be a factor. We have had to refill two propane tanks already this trip, so maybe there is some air in the line causing the issue.

After dinner we watched one of my all-time favorite movies, "Better Off Dead", a teen movie from the 1980's staring John Cusack, that has a skiing theme. One of the noted quotes from the movie, a suggestion on how to ski a dangerous slope: "Go that way, really fast. If something gets in your way, turn!" Seems to apply to life, too, sometimes.

All in all, a relaxed day.

Friday, December 30, 2011

Today we got up early and got ready to go to the slopes. Breckenridge had 3 inches of snow, and the day was sunny and temps were milder than usual. We anticipated large crowds would eventually be doing the same thing, too! I had picked up some supplements yesterday (called SportLegz) that are recommended to help keep you from getting leg cramps during exercise, so we took them before hitting the slopes. We have taken them before, and they work! It's just hard to find them in stores when we go skiing. Well, the conditions were great, and the weather was perfect. Only the lift lines became the cramp in our day. We skied 14.3 miles today, and really had a great time.

Me on the lift (in blue)

Lift lines

Peak 8 base area

After we returned home, we had a knock at the door. Our new friend Ruth Ann stopped by to drop off a sweetbread dessert that she had made! We gave her a tour of our coach, messy as it was with ski stuff dumped everywhere. Oh well! You can tell we're right at home in the Mammoth.

After resting a while, we started planning our trip home, and realized there were some weather issues we need to consider. Another Severe Wind Warning was going into effect, and snow was predicted, as well. We decided staying put was in our best interest, so Tony headed up to the office to pay for another night, and I got our water filled again. As I was doing so, another Heartland Owner's Club member pulled in with their Road Warrior. We'll try to go by and meet them tomorrow.

Dinner was wonderful leftovers, and then relaxing, we watched one of the series of "The National Parks -- America's Best Idea" and I worked on the blog.

I can't believe this year is almost over. We've really enjoyed all of our Mammoth travels.

More Skiing and enjoying the RV life.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Today we took a leisurely approach and decided to sleep in and hang around the trailer. We decided to go skiing only a half day today, because our legs were still hurting slightly from before. We ate lunch and headed for the slopes, this time exploring Peak 8 and 9. We had a good time, but we couldn't go quite as long this day. Only 5.2 miles.

View of the slopes from the entrance to Tiger Run

Beaver Run Super Chair at Peak 9

Tony had set up the crock pot with chili-fixins before we left, so when we got back to the trailer, it was filled with the smell of chili! it was great to have another meal ready when we got back. We ate dinner and watched the movie "The Help", which Tony had rented on his iPhone for the trip. It was really good. We watched the news, and were forewarned of extremely high winds and possible snow starting tonight and on into Thursday.

New found slopes, and friends

Monday December 26, 2011

Today we got up and got ready for skiing. We had already scoped out the remote parking, where a shuttle would take us to the gondola, which would take us to the ski slopes. We had no trouble getting to the slopes, and had a great day skiing Peak 7 & 8, including green, blue, and even a black run! Thanks to an iPhone app, Tony tracked our runs and found we skied 7.2 miles.

Driving into town from Tiger Run

Peak 8, not too crowded yet!

Us after a fun day of skiing.

We had a great time, as lift lines weren't near as bad as we'd expected, and the runs were very much to our liking. The snow was not bad either, not too chewed up for this time of year and as little snow as they've had. Tony had prepared the crock pot with a pot roast before we left, so when we got back from skiing, dinner was done!

About the time we finished dinner, there was a knock at the door. Dan, the fellow Heartland 5ver owner, had stopped by to invite us to eat dinner/visit. We decided to pass, but set up a possible plan for tomorrow. We didn't do much the rest of the evening, and our legs were barking, but what a good day!

Tuesday December 27, 2011

Today we decided to give our legs a rest, and go shopping downtown, instead. We had a good lunch at Bubba Gump Shrimp Co, and we enjoyed visiting the local artist coop gallery to see unique pieces of local art. We realized that our three-hour time limit was up, so we didn't get to see everything. Oh well, it'll still be there.

Walking down main street, there's a good view of the slopes.

We headed home and took a nap, then met up with Dan and Ann for dinner. After dinner, we had a lovely time visiting them in their 2011 Landmark Rushmore, swapping ski, RV, faith, scrapbooking, golfing and travel related stories. It was really nice!



