An Almost Perfect Day Off

I had two goals today: visit Hamlet's Books on Main and ski at the Breckenridge Nordic Center.

So I mapped them both. Hamlet's would be 2 blocks away, the Nordic Center another 1.5 miles.

I checked into Breck's Free Ride shuttle and discovered the main station is just four blocks from Hamlet's and had a bus going to the Nordic Center every half hour. So I packed my daypack and set out at the crack of 10:30.

But at 306 S Main? No Hamlet's! TRAGEDY, INDEED!

It would be a push to make the next bus, but I didn't want to browse over-priced ski wear, so I picked up my pace.

Then, at the corner of Lincoln and Main: Weber's Books and Drawings. I don't know what the "Drawings" were about, but just as I thought I'd seen all the books on offer, I spotted Molly Wizenberg's A Homemade Life. I wanted to fall into the cover, and it only took a few lines of the introduction to hook me. So I was able to give a few bucks to a local indie bookshop after all. TRAGEDY AVERTED!

Timing was perfect for the next shuttle to the Nordic Center. Super-friendly staff there got me outfitted and I was off to do a green loop called Troll Forest. It was every bit as fairy tale as it sounds (see pic above). And nearly deserted. So I skied it twice for about 5km.

Back at the lodge, I found a sunny bench and pulled out lunch: a tin of sardines in mustard sauce, a carrot, a BabyBel cheese round, and a Snickers bar, all washed down with orange Gatorade. Dad would be proud of me for the Gatorade, which I chose over water because the salt would keep it from freezing in the outer pocket of my pack. SCIENCE!

Anyhoo, the bench was so nice, I pulled out my new book and read for an hour. Then I put more sunscreen on (I was like a model kid today, Mom and Dad!), and set out for a bigger blue loop, Beaver Meadows. Which I mostly managed to do, though I got off on another trail and backtracked, but it was all pretty, so no complaining.

Did I mention I was listening to Wolf Hall the whole time I was skiing?

After an hour in the Meadows, I was wiped. Back to the lodge, the shuttle, the grocery briefly to get tomorrow's sardines and Snickers bar, then home for a shower and a bit of blogging. Oh, and between the shuttle and the grocery, there was a sign at Kava Café that said HOT DONUTS. And so donuts were scarfed.

An almost perfect day off. Missing, of course, was Dave. This trip was a last minute incredible bargain found by Dave's cousin, but there was no way Dave could make it. He's working at least three BIG projects, so he had to pass. And because he's AWESOME, he encouraged me to come anyway.

I'm very, very lucky. Hope you guys are just as lucky.