Steamboat MusicFest 2013

Prelude: This post is really just for me to have a general rememberance of our trip to Steamboat. There is a lot of text! It’s really not even that funny because I couldn’t even begin to cover all those candid moments. It’s just a basic outline of every day. I recommend just reading the part about my only yard sale of the week. If you don’t want to read all of the text then just look at the pictures haha.

A little over a week ago I was headed up north to Steamboat Springs, Colorado for the 2013 MusicFest! My boyfriend, his friend Zach and his wife Shanna picked me up around 6 a.m. that Saturday morning. Typically, I read while on a road trip, but this time I never did. We watched season 1 of the Big Bang Theory and I slept. I have never really watched the Big Bang Theory before but now I’m hooked! It’s freakin hilarious!

Anyways, we met Shanna’s sister Jenna and her husband Travis at Texas Roadhouse where we stopped for lunch in Pueblo. We made into Steamboat around 4:30 I believe. We got all checked in and got our wristbands and cool goodie bag things 🙂 After we got unloaded into our condo our next task was getting our ski rentals taken care of.  After waiting in line for about 45 minutes, Alexis and I finally got our skis! I’d never skiied with a helmet before either, but Zach wanted us too. I really liked wearing a helmet. It kept my entire head and ears warm the whole time we skiied. I think I’ll wear a helmet from now on. Then we ended our night by going into the actual town of Steamboat Springs and eating at some pretty tasty pizza joint.

Sunday was our first official day of MusicFest! We got out to the mountain as soon as we could to take the gondola up, so we could ski! Skiing always starts out a little rough when it’s been about a year since you’ve done it. Pretty soon I got back the feel of skiing and we had a grand time. We packed our lunches each day we skiied. The boys all wore camelback type backpacks that we put our stuff in. We would always stop somewhere with table for lunch. Here’s the view from the lodge at the Gondola.

It was absolutely beautiful there. You could see miles of mountains and plains just covered in snow.

Skiing was perfect there too! I only got cold on the day it snowed, but otherwise I was pretty content. The snow was mostly like a light powder and was great to ski on. There were very very few icy patches, unlike the ski mountains in lovely New Mexico.

That day I went down the mountain with the girls early to get ready for evenings festivities. On the way down Jenna and I stopped and listed to Shane Smith and score a free CD!

That night we went to the big tent and saw Turnpike Troubadours for a short time, Roger Creager, and a tiny bit of Reckless Kelly. The big tent is freakin huge! You could hold a rodeo in there easily! I never did get very cold either because it was usually packed with people.

The next morning we got up and went for another day of skiing. The girls also headed down early after lunch, but I wasn’t quite ready so I thought I would tough it out with the boys. Let me explain a few things first. Zach, Travis, and Wade are all really good skiiers. They fly down the mountain, jump off things, and do tree runs. Well I only had one epic wipeout during the week and it was when I was the only girl left with the boys for the afternoon.

You see I’m a good skier to be honest. I can get around and can fly if I really want to. The blue runs are always perfect for me and I’m always up to go down a black diamond. Suprising I can be pretty fearless at times. I hadn’t really mastered or tried to master moguls yet, so Travis was trying to teach me.

When going down moguls it’s important to lean forward on your skis, which feels unnatural. Well we get to the top of this black run. I had made it down the left side of the run, but not the right. Well I guess the moguls were pretty steep and deep compared to the other side. Travis and Wade go down, so I decide to make my way down. I do good for the first little bit, but all of a sudden I get on the back of my skis and it launches me off a mogul. I land on my back and I think I get launched again. Then I roll and skid and slide down the mountain, and luckily stop before I hit a tree. My skis had popped off and so did my polls. When I finally stopped I sat up and threw up my hands and said “I’m okay!” The whole time I was rolling down the mountain I was just knew I was going to twist my knee, break my angle, or something, but I was perfectly fine. Luckily, Cooper and Zach were above me and were able to pick up my skis and poles for me! I think it scared the boys, especially Cooper, more than it scared me! Through the entire week the boys always told me that I had the most epic wreck!

We went down the other side of that run one more time before we made our way back down for the day. When we got to the bottom we watched Kyle Park for a little bit before going in to get ready. That night we went to the big tent and watched Whiskey Myers and Stoney Larue. Then we went to the Grand Ballroom and watched Thieving Birds and Jason Boland and the Stragglers.

Luckily, Jenna is a chiropractor and they had brought a table, so everyone got to be adjusted fo free! Now that’s the way to go on a ski trip. Bring yo own chiropractor! I don’t know if I could have made it through the week feeling as good as I did without her.

Tuesday morning we woke up to it snowing, but that didn’t keep us from skiing! It was pretty fun skiing in the snow only my fingers did get cold. I get angry when I get cold haha After we had stopped to eat lunch the snow had ceased. We took skiing pretty easy that day and just did a lot of fun blue runs that didn’t really challenge us.

We made it down the mountain in time to watch Turnpike Troubadours who put on a great show at the Outdoor Stage! I love them!

That night we went to the Grand and watched the Dirty River Boys who put on a the funnest show of the week! They play with so much energy and are a blast to watch! On the way home we listened to their CD and we all decided its just not the same as being there with them. Then Cody Canada and the Departed came on and I was pretty disapointed. I guess I was expecting them to be Cross Canadian and Cody looked pretty crappy.

Wednesday finally rolled around and we went our for our last day of skiing. We took it kind of easy again, but just had a great thorough day of skiing. We went down the mountain a little earlier than normal because we wanted to make it to the big tent at a good time. That night we watched Casey Donahew and Cory Morrow in the tent. Then we went to the Grand Ballroom to watch the man I had most wanted to see: Wade Bowen! He put on a good show!

The next morning we got up and got everything packed up to hit the road. We left Steamboat around 9am. I was sad that our trip came to an end, but it had to at some time. This past week was one of the funnest weeks of my life. From the time we got up until the time we went to bed we just all had a fun time together. Hopefully I get to join the group to go back next year! I enjoyed every single person that was on our trip which can be difficult when spending 6 days together: Zach & Shanna, Travis & Jenna, Wade & Alexis, and Cooper of course 🙂

I had my first Noodles experience too in Denver on the way home. I ordered the Thai noodles I think and they were quite yummy!

My favorite shows were for sure Turnpike Troubadors and the Dirty River Boys. Casey Donahew and Wade Bowen were also some of my favorites! There are a lot of pictures I left out and once again lots of details I left out. And hey I got to put my lift ticket in my nifty memory jar! Anyways, it’s been real and it’s been fun. Hope you’re having a wonderful Sunday Funday like I am!