Beautiful Day in Denver

     Traveling by plane these days is a crap shoot - you never know if the plane will be delayed or if you will be bumped off.  Today was our lucky day and Southwest Airlines was flying on time going west.  We even had three seats for the two of us!  It looked like a total win/win when we got to Denver on time and both of us had all our luggage including Rick's skis and boot bag.  Unfortunately, not everyone was as lucky and we waited an hour while Southwest tracked down the skis for ten of our fellow ski club members.  The skis were stuck in an elevator.
    With great relief everyone collected their skis and 42 eager travelers boarded our big luxury bus for a three hour drive to Steamboat.  The usual arrangment for these ski trips is that the bus stops just on the outside edge of Denver at a shopping center with a big liquor store and a big grocery store.  Everyone shops for groceries for the week so that we are not stuck buying at the ski hill at a premium price.
    Then we settled into the bus with deli sandwiches for a ride into the mountains.  A big snowstorm came through earlier in the week and left piles of white on every tree and fence post.  The sky was the deep clear blue that can be seen at these high altitudes on perfect day.  Wow!  What an amazing scene.  We drove on a dry highway past ranches and farms locked in for the winter.  Horses, cattle, elk and buffalo were a dark contrast to the bright white fields.  Fast running mountain streams cut through the untouched snow.  I put on my headphones and drowsed to soft jazz.  Heaven.
    We are staying in a set of condos about 200 yards from the Gondola lift.  A shuttle stops in front of our condo for those who don't want to walk in ski boots.  It is a three bedroom condo with great views, a fireplace and a couple small porches.  We are sharing the space with two men and two women from the ski club.  It is fun to get to know these folks.
   We had a pizza party and watched the Super Bowl before everyone fell into bed after a long day and some seriously high altitude.  Rick is excited to get up on the mountain tomorrow.