Checking out the Yampa River which runs through town
Across the street from Howelson Hill public ski area
Howelson Ice Arena 
Yampa river with ski resort mountains in background
Derek posing with a pig outside one of the town shops
Waiting for the bus to take us back to the resort
Adam wanted to bungee after skiing
...so Derek thought he might try it too
Enjoying the Old Town Hot Springs after skiing
Abe and Derek enjoying a moment outside one of the shops
In heaven at Fuzziwig's candy store 
Local favorite, Mazzola's, didn't disappoint
Carl Howelson monument: Norwegian immigrant, "father of skiing" in Colorado, and founder of the annual Winter Carnival celebration
Sunday February 22, 2009
It became obvious to us that if we were going to go out and see the town of Steamboat we were going to have to do it before skiing because we were always too tired after skiing. With that in mind, we decided to check out the town Sunday morning.
We took the bus to town and got out at the Old Town Hot Springs. We didn't have our swimsuits, but we got out to look around. It looked cool and we thought we would try to make it back sometime.
Then we walked farther into town and across the Yampa river to check out Howelson Hill and the Howelson Ice Arena. The ski jumping ramps were impressive and we thought the tubing hill looked fun - we wanted to get back sometime and try it. Adam gathered all kinds of icicles on our walk. When he could no longer hold any more he made us hold them.
There were baseball fields at the Howelson park area too, but obviously they were covered in snow. It was strange to see that when we were already a couple weeks into baseball season back home. Seeing all the kids in their hockey gear at the ice arena and all the kids skiing\snowboarding got us talking about how it would be such a different childhood growing up in a winter sports area.
The boys were getting tired of walking around so I thought a trip to Fuzziwig's Candy Store would re-energize them - I was right. When they went in their little eye's lit up. It was like Willy Wonka. They really wanted to get something, but we told them we would try to come back later.
Everyone was getting hungry so we walked over to the Creekside Cafe. Unfortunately, it was rather small and there was a wait of 45 minutes. We went back to Fuzziwig's and the lady recommended a place called, The Shack. We misunerderstood and thought it was a block down and over when it was really a block over, so we took the long way but we got there. It was just what we were looking for - a casual place with a great comfort breakfast menu. The pancakes were big and tasted great.
After our big breakfast we felt like taking a nap, but we got back on the bus and headed for the ski resort. It was another Chamber of Commerce kind of day - beautiful blue skies and comfortable temperature. I got somewhat irritated by how long it was taking us to get on the mountain. I wanted to explore the town, but it was taking FOREVER for everyone to get ready to ski.
Adam was complaining about his boot hurting him again. I was already exasperated at the great skiing day wasting away, when I had to take off my skis to help Adam. I guess when I snapped back into my bindings my boots had some snow in them so that when we all boarded the lift I looked down and saw that one of my skis had fallen off. I had been on everybody else and now I was the one with a missing ski. Thankfully, a nice lady a few chairs behind us brought it up with her.
Adam hung with Derek and me to start with, but after a particularly bad run where I had skied ahead of him and watched from below while he fell countless times and required help from a nice young couple for about 15 minutes before he made it 100 yards down to me - I had it. I grumbled some comment to Helen about Adam earning "a ride on the Mommy train" and then took off with Derek and left Helen and Adam on their own. I would pay for that later.
Derek and I had fun skiing together. He was really gaining confidence and kept doing the Two O'Clock blue\black run. He was skiing better than me. It was all I could do to keep him in sight. I kept sitting back instead of getting over my skis and on the steeper hills that caused my skis to slip because there was no surface area for them to grab onto and I fell back on my butt. I quickly bounced back up and continued skiing, but I was constantly berating myself for being a wuss and not staying over my skis.
I felt much better about getting our money's worth after skiing with Derek and not having to wait around for Helen and Adam, so I was in a good mood when we got back down the mountain. Unfortunately, Helen wasn't too happy about my attitude and "it took some time" to patch things up.
At the base, the end of the ski day was a big party - especially on beautiful days like today. The patios of the slope side bars were packed with people and there were fun things for the kids like bungee jumping.
In the past we always tried to get slope side accommodations (ski in\ski out), but this time we tried something different. The slope side rental shops offered free overnight storage so this time we stored our ski's slope side and stayed across the street. It worked out great. The less time spent walking in ski boots the better.
Since we didn't ski for very long we weren't worn out and decided to head back into town to the hot springs. We had a great time relaxing in all the hot pools and riding the water slides. We loved the look on Helen's face as the slippery-fast and pitch-black enclosed slide spit her out.
We got a dinner recommendation for Mazzola's from one of the workers at the hot springs so we headed there afterwards. We stopped by Fuzziwigs candy store on the way and the kids picked out some candy. The restaurant was only a few blocks away, but we missed it and walked a few blocks past before realizing we had gone to far. There was a wait, but the kids were preoccupied with their new candy and we had some drinks. The wait was worth it because the food was delicious.
We got on the bus, headed back to the condo, and crashed.
No comments:
Post a Comment