A Full Head of Steamboat

I've just returned from a week-long vacation to Steamboat Springs, a now annual tradition of skiing and board gaming with friends. This is actually my second ski trip this winter; my husband and I went to Aspen just before Christmas.

I often return from a vacation with several days of posts about the things I did. My last ski trip didn't get a mention not because it wasn't special, but because I found myself without much to share. It's the same with this recent trip too -- future posts will cover some of the board games I got to try out, but I don't have much to say about the rest.

Skiing is no longer the comedy of errors for me that produced several days of posts about how hard a time I had learning. I'm still no master... though this year, I was willing to try a tree run labeled for experts that I looked at the year before and said "no thanks" to. And though I fell a few times, the fun was worth the effort.

In four years of going to Steamboat, this was actually the first year where we got any significant snow -- over a foot, mostly near the end of the week we were there. I have little experience skiing in fresh powder, but now that I got a big taste of it (on our last day on the mountain), I have to say: I don't get what the fuss is about. Sure, there's a "marking your territory" sort of thrill in leaving fresh tracks. But you have to work twice as hard to ski half as fast. Nothing gets groomed, your goggles get streaked with water, and your knees get quite aggravated with you. Give me a sunny day on a nice, groomed blue run, thank you very much.

Another noteworthy event this trip was our third trip to the escape room in Steamboat Springs, the Crooked Key. The only room they had left that we hadn't tried was "Escape from the Old West," an 1800s jailbreak. It was their easiest room, yet nearly as fun as the others, and put together with the same high production values that keeps The Crooked Key our favorite even as we try other escape rooms in Denver.

I'm back home now, and the blog will be getting back to business as usual. Like I said, you can expect some board game talk in the weeks ahead. I've also got to catch up with two Star Trek: Discovery episodes I've fallen behind on. The Oscars are a week away. (I'm not sure I'll get to any more movies, but I'll hope for some snarky quips from my friends about the ceremony.)

And for those who kept right on without noticing my blog had been off? You can pretend you missed me; I probably won't know the difference.