Let me just start by saying, if you have never been to Colorado you NEED to go. Yes, I went a little later in the year for the snowboarding/skiing aspect but was still able snowboard.
There was no problem with my flights on the way out except for the fact that from CLT to DEN feels like 5 hours instead of the 3-3.5 that it's suppose to take. I might have been over it about an hour into the flight.
Note to self: bring something to entertain yourself with! When landing in Denver there was a nice place to eat inside called Modern Market that gives you a macro (protein, carbs, fat) count for each menu item and you are also able to get a half size, which was very nice because the macros counts on a regular were double what I needed. I did all the calculations in my head and then got the closest thing to it, half Fiesta Salad. And the receipt had a list of the half size macro counts on it as well (posted this picture on my instagram)
The flight from DEN to Hayden/Steamboat Spring was only 25min., so that was wonderful. It was nice that Colorado was 2 hours behind. It made it somewhat easy to keep up with the time difference but I did forget on occasion when checking facebook at 430am on my return flight and wondering why people were posting about working out so freaking early...o yeah, NC is two hours ahead! But who am I to talk about working out early. I get up at 330 and hit the gym by 5.
A fellow neighbor of mine moved out to Colorado 5 years ago and actually lives in the area of Steamboat so she was nice enough to pick me up from the airport. But how was I going to get around the rest of the trip? Steamboat's bus system is free! So that was wonderful. And the bus route was a straight line from the top of the mountain to the end of town.
-=CrossFit Steamboat=-
Note to self: 67/64 degrees in CO feels like the 70s in NC, wear shorts!
The first day at CF Steamboat everyone was really friendly. (Which they were nice both days.) It was funny, when I first got there a lady asked me if I was a regionals athlete. Very flattering of her but I honestly laughed in my head at that question. I told her I was an oly lifter and some asked me if I was going on join in on their class workout. So just got all stretched out while they did their workout. After I had just gotten started, two other guys came in during open gym to do some oly work and a small workout. The lady who had asked me if I was a regionals athlete came over and told them I was a real oly lifter, haha. I tried to help them out some when I was on breaks between my reps and then when they finished they asked what tips would I give to someone who was just getting started oly lifting, a true beginner. I gave them a few tips that I learned from my USAW course, and some things I have learned from my coach just from my form. Funny how you learn new things.
I do have to be a little understanding when it comes to dropping in at gyms and realizing that unless I'm in Europe or drop in at an oly gym all the weights are going to be in pounds and not kilos. It's just not CrossFit's thing in the USA. It is quite annoying to have to "calculate", thanks Siri, from kilos to pounds but if it calculated to 101lb from kilos I would just make it 105lb. I'm not a person for going under in weight when transferring from one to another. I definitely enjoy dropping in there. Plenty of space, and weights to use. It was a well equipped gym and didn't have trouble finding anything I needed or making myself at home.
Snowboarding
So last time I attempted anything related to snowboarding was when I was maybe at the end of elementary school/beginning middle school and my brother was in boy scouts. I was "taught" how to ski. And the only reason I have quotations around taught is because it didn't last very long. I couldn't stay in the cold long when I was younger because my circulation is terrible. Ha granted it still is. I get asked all the time what is wrong with my hands because they are constantly red and turn purple when I get cold, and it doesn't take long for me to get cold (20min when I was younger in the snow). So we went to Winter Place, I believe, for the boy scout ski trip. We got our skis and poles and of course we are playing around because we've never been on them. So then we are divided into groups for a ski lesson. I don't remember how long it was, but the first thing the instructor does is take our poles away and have us start moving in a circle. Welp, about 10min later I'm telling him I need to go inside because my hands are freezing. His response, "Keep moving around, they will warm up eventually." I can't tell you how many times I've had people tell me this in my life. And when I was younger I had no filter for my mouth like I do now that I'm older. So I think I moved around for about two more minutes before I took my skis off and went and got my mom with tears running down my face because I was so cold.
