From Snow to Sunshine

I'm home-again, home-again, jig-a-de-jig:). It was lightly snowing in Colorado Springs yesterday morning when I got a ride to the airport. My flight was at 10am (I'm staging a one-person revolt against those 6am flights out of COS that require a 4am wake-up alarm!) from COS to Denver. Then Denver to Washington, DC...and finally DC to Daytona Beach. Other than taking ALL day to get home...the trip was uneventful and painless.
What WAS painful was waking up in the middle of the night before flying home and realizing that I GOT SICK! It's such a rare feeling for me that sometimes I have to step back and figure out what's wrong. Basically, its just a 'winter' cold...very swollen throat and stuffy nose...shouldn't take too long to disappear now that I'm in the warmth, sunshine, and most importantly: the humidity of Florida.
I guess the cold caught me because I didn't take good care of my body during my MONDAY SKI TRIP!! Not like I care...I was having a TON of FUN on the mountains at Breckenridge! I started at 6am with a quick breakfast and last-minute packing before driving up to Manitou to park at Haven and BrandEn's place. I had promised that I would drive to and from Breck...but the forecast was full of snow and ice...so I felt like a jerk and had to ask for someone else to take over the drive because I can guarantee that my silly Florida vehicle would be upside-down-in-a-ditch at the first sign of slick roads!
Big 'Thanks' to Branden who volunteered...and we were underway around 7:15. First stop in Breckenridge was for ski and helmet rentals (with my 20% discount) and then straight to the free parking lots. We pulled in about 10 cars behind Sam and Cliff, gathered our gear, and caught the bus to the lifts.
We skied as a five-some for the first hour or two...too bad most lifts are quads and doubles:)...and then we split up for the middle of the day. Haven, Branden and I warmed up and got some lunch at one of the lodges after the main lunch-crowd was gone. As we headed back out for some more powder (I forgot to brag that we had 3-4 inches of fresh POWDER all over the mountain from a light snow during the night!!) we caught sight of Sam and Cliff again so we finished the day as a five-some again.
We explored the Peak 6 and 7 area (first time for me on all these runs) and had fun in the powder-y bowls. I would go down first and then pull out my camera to try and get some fun shots of the guys on their way down (photos will be posted soon...I'm too lazy right now go back up to the house and get my camera:). We skied until the lifts closed...and timed it just right to make our last run long and winding back to the parking lots.
We made our way home as the sun set and the snow started falling. It was more than a perfect ending for my 2006 in Colorado...I will miss the snow, my friends, and my car for the next month...but I will be loving the uninterrupted, flat, and warm training that I can get in DeLand:)