Steamboat Springs

This trip for me was a blast from the past in many ways.


Steamboat Springs, Colorado is one of the places where my husband and I spent a lot of our free time in college and just before leaving Colorado. It holds a special fondness in my heart. I remember long rambling hikes with my then boyfriend (now husband). I remember Strawberry Park Hot Springs at night with him - someday I would like to see it during the day. Fish Creek Falls hikes. The quintessential mountain town.


I remember when AB thought seriously about taking a job as a chemistry tech there right out of college. I feared losing him to some snow bunny. The lure of a mountain ski town was strong for AB, but he couldn't get his head around the low ball offer the company made him... an offer that he could have easily surmounted by washing dishes in any restaurant up there.


I also remember visiting before we left Colorado 12 years ago and seriously considering buying a plot of land for $40,000 with the intention of it being an investment. Maybe someday we would build a cabin on the land, we dreamed (not having even talked about marriage). But it seemed like so much money at the time. We killed the idea skeptical we would have the opportunity to return to the area.


Wow I wish we would have jumped on that back then.


Steamboat is growing up quickly as a competitor to the big I-70 ski areas. "The Mountain" was full of construction of new condos and hotels. However, Steamboat is also still struggling to maintain its "low-key" mountain town feel as big money moves in.


I flew into the little town of Hayden, Colorado. I was the second off the small plane and my bag rolled off second in baggage claim and within minutes VargasGirl and I were out of there in her green VW bug.


The next 48 hours were a mix of shopping, laughing, wine drinking, eating, talking, soaking in hot water and shopping.


Twelve years has changed me as well.


I shopped for my kids. (Leif got an AquaZooka, a t-shirt and a pocket kite. Skadi got a purse with a horse in it that she sings "row row row your boat" to as she rocks the purse back and forth - just like she does as she rides her rocking horse. She also got a pair of ladybug earrings - just like the ones I had that were my first earrings - that I have put away for when she has pierced ears many years from now.)


I turned away seeing random nakedness at Strawberry Park and had absolutely no intention of doffing my swimsuit. (12 years ago I thought it odd someone would leave their suits on.)


I had money to spend. (A statement of 12 years ago here can just be assumed. I remember scraping together money to pay for a cheap hotel room with my boyfriend.)


I didn't walk by stores laughing about who might possibly shop in a store like *that*. Instead I saw possibilities... VargasGirl wanted cowgirl boots? Then you go to the boot store! (She didn't buy any... she instead succumbed to my ravings about Danskos.)


We sat in restaurants sipping wine (amazingly mostly Washington wines).

We went to bed by 11pm. Or at least I did the second night. We were up by 7am. Talk wasn't about music or clubs or college classes. It was about my kids, dogs and our relationships.

Time has mellowed us, but truth be told I didn't miss what I was. In a way I missed what Steamboat was, aside from the fact that most of the fantastic restaurants weren't there 12 years ago. I relished in what we have become, the wisdom we have gained, the loves we have gained, the experiences that have opened our eyes to the beauty around us. I relished in the love of having women near me who bring richness to my life.