Fast Forward:
So, because it was a beautiful day in Colorado, 67 degrees, I was able to wear light layers. I mean I wore a tank top with a light lulu jacket over top of it. On a semi snow covered mountain. That's not heard of in NC! I was very lucky, my neighbor had extra gear...boots, pants, butt pads (cause it was my first time and I would be falling a lot), wrist guards, gloves, helmet, goggles, and she even had an extra lift ticket for me :)
We only went down the mountain once. Cause learning to snowboard is harder than it looks but it's easy to get good at. And yes, we started up the hill...no bunny slopes for me. She said it was easier to learn that way and I honestly believe it was. I did fall on my ass several times though and got a little frustrated but I wasn't going to let that stop me from getting down the mountain as best as I could. Plus who was going to come get me all the way at the top of the mountain anyway? I learned how to lean and turn, stop, stand up, and do falling leaf.
 |
| This is from the very top of the mountain...my first time snowboarding! |
Getting on and off lifts is a completely different story (I'm sure it's easier with skis ha). Stephanie, my neighbor from when I was younger, had them slow the lift down so she could try and help tell me how to get off...I ended up on my stomach face first in the snow. And then ducked for cover cause I was still close to the lift and didn't want to get hit in the head. Think duck and cover. That's what I looked like.
I wanted to go again the next day but don't know the mountain that well so I was afraid to go by myself. But it would be awesome to be able to do that one a regular basis.
🍓Strawberry Park Hot Springs🍓
 |
| In front of the snow cold river..in the hot spring. |
When you looked around everyone was being entertained by the people jumping into the river because it was so cold. And seeing some people's reactions were quite funny. I figured it was cold if people were jumping in and then people weren't even making it to the other side. So I'm not going to lie...I had to try it for the heck of it. And like I mentioned earlier, me and cold don't mix very well.
So I tried to ease my way into the snow cold water. Not a good idea. You're just suppose to go for it like in a cold swimming pool, just dive right it. And funny thing is, is at an actual pool, I would. But anyway. So I decided I would ease my way in. I could handle it about up to my thighs and then you just step off into the river. And in the process there were some words coming out of my mouth, nothing terrible though. But as soon as I stepped off and a little ways away from the steps I 100% turned my ass back around for those steps. But the funniest part of that is when Don decided to come with me to get in. He was on his way in as I was on my way out. And Don did it the right way, just dove right in making me even more wet and water hitting my face. My legs started to get splotchy red from the temperature change of the water hitting my skin when I switched back to the hot springs. We only stayed for about 20 more minutes after that.
Steamboat → Charlotte
My first flight was at 810 in the morning and that meant leaving for the airport at 6am...but why?! I want to say I got up at 430 that way I could make sure everything I needed was packed, took any extra food I had left over to my neighbor, and we headed off to the airport. We got there around 7 and had to wait about 20-30min after getting there for the check-in kiosks to open. We waited for around 45min-1hr and before we took off I had to call a friend. You remember the guy for 16.4 last year in DC? Well he's back! So we talked for a bit before I got on my flight and then headed out for Denver. Don was also on my early flight but he was taking the next plane from Denver to Missouri. Flying into Denver and seeing the snow capped mountains is really beautiful. And when we first took off I was looking for my neighbor Stephanie's house, no luck. We landed in Denver and I had to find a board to find where my gate to Charlotte was going to be. I found it, of course on the opposite side the airport I was already on, and then went and got some food. I was starving. I couldn't decide between the Modern Market or TCBY for a fruit smoothie with some whey added to it. I went with the smoothie.
After I got to my terminal they were asking for volunteers to be bumped from the flight, they had overbooked. Good job United. Yes, I was flying with United. Now cut me some slack I had booked my tickets back in February before this whole debacle had happened with the passenger who refused to get off when asked and got his face smashed in. I was a little worried about not getting to workout on Saturday, since my programming is Mon.-Sat. but coach said take the day to relax so it wasn't going to hurt me to have to miss my currently booked flight. I went up to the kiosk and asked when the next flight for Charlotte was (1.5hr after my current one), and was there any compensation for volunteering to be bumped....$400 flying voucher and a food voucher. So I volunteered. I'll take $400 toward another plane ticket please! Means I get to go travel more than I had already planned, so I'm perfectly okay with that. Now if they didn't need me to get off the flight I wouldn't get any of that but lucky for me they did and they booked me on the next flight to Charlotte....American Airlines on another end of the airport. I had to take the subway to get to the other side of the airport.
My luggage stayed on the United flight though and I just had to go to the United baggage claim when I got to Charlotte to pick it up. I took my food voucher and got a salad while on the plane so I could have dinner besides all the pretzels and biscotti they were handing out. I finally landed in Charlotte around 530 and then didn't head home until Sunday. There was no way I was going to drive back home after traveling all day!
It was an amazing trip, just wish I would have stayed longer....next time. And I'm going to snowboard more next time too.
No comments:
Post a Comment