Leaving Boulder- heading southwest

It's that time again... I've stayed the perfect amount of time in Boulder and am now ready to get back on the road.  I have to say, the DeBerghs have been fantastic hosts and I will really miss being a part of the family.  They have such a nice set up here, two brothers and a sister all sharing a big townhouse, all with adventurous spirits, and all great people with great friends.  Everyday I was in town, with the exception of this Monday, one of them had off from work and was able to explore with me and show me around a bit.  The first few days I spent with Jaime riding bikes, hanging on the campus of university of colorado, and going to Denver to see a mets-rockies game.  These last few days I've been with Eric rock climbing, hiking, snowboarding, and just catching up on life.  Sadly, I didnt get quite as much time in with Mark, but since I'm usually the last one awake at night I at least got a chance to hang out with him at night when he got home from work (he works three 11am-11pm shifts at the hospital) and in the mornings for breakfast.  Ill miss them all but I'm also very excited about my sprint out west.

It is 2:00a.m. and I am leaving the next time the sun comes up but I'm still not exactly sure where ill be sleeping on Tuesday just yet.  I am thinking about heading south on 25 and visiting Bishop Castle in Wetmore Colorado, then finding some hot springs near Las Vegas, New Mexico, and sleeping somewhere in or near Albuquerque.  The map above gives a rough outline of my travels for the next 2-3 weeks, but it is always subject to change depending on what pops up along the way.

So before I post pictures, let me tell you a little something about "skiing out west" I had heard the expression before, but never understood what that really meant and how it was any different than skiing back east.  Well, as it turns out, it primarily refers to the scale of these mountains... imagine having all the east coast mountains placed together to make one massive resort...then raise the elevation about 8000 feet above sea level and give much longer runs from the top of the mountain to the bottom and add about 10 more lodges per resort at various points around the mountain.  Bottom line is that with such massive spaces, even on a crowded day there is always room somewhere on the mountain for you to breathe.  


Here are just a couple pics- the rest will be uploaded to an album on flickr that can be seen here- doing it this way because I need to get to bed... ill post more soon.

The four of us (from far left, Brett, Eric, Hattie, and Me) since it was the last day for the season at Vail, everyone got dressed up... well, everyone but those people who like me had no idea this was happening and were ill prepared (though I had a chance to wear a one piece snow suit, but it wasnt exactly comfortable... see below)

The DeBergh's townhouse and garage... aka home #3 on the road.

Enjoying a hot cup of coffee on the balcony at a friend of Brett and Haddies, which is where we stayed saturday night.  It was in Avon, CO.

a flower shot from Pearl Street in Boulder... spring is in the air.


For more pictures from the past 4 days, Click Here Sorry there are no descriptions yet but there are a bunch more images there worth sharing.