All over, a blessed day.

Mammoth goes to ski

Friday, December 23, 2011

Today we headed west, with the goal to get to Amarillo, or further if we could. Our final destination was Breckenridge, Colorado, but there were snowstorms in northwestern New Mexico, the corner of Colorado and the panhandle of Texas, that had us concerned. Parts of the highways were closed for a time. We headed out by 6:45am, and made good time. The road to Clayton, NM was closed, and so was our alternate route, further into New Meixco, so we stopped in Amarillo and got to visit family, go out to eat, and then open Christmas gifts. Overall, it was a wonderful time, even if we didn't get to our intended destination!

Sunset in Amarillo, TX

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Today we again got up super-early, wished our relatives a Merry Christmas Eve, and headed out. The roads were surprisingly clear, for having just been closed the day before. We had no trouble at all getting from Amarillo to Raton, and over Raton Pass. There was quite a bit of snow on the ground and evidence of heavy drifting. It was quite a sight!

Sunrise with the Mammoth in the side mirror

Mammoth getting fuel in Dalhart, TX

Going over Raton Pass

Capulin Volcano National Monument

We can see mountains!

Large herd of Antelope

Rest area

We decided to stop for lunch in Trinidad, at a McDonalds which advertised RV friendly parking. At first it appeared as though the restaurant was right off the highway, but once on the service road, we realized we would have to drive around a city block and over a bridge and cross some railroad tracks to get to it. No big deal, right? Except that there was 6" of snowy packed slush everywhere, and piles of snow lining the lanes. Needless to say, I think we earned those big macs and half the lot to park... 4x4 and a little snow-plowing of our own got us there, and back out... Unless it's all clear, we won't be back.

RV parking at McDonalds in Trinidad, CO

We pressed on, and soon realized we'd need diesel before we got to Denver. I checked our "Next Exit" book to find the nearest truck stop, and we took the exit. Unfortunately, the location wasn't clear, and there was a similar gas station at the same corner, so we passed it up. Upon doing so, we missed the entrance to I-25 and had to take another adventurous snowpacked route to get back to the truck stop to fuel up. The truck and trailer didn't have any issues with this, but it did slow down our progress. LOL!

Once again on the road, we figured we were not that far from our final destination. Only 120 miles to go, and even though we'd arrive after dark, we couldn't see stopping as an advantage when we were so close. The drive into Denver and around the loop went fine, and soon we were on I-70. Not my most favorite of roads because of the fast local drivers, but we maintained our safe speed and made it through the Eisenhower Tunnel and down to Frisco, just fine.

Sunset from I-70

Eisenhower Tunnel

I-70

We got to Tiger Run Resort in Breckenridge about 5:25, and got checked in. We then worked to get water, electricity and heat going, not worrying about having the 5ver all level... It was in the low 20s already! Once we got hooked up, Tony made a quick dinner and we settled in to get warm. I think we were in bed by 9pm. Our heating pads and extra precautions for winter staying all worked as planned.

We're in site 339

Sunday, December 25, 2011 Christmas Day

We woke up way too early today, but probably because of our early rising the two days prior, and the time change to the Mountain Time Zone. We enjoyed seeing all the Christmas posts on Facebook from friends and relatives all over. The morning temp was a brisk 10 degrees, so we snuggled in for a while. About mid morning Tony got out and worked on a few things we didn't get to last night, like setting the stabilizers and hooking up cable. He also refilled our freshwater tank. The sun was shining, and it felt good outside! We ventured out to see if we could get some groceries that we did not bring. As we left, we stopped and met Dan Mayer, a fellow Heartland owner, from Austin, who was outside working on his satellite hookup. I had been chatting with him on the forum and we had been emailing back and forth about road conditions on the way to Breck. He invited us to the Pot Luck supper the Resort will have at the clubhouse tonight.

Luckily, the CityMarket supermarket was open, so we got what we needed, and came back home to eat lunch. After relaxing a bit, we ventured out to see where things were around town. Many stores downtown were open, I guess since its a big tourist destination. It was busy! After that, we drove through the Resort to see what was what. There are many individually owned cabins here, but also individually owned RV spaces. Some are even combo, where you can have a cabin and an RV space. These 'lots' are expensive, but supposedly become money-makers, As the Resort can rent your space or cabin when you are not using it. The Resort has many amenities, and is very well cared for. When we got back home, Tony baked cookies.

