Catalina Leaves

Monday, January 29th

Today is the day Catalina leaves.
It has been so fun adventuring with my partner!  We shared laughs, frustrations, beautiful sights, cold nights, powder filled mountains, questionable roads, animal sightings, and way too many parking lots.  I believe it is a testament to our love for each other to be able to not only to survive two weeks in a van with each other, but to be able to have such a great time doing it!  We talked about how we would not want to do this trip with anyone else besides each other.  I love that girl so much!

Alright, enough of that gushy emotional stuff.  We got up early, packed and double checked everything, and got in the van.  We stopped at HashTAG restaurant outside Denver for breakfast and headed to Denver International Airport.  After some wrong turns, both inside and outside the airport, Cat got checked in and I walked her down to security.  This would be goodbye for a week or so.

Well, I needed to clear my head.  I headed to Eldora Mountain for a short day at the mountains.  My hip was still swollen and mildly painful, but when in Rome.  I wore my ridiculous snow onesie and enjoyed a pretty empty, but icy mountain.  I was extra careful-no jumps, not fast- and just enjoyed the fresh air.  It was an exceptionally warm day, which was a blessing since it allowed me to change out of my snow stuff outside my van!

Next stop: Castle Rock.  I was planning on meeting up with my good friend from Westminster College, Logan Ray.  It had been a few years since we have caught up.  We met up for a couple of beers and food at Rockyard Brewing Company.  Logan and I have both made some big moves and some big resets in our lives since we saw each other last.  It is so nice when you can meet up with someone and instantly click up like no time has passed at all.  Logan just moved to Colorado less than a month ago.  We talked about mountains and the beautiful scenery out here.  Logan mentioned that he wanted to learn how to snowboard or ski, but didn't have any gear.  Instantly, I knew what I needed to do.  I had two boards and two pairs of boots in my van.  Logan is a proud owner of a snowboard and boots that are over a decade old.  It was an easy decision for me: I already had a great board and boots, and rarely used the other board and boots.  We said our goodbyes and parted ways. 

I headed back to the lodge at Avon and called Catalina to make sure she got back to Portland safely.  All is good.

Be Kind and Run Wild.