Ice Skating Beaver Creek

So in our cash strapped situation we have been looking for low cost alternatives to entertaining ourselves. Now we thought $12 each for skate rentals and rink access was fairly good, untill Daniel (typically) started talking to much as we were organising our skates and discovered we were actually entitled to a $10 discount as a result of a company merger that happend the previous week... So for $2 each we all got to strap on some skates and carve up the ice on the out door (fireside) Beaver Creek Ice Rink. Infact many firesides because down one side of the rink was lined with out door luxury couches on either sides of large coffee tables that contained burning log fires in their centre - how romantic!

But we were there for the skating....


Donald in full flight.... ..Eric (Melbourne) is Brooke (above) and Richards new Roomie for the season.


Rooms 104 and 002 on sk8s .......Brooke, sexy in skates...........Richard flexing his manliness

I have no idea what the purpose of this lego car was but it provided us with some additional photos and entertainment...

My best wheel of fortune pose...... while richard thinks he has figured out why we were not able to drive it back down to Buffalo Ridge. And incase you were wondering... no that is not Richard and Erics love child... the young lad was minnesotan lad named Luke that we all loved because he was the best skater in the rink, and his father was the nicest american cop I had ever met (and he also guessed right when I told him so... he happened to be the first one aswell :)

First Turns At Breckenridge

A BIG thanks to Donald for making this trip happen.

Breckenridge is probably about a 40 minute drive from Avon, and there is no bus link that we know of... all set up with our gear BUT no work or training... the most logical form of entertainment was hitting the slopes (costing nothing). However we had just watched all our snow melt away and no snow forcast for at least 10 days!!! So we were incredibly frustrated that we had time to ourselves, but could do nothing newsworthy with it.

Then Donald came to the rescue with a very generous road trip to Breckenridge which had two lifts running...


Daniel, The Demon, The Slash, Richard............................Richard and Matt (London) take in the view.
As we ride the gondola up to the base of Breckenridge.

Strapping ourselves in... I am just about to teach myself how to snowboard after 10yrs :-x



Richard got off to a smooth start as he road his new board "The Slash" by Rome, it came with its name on it :) My own board by K2 (eternal loyalty, skates, skii's ...and now board :) K2 "Select" 158cm in my favourite action colours - black and red (over cream) ...and yes it got me confidently down the hill. Here is the view on the way back up...




High altitude to both of our suprise did not have as big an impact on our lungs as we expected, lasting 2-3 hours before the lifts stopped running and we had to head home.




The last shot is from our gondola as we came in for landing back in Breck... very satisfied with our afternoons accomplishments :D

Before piling back into the indefatigable BWM that randomly rewards Donalds driving with very optimistic 'dings' every now and then... we are still to figure out what the hell that is all about. We have narrowed it down to somthing to do with temperature or air pressure/altitude changes of some kind ...But Donald still insists it is for excellent driving! And since he has chauffured ourselves on some great tiki-tours... it is very hard to dissagree :D Thanks Donald



Main street Frisco, a fantastic main street feels very western and themed with weather board buildings - it doesn't come out so well in the photos but it is beautifully themed town with such a special mountain as a back drop.

This is kind of a photo of Copper mountain as we flew past at 70mph home of Woodward At Copper the aerial awareness center for indoor safe practice of aerial tricks in foam pits and harnesses if neccessary. It is supposed to be completed but at 70mph so far I have not been able to spot it :D

Creative Spelling & Grammer

Yes, I am very creative and have learned to spell words more than just one way! And I get even more creative the later and later I am blogging - get over it already ;D

Bitchin about Blogspot

YES... those who know me well enough... the layout of my bloggs are absolutely chewing me up inside!!! this freaking "blogspot" needs to get its act together a sort out its formatting problems!!! when I insert an eFF-ing Hard Return I expect it to be PUBLISHED AS SUCH not just occasionally, or randomly picking and choosing which ones it will and will not acknowledge... every single one of them... Your screwing up my layouts and making it irritating for other to follow ...this is going to be the thing that single handedly annoys me the most the whole time I am over here!!! ;D

The "Outback" in the mountains!

My phone has a weakness, it struggles in poor lighting, and I am not yet skilled enough to counter act it. But this is a (really poor attempt at a) shot of most of the initial Buffalo Residents (10) - at the "Outback" an Australian themed restaurant...



The menu after the "Aussie-tizers" includes dishes such as:

Kookaburra Wings (you guessed it tastes remarkably like chicken!)

Walkabout Soup

Bushmans 'Shrooms (wasn't game enough to try these incase the walls started to bleed)

Gold Coast Coconut Shrimp

Aussie Cheese Fries (WTF???! I thought these things were made of potatos)

A Bloomin Burger (which I ordered and as the server announced its arrival, I replied "friggin thanks" ...and it went straight over his head!!!)

Alice Springs Chicken Quasedilla

...A very popular cocktail called the "Wallaby-Darned"

And what attracted us all the...

BLOOMIN ONION

Do you remember my mentioning how rediculously big onions are over here!!!

And for desert an outstanding piece of chocolate cake the envey of the whole table...

Expertly dealt with by Richard and Brooke

Can anyone make out the lable on the stubbie??? ...This sure was one lost James Boags Premiem that had strayed a very loooooong way from home.

Speaking of home i could not get my video clip of the valley from Richard's balcone to up load so sorry this was the next best option.... facing south, panning from east to west...

over looking the I70 and Avon

Will do my best to rectify this problem cos I have a neat little valley pan which may help get your head around my home.

And just while you are doing that - I just have to show you the most extravegant vehicle I have ever gotten behind the wheel of... the MASSIVE Ford Expedition ...this is one of 10 new suburban additions to our premier fleet that a few of us got to drive from Glenwood Springs back to the Eagle-Vale premier parking lot... a thoroughly enjoyable ride :D

Yes I know! I am really roughing it over here :D

And comming to a BLOG near you... Our first day on the slopes at Breckenridge, breakfast at Frisco, our tour of the Coors Brewery, Downtown Denver, shots of crazy food and much much more... stay tuned Colorado Fans.

Vail Villiage

A Vail Resorts Ski Pass is a very prized possession, and because Cameron was working at the same time as the event that they were issued at. We dropped into Vail to collect it on his day off... and then of coarse the Ski Pass needed to be celebrated. So we found this very charming "Cheers"-like-bar called Garfinkel's at the very base of one of Vail's ski lifts...

So Haylie...

I just had to try the fish tacos forU :b

...And then we wandered randomly around the Vail Villiage....

Donald (My Roomie from NZ), A moose from Vail, Cameron (Our neighbour from London)

Einstein is not quite as talkative as I had imagined...

...Neither was William Shakespear! The Grizzlie however was much more friendly :)

This is probably an address for me to commit to memory...

...in the event that I try my hand at this...

...Great break! ...The puck is (and straight after - all the players too, were) commin right for me!!!

Some shots from around where Don's '93 Beamer with the hilarious dancing electric windows was parked.