At 5, we headed over to the Pot Luck, and had a nice time visiting with Dan and his wife, Ruth Ann. We'll probably visit more with them during our time here. We came home and prepped our gear for skiing tomorrow, then crashed to watch tv and catch up on the blog and other Internet folly. All said, it was a very relaxing, lazy Christmas Day.

A Family Reunion for Mammoth

October 5-9, 2011

Wednesday, the Mammoth headed to Canton, TX and Mill Creek Ranch, for the Texas Chapter of the Heartland Owner's Club Rally.  Their scrolling sign said, "Welcome Heartland Owners Club Rally." Tony headed out after school, and I joined them later that evening. The Rally was to be held Friday and Saturday, but there were already a few rigs there! Tony had already been visited by a few of the attendees and our Chapter Leaders, Jay and Stella. 

The next morning, Tony headed back to work before sun-up, and I stayed around the trailer for some work, even though I was technically supposed to be off for the day. After a while I decided to stop working and go for a walk, to see what was happening around the park. I met some of the group, sitting around and having coffee. It was like visiting old friends, as many of them are active on the forum, and they are just as helpful and friendly in person! After a while I got an urgent message from work, so I had to say goodbye. After much trial and error, I realized I needed to go outside the park to see if I could get a firewall-free wifi signal to  do some changes to a file on my work computer. Once I returned, I again decided to visit with folks and relax a bit. I showed a couple of people the Mammoth, as well.

Once Tony got finished with school for the day, he came back to the RV park, and we had dinner. He brought Baker's BBQ, as there was one right at the exit to the RV Park! It was wonderful. Even though Tony was tired, we went for a walk and met up with some more folks that were hanging out and visiting. About 9:30pm, the group started to thin, so we said good night. Both of us had to work the next day.

Friday, we both went to work. I got back about 5:30pm, so I walked around the sites and took pictures... It had filled up! We had 26 sites full of Mammoth's brothers and sisters and cousins: Landmark, BigHorn, BigCountry, ElkRidge, Sundance, and NorthTrail were all represented. I decided to stop and visit with a couple from Mansfield, JD and Glenda. We had a lot in common, and talked for a long time! Tony got back to the park about 11:30pm, after his football game. (Terrell lost, 56-6 to Forney.)

Saturday morning we slept a little late... it was after 8 before we got up. We had a wonderful breakfast, and got ready to go over to the RV Dealer nearby, ExploreUSA, for some of the Rally's festivities. We got to go through many of the Heartland rigs, and then they hosted a fish fry for us! It was good food and company, but they needed more seating for us all. After the food, every couple got to put their tickets into the hat for a drawing for one of two 32" televisions! We didn't win, but what a nice giveaway! After that we headed back to the RV Park to visit about starting a North Texas Chapter of the Owner's Club. Jay kept looking our way and dropping hints! We would love to be a part of it, but not sure we can devote the time to do it justice, right now.

 

After the meeting, we took a needed nap, then got ready for the pot luck dinner. Tony and I prepared a pot roast and had put it into the crock pot right after breakfast. It was delicious! There were too many dishes to try them all, but everything I tried was out of this world! After dinner, we had door-prize drawings, and everyone walked away with a prize, and some, two! 

After that many folks headed back outside to gather and visit. I decided to stay and play Mexican Train, a dominoes game, with 7 others, and we had a blast. The facility had to close at 10pm, so we stopped play. We walked out and discovered it had started to rain! This is the first real rain we've seen in a month, and I can't recall when we were in the Mammoth last when it rained. It was welcome! Tony had been hanging out with JD, while Glenda and I were playing dominoes. We exchanged info with them, so we could keep in touch.

Sunday morning we were slow to get moving, so Tony slipped out and got us donuts. Wow! I had the best Apple Fritters! why is it everything tastes better in the Mammoth? We were watching the radar and realized that heavy rain was on its way, so we decided to go ahead and get ready to leave. We packed everything up, took Eileen's picture, said our goodbyes, and got out by 11:45am. 

We took Mammoth straight back to storage and unloaded. It finally started raining in Terrell by mid afternoon.

Overall, we had a great time, and really enjoyed visiting and meeting new folks and "old" forum friends. We are looking forward to the next Rally opportunity!