Thanksgiving Ski Trip

November 16-24---We went on a family ski trip to Pagosa Springs, Colorado for Thanksgiving. We had been planning it for almost a year. Rick, the kids, Nicole, and I were driving out and meeting Rick's brother, his girlfriend, Rick's dad, and his wife there. On Friday we packed up the van, picked up Nicole, and hit the road around 2 p.m. for our 23 hour road trip. That's right--we only stopped for food, restroom, and gas. Rick will tell you the trip was easy but Nicole will tell you a very different story. Rick was driving and listening to a book on tape with headphones, so he didn't hear Chloe crying for hours and hours--literally!! She didn't sleep more than one hour at a time the entire drive there. Anna Catherine and Jackson were awesome travelers!! They watched movies, read books, played games, played with toys, and slept the whole time. We stopped in Santa Fe, NM to eat breakfast at Denny's. I had packed our toothbrushes in my purse so we could do a little personal hygiene improvement in the restroom. Two women were in the restroom stalls while Anna Catherine and I were brushing our teeth. Anna Catherine looked at me and said, "Mommy, do we have to sleep in the van again tonight?" I responded, "No." I know those women thought we were homeless people cleaning up in the restroom. I'm sure that's how we looked after being in the van for 18 hours with very little sleep! We arrived in Pagosa Springs around noon on Saturday, checked into our timeshare condo, unpacked, showered, ate, and were couch potatoes the rest of the day. The rest of the Crawfords arrived late Saturday night so we met up Sunday to tour the town.

Pagosa Springs is a nice little town located across the Continental Divide near the Colorado-New Mexico border. It is set on a natural spring so a lot of the town smells of sulfur. We had lunch at a local Mexican restaurant where we met some nice hunters from Cajun Country...South Louisiana. Small world! There was no snow but luckily Wolf Creek was one of the only resorts making their own snow at the time so those who wanted to ski were able to take advantage of the one run they had open. We chose Pagosa Springs/Wolf Creek because they get the most snow in Colorado each year and typically have 5+feet of snow in mid-November. Blame it on global warming I guess. It was perfect for us though, since it was Anna Catherine and Nicole's first time to ski. They were awesome skiers!!! Anna Catherine didn't have poles and skied the last run alone. Quite a feat, I think, for a novice four-year-old. Nicole even mastered talking on her cell phone and texting while skiing. I'm so proud of my girls!!! The week was spent skiing two days, hiking one day, and shopping two days. One day we drove to Durango and walked around their downtown area. On the way there (and back) we passed Kurt Russell and Goldie Hawn's house. Nicole had no idea who they were. I quickly got Rick's blackberry and searched for pictures of them on the Internet. I explained that they were Kate Hudson's parents and were once Hollywood stars. I loved Goldie Hawn in "Laugh-In", "Private Benjamin", "Wildcats", and "First Wives Club". Boy, do I feel old!!

We ate a traditional Thanksgiving dinner at a nice little restaurant in Pagosa Springs called The Dogwood Cafe. It is owned and operated by an Ole Miss graduate originally from Georgia. Small world once again! We met her and exchanged Hotty Toddy's rather than hello's. She and her husband cook delicious homemade Southern and Cajun food. She had Ole Miss and Oxford prints on the walls. It was fabulous! There was five inches of snow on the ground Friday morning when we woke up. Of course, since I was the first one awake, I ran around the condo like a kid waking everyone up to see the snow. Rick took Anna Catherine and Jackson out to play. His dad and Cliff joined them. They made a snowman, snow alligator, and snow tiger (in honor of the LSU-Arkansas game). There was also a snowball fight. We kept up with a disastrous Ole Miss loss to State via the Internet on Rick's blackberry and text messages from Brady. Then we watched the Tigers lose in a disappointing 3-OT upset.

Saturday morning we packed up the van and headed back to Mississippi. It was a long 25 hours home. It took longer due to ice/snow in Colorado and New Mexico and nonstop rain from Oklahoma City to Pontotoc. We had a great time visiting with Papa Gator, Lady, Cliff, and Amanda but were so happy to be home. Nicole and I told Rick we would do it again but would insist on spending the night midway rather than driving directly from point A to point B.