Colo-RAD-o Amiright
Back here with my first ever REAL travel blog post! I decided to split my Spring Break into two different trips. The first half of my break kicked off last Friday, starting with a frantic search for a ski coat for me.
Too preface, I’ve been skiing since I was about 5. I learned how to ski in a tiny little ski place in Michigan called Alpine Valley, and ever since, my dad was hooked with bringing us on ski trips for our school breaks. My sisters lost interest in skiing once they hit high school, but I still loved it. So when I heard my dad was heading out to Winter Park, Colorado to go for a quick ski trip, I instantly asked if I could hop on board! He said yes, and then I decided I would also see if he would extend the invite to my boyfriend Coley, even though he has literally never down-hilled skied in his life lol.
I started to pack for my break Thursday night because I had been swarmed with midterms and also who actually packs in advance? I had almost finished up packing everything when I realized that my ski coat was straight up MIA. I checked EVERYWHERE. If you know me, losing something usually results in some sort of a meltdown but eventually, my sister Simone graciously decided to lend me one of her warmer winter coats.
I called my dad later that night and explained my situation and he told me that I should just go hit up my local sports equipment store in Bloomington and see if I could find a good ski coat on late notice. Simone’s coat she had lent me was warm and nice, but not quite the same quality as a coat made for skiing.
The next day, Coley and I headed out to go on a search for a new coat bright and early. And I mean bright and early. We were out the door and on the move at like 9 am, which is crazy. We looked at Dick’s Sporting Goods and came out empty handed, so we headed for a different local sports store, and the same thing happened. By this time, I was starting to be like uhhh . . . where are the coats. We ended up loading up the car earlier than we were planning and started to head to the airport, seeing if we could hit up a different Dick’s on the way there.
We ended up stumbling upon one of the biggest Dick’s Sporting Goods stores I have ever seen in my life. It had two stories and was just massive! I got super lucky and found a bunch of really nice ski coats for 50% off and ended up copping a super cute light blue Columbia jacket for only $100!
After that good deal, Coley and I headed off to Indy’s airport. By the time we got there, we realized that we were ridiculously early. It wasn’t even noon and we were already there for our 4:50 pm flight LMAOO. We ended up just hanging out in the Indy airport, snacking on Chikfila and Doritos, while reading our books.
If you haven’t been to the Indy airport, I highly recommend paying it a visit. It is an airport unlike any airport. Everyone just meanders around and takes their time getting to their gate. All of the workers are so sweet, and I’ve gotten away with my bag being overweight so many times hahaha. Coley and I even go to enjoy a live harpist and guitarist who were playing some real old school bops!
By the time we were ready to board the plane, I was getting antsy to get to Denver. Coley and I made our way onto our first flight together and prepared ourselves for the kind of long flight to good ole Colorado. We passed the time by listening to music, taking little naps, and showing each other stupid videos we had saved to our phones.
Eventually, we descended onto the ground of Denver, Colorado, and we raced to go meet my dad in the baggage claim area. He had taken an earlier flight from Chicago and had gotten there a couple hours before us. It took FOREVER for our checked bags to pop out of the carousel, but because I had gotten to Indy’s airport so early and checked my bag like 6 hours before my actual flight, my bag was the first one to come out! So shout out to that LMAO.
We hopped into the rental car my dad had gotten for us during his time waiting for us to land, and we headed out to dinner. We ate a late dinner at a place called Pho 888 and it was so yummy. After dinner, we stopped by the Mexican grocery store next store to pick up some snacks and breakfast things (bananas, oranges, Cocoa Pebbles, etc.) and a liquor store so my dad and Coley could grab some cold ones.
By this time, Colorado was all dark, and my dad turned the keys over to Coley. My dad decided that for this trip, Coley was the main driver LMAOO. I mean, it wasn’t a bad choice for Coley to drive. If I were to pick between Coley and me to drive up the Rocky Mountains, I would also pick Coley HA.
Slowly, we made our way down I-70 and up the mountains to Winter Park, Colorado. By the time we made it there, I was exhausted and I hadn’t even done anything except sit for like 2 hours. We all went to bed relatively early, ready for the next day of skiing and snow.
We all woke up naturally by 6 am (8 am Eastern time). Shout out to that time difference, it’s honestly so helpful in making me wake up earlier. We all headed into the little ski village before 8 am so Coley and I could grab our rental skis and hit the slopes as soon as possible.
Since Coley had never down-hilled skied before, my dad decided to send him off to ski school aka a skiing right of passage HAHA. We signed him up, and then my dad and I headed off to the chair lifts, leaving Coley to just chill before his class started.
The last time I skied at Winter Park was my senior year in high school, and I was happy to realize that I still remembered most of the trails. Even though I’ve been skiing since I was little, I’ve become a more apprehensive skier as I’ve gotten older. I decided that I was going to stay around the green slopes for my first day and not try anything too risky.
By lunch time, I was starting to feel really light-headed and headache-y. I’m super prone to motion sickness so I thought maybe skiing in big S shapes was making me sick. So, I decided to head into lunch a little earlier than my dad and just drink some water and see if it would go away. My dad headed inside a half hour later, and I was still feeling the same.
Coley coincidentally found us at the same table in the lunch area, and we googled my symptoms. The thing that kept popping up was mountain sickness, which is when your body has a hard time adjusting to the elevation. I wasn’t surprised, since last time I was here I randomly woke up in the middle of the night and threw up for like two hours.
Coley eventually headed back to his ski class, and my dad and I decided to split up. He went on to do the bigger and harder slopes, while I stuck around the same area we were at before. Eventually, my headache won, and I headed inside to shower and get out of my heavy ski boots.
Once I was all clean and in warm clothes again, I headed off to Starbucks to grab myself a makeshift milk tea. I found this Starbucks recipe on Facebook’s Subtle Asian Traits and I was trying my best to replicate the recipe. For my first try, I asked for a grande iced black tea, no liquid cane sugar, two pumps of the classic syrup, and a. splash of cream. My first attempt was a big fail because the Starbucks person handed me my drink and it looked like milk HAHA. I later found out that I should’ve asked for a no extra water version of the iced black tea. Lol, whoops.
I eventually found Coley and my dad, and by the time everyone had gotten showered and dressed in casual clothes, we decided to walk through the tiny village of Winter Park. My favorite stores were the sweet candy shops, and I kept dragging Coley inside so I could look at all the sweet treats. Eventually, I got my dad on board with buying some candy, and we ended up with a bag of white chocolate bark, heath fudge, and a peanut covered caramel apple.
By the time we had finished walking through the small village, it was dinner time! My dad had made a reservation in advance at a restaurant called Sunspot, which sits at the top of Winter Park. We headed to the gondolas and hopped on board.
I will never understand people who don’t appreciate mountains. The view from the gondola was EVERYTHING. Coley and I were in awe. As we zoomed up the mountain in the gondola, Coley and I couldn’t tear our eyes away from the mountain range around us. The landscape was such a refreshing change from gloomy, flat Indiana. Seeing the Rocky’s in person again made me realize that I wouldn’t mind waking up to a view like this every day (sorry Chicago).
Once we go to the top, we realized we were ridiculously early for our dinner reservation. They seated us at the bar to wait, and Coley and my dad ordered some mulled wine to drink while we watched the UNC/Duke game on the TV. Coley’s alma mater came out with the win and we pulled up the livestream of UNC Chapel Hill to watch the celebrations. Coley told us about how back when he was there, some of his buddies burned a couch after a UNC win, so I earnestly watched to see if I could spot any burning couches. Unfortunately, I think the security has gotten a little tighter since Coley’s days, and I sadly saw no flames.
By the time we were seated at our table, my dad and Coley were ready to celebrate both UNC’s win, and my dad’s college, Kansas State, for winning the Big 12 Championship. They ordered some wine, and I went with that good Shirley Temple (lmao we love a kiddie cocktail!).
Our dinner was the BEST. It started with a lobster bisque, our own chosen main course (mine being prime rib because why would I order anything but a prime rib?), and a creamy piece of caramel cheesecake to finish off the meal. Once our meal ended, we headed back down to our lodge, ready for our next day filled with skiing and eating.
Every time I come on a trip like this, I am always reminded about how beautiful our world really is. I mean, I’m writing this right now as I sit in an airplane and watch the sunset over the midwest. How crazy is that? And the Rocky Mountains? They truly are the definition of majestic.
I think I’m going to wrap it up here and pick it back up on Thursday because a little kid is kicking the back of my chair and I think I’m getting too distracted HAHA.