Skiing esp Breckenridge

Tom and I loved skiing. We travelled all over each year going to one or two places. We went to Jackson Hole and Sunshine, Telluride, Taos, and all over Utah. Our last trip was to Breckenridge.

This was a different trip than we ever took before. It was staying in a large house with one friend and a lot of people we had not met. The town was lovely but it was very very cold and the slopes were crowded. I'm very jealous of my skiing and a few days into it became very frustrated at the lift lines and busy runs. I got quite pouty one day and really regret it now. Nothing like a mini-scene in a busy bar to put a damper on the day.

One day we planned on taking off and having a special day. I booked a snowmobile ride and a sleigh ride to a cabin and dinner in the woods. We got stuck in the snow and missed the snowmobile ride but got to the remote location in time for the sleigh ride and dinner. It was a wonderful ride and a fun dinner in a big cabin filled with apple pies and hot cider (and a bit of Jack in our cups). We sat behind giant horses, took silly pictures, and ate until we were stuffed. I was so happy sitting there next to Tom all bundled up in our parkas sniffing and laughing and cuddling up. It never occurred to me it would be our last ski adventure.

On the way home, deep in the dark, on an icy road way outside of nowhere, we looked up to see two little girls standing by the side of the road crying. It turns out their dad was driving a pick-up truck home from the same trip we had been on and lost control of the truck. He ran off the road and went over the edge. His truck flipped over into the river. He got the girls out and was still down there trying to do something that I can't recall. Tom stayed in our car and soothed the girls and tried to warm them up. I started climbing down to get the dad who met me half way up.

We drove back to the event location (closer than the town) and managed to warm up the girls emotionally and physically. We listened to the dad who just kept saying how is wife was going to kill him. Quietly we talked about what could have happened if we did not come by. There was no cell phone service out there and very little traffic.

But through it all Tom stayed calm. He drove slow and cautious and for someone that had rarely been on ice before he got the girls back safely and us home happily. It ended up being a magical night. I can still see the girls standing there freezing in the headlights, and Tom focused and quiet behind the wheel. And by the end of it we were cozy in a nice warm bed together

Even on our last ski trip Tom made a big difference in the lives of strangers and in the life of me. We were a very good team.

(picture: Right before heading out to drive home. We thought the deer was so giant he had to pose with us.)