So, I moved to Colorado.
I know at least a handful of my friends thought I was crazy. I also know that the people I'm close to have learned to expect me to be fairly free-spirited, if not a little flighty at times. But I'm happy to say that there was nothing flighty about my decision to move to the tiny mountain town of Tabernash. It was a gut feeling that I acted upon and it just so happened that all the logistics came together like some crazy puzzle. Call it coincidence. Call it the stars aligning. Call it whatever you want. But here I am... feeling happier and more alive than I've felt in years.
I live in employee housing, which I affectionately (and it took me a while to really feel this affection) call the "frat house." There are about 20 of us in a giant, open-plan house with a shared livingroom and kitchen. Over half of the occupants are South Americans, who are referred to as Los Locos (again - very affectionately). The rest of us are twenty-something Americans who left whatever life we were leading for the skiing, solitude, and beauty of the mountains. My housemates are AWESOME. I can now say that with complete sincerity because I recently bought a very loud fan that finally allows me to sleep when everyone is up watching movies, playing beer pong, or creating general havoc until 4am. There's always something going on. There's always someone to hang out with. It's a bit like college... but it somehow feels a touch more grown-up. Not sure exactly why.
I keep saying that I didn't come here to sit around. And man, I have not wasted any time diving into absolutely everything! I've been here for two weeks, and I've already been downhill skiing at Winter Park twice, nordic skiing once, tubing down the big hill in Fraser, out to hear live music nearly every night... I even dressed up and had an epic night out for the Sushi Bar's "Jersey Shore" party. I've met incredible people including downhill ski bums, nordic skiing fanatics, wanna-be cowboys, massage therapists, hippies, musicans... I could go on and on. It takes a pretty interesting person to live in this valley and I'm enjoying finding where I fit in and where I differ from all these types of people.
Instead of continuing to ramble on in long, boring sentences, I'm going to just make a list of the things I love about the ranch and the valley that is now (awesomely) my home.
- I open my blinds every morning to see the mountain range. I literally live smack dab IN the mountains.
- I have been completely charmed by the downhill ski bums. I love how they talk about "shredding the gnar" with no hint of irony and test fate by skiing Berthoud Pass, where avalanches are known to happen unexpectedly and to kill. They wear stocking caps inside, smoke pot, listen to jam bands, and ski the crap out of the Mary Jane side of the mountain. (By the end of the season, I plan to ski Mary Jane too.)
- I live 5 minutes from a little town called Fraser which has a couple bars/restaurants, a hardware store, post office, grocery store, etc.
- I LOVE that I live 10 minutes from Winter Park. We go out in WP all the time and I ski at "the resort" at least once a week.
- Whenever I want to hear awesome live music, there's a great little bar in the basement of a building in Winter Park complete with a pool tables, a roaring fire, and a stage. From jam bands and hip hop to groups like Minnesota-natives Trampled by Turtles, I can get out and hear it all.
- People around here rival "Minnesota Nice." I've never met more genuinely kind individuals.
- The ratio of guys to girls in this valley is about 80:20. I'm not sure why girls don't want to live right in the mountains like this, but it's an interesting experience to be one of the few. I keep being told that we girls can pretty much have our pick of the guys, but as the saying goes, "the odds are good but the goods are odd." HA.
- The cross country trails at my ranch are incredible. On a sunny, blue-sky day, there's nothing better than skiing through the valley and staring up at the mountains all around you.
- My co-workers are awesome. I like my job at the front desk and sometimes feel like Lorelai Gilmore which makes me happy (that's for all you Gilmore Girls fans).
- I always knew I was a secret outdoors enthusiast, and living in this setting has really made me get outside and go for it. I feel more like myself than I've felt in years.
- The locals are a walking stereotype, but it's fantastic. The ski bum culture is everything you'd imagine it to be, and then some. I hear the words "gnarly," "sick," and "bro" on a daily basis.
- The people here are happy. Genuinely happy. They're not here to make money... they're not here to become famous. Many of them work so they can ski because it's their life's passion. Others just love the mountains and the outdoors and the slower pace of life. These are my kind of people. I didn't choose this place or this lifestyle for the money either. But I can see myself living this way for a long, long time. It makes you feel alive.
I feel so alive